who were the four old lodges that met in 1717 to form grand lodge

Four London lodges met in 1717 to establish the Premier Grand Lodge, taking their names from the taverns where their meetings were held 13. An article on the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon's website notes that these four original bodies were the Lodge at the Goose and Gridiron Alehouse in St. Paul's Churchyard, the Lodge at the Crown Alehouse in Parker's Lane near Drury Lane, the Lodge at the Apple Tree Tavern in Charles Street, Covent Garden, and the Lodge at the Rummer and Grapes Tavern in Channel Row, Westminster.

Preliminary assemblies were held at the Apple Tree Tavern in February 1717, after which the brethren met at the Goose and Gridiron on Saint John the Baptist's Day, 24 June 1717, to elect Anthony Sayer as Grand Master 123.

The character and fate of these four lodges varied significantly 3:

The Lodge at the Goose and Gridiron, later named the Lodge of Antiquity No. 1, was recorded in the 1729 Engraved List as dating to 1691 23.

The Lodge at the Crown was a small lodge, comprised largely of operative Masons, and was struck from the roll in 1740 3.

The Lodge at the Apple Tree Tavern was likewise small and largely operative, but supplied the first Grand Master, Anthony Sayer 3.

The Lodge at the Rummer and Grapes stood apart as the largest of the four, boasting seventy members, and was predominantly speculative in character 3. Its roster included nobility alongside key figures in the early development of Craft Masonry, notably Dr. John Theophilus Desaguliers and James Anderson 3.

The websites I drew on here are not among those a Masonic researcher would ordinarily rely upon. Please weigh what they say accordingly.

Only two of the original four lodges that met in 1717 are still extant 4. These surviving bodies are the Lodge of Antiquity, which originally met at the Goose and Gridiron Tavern 24, and Royal Somerset House and Inverness Lodge No. 4, which traces its lineage to the lodge originally meeting at the Rummer and Grapes Tavern 42.

The lodge at the Rummer and Grapes fell into decline and agreed to incorporate with Somerset House Lodge, which immediately assumed its immemorial rank and rights 4. That combined body absorbed Royal Inverness Lodge in 1828 to become Royal Somerset House and Inverness Lodge No. 4 2. The other two original lodges did not survive, leaving only these two extant lodges to enjoy the immemorial privileges granted to the four original bodies in trust 4.