Archives of News

PilgrimAGE

Escape #2

From Gainsborough to Immingham to Holland After a failed first attempt to escape England from Boston on the south Lincolnshire coast, the Pilgrims needed to think again about their plans. They were still resolved to go, and so needed to come up with an alternative route. We pick up the story in Pilgrim William Bradford’s diary: “The next […]

Arrest

The Separatists are held in Boston After making their way to the Lincolnshire coast near Boston, the Pilgrims were hoping to escape from England for new lives in Holland. But their secret escape plan was thwarted after they were betrayed by the master of the ship who had agreed to take them to Holland. Their ordeal in Boston […]

New Pilgrim Beer

In honour of the quadricentennial anniversary of the Mayflower Pilgrims setting sail in search of religious freedom one North Nottinghamshire brewery has released a special beer. The Pheasantry Brewery is a family run business with connections to Babworth, where Richard Clifton preached to William Brewster and a young William Bradford. This family have celebrated life’s […]
PilgrimAGE

Escape #1

Sixty miles to the coast: attempting to flee from Boston Once the Separatists made their minds up about fleeing from England in search of tolerance in Holland, they needed to find a means of escape. They were living inland, in Nottinghamshire and around Gainsborough, so they needed to make their way to the coast. Pilgrim […]

Secrecy

Separatists forced to live secret lives Religious life changed dramatically throughout the course of the 15th and 16th century. As each monarch changed, there were big changes in the way the Church expected people to practise their faith – and everyone was expected to follow the Church’s rules. If you didn’t, you were likely to […]
PilgrimAGE

Tolerance

Seeking tolerance, spreading intolerance Some of the early leaders of the Pilgrims/Separatists made important arguments in favour of religious tolerance at a time when this wasn’t a universally recognised right. By raising these issues, they began important conversations about what people should be allowed to do in their lives. At this time, people were put […]
Worship

Faith

The Pilgrims and providence The Pilgrims had a strong belief in ‘providence’, which means the intervention of God’s will. They often saw providence in things that happened to them on their journeys, and it’s something William Bradford mentioned in his diary of their journeys and lives, Of Plimoth Plantation. By holding this belief, it seemed […]

Remote Volunteering

Latest advice suggests our sites and museums will be shut for another month or more, but there are plenty of ways that you can stay involved, have fun and support the project too. A relatively new trend of ‘micro-volunteering’ highlights the impact that seemingly small, and often very quick, tasks can have on a project’s […]
PilgrimAGE

Persecution

Becoming Separatists and risking all “But after these things they could not long continue in any peaceable condition, but were hunted & persecuted on every side, so as their former afflictions were but as flea-bitings in comparison of these which now came upon them. For some were taken & clapped up in prison, others had […]
PilgrimAGE

New ‘Radical Routes’ online edition reflects on Pilgrim anniversary

A new online publication is released today as part of West Lindsey District Council’s PilgrimAGE season to commemorate 2020’s Mayflower anniversary. The ‘Radical Routes’ reader has been produced in collaboration with other leading arts programmes in the region. Originally planned as a newspaper-style publication, due to challenges arising from the current coronavirus crisis, ‘Radical Routes’ has now […]