The Pilgrim Fathers Memorial is located on the north bank of The Haven at the site of the former Scotia Creek,

Fishtoft Fishtoft is one of eighteen civil parishes which, together with Boston, form the Borough of Boston in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Local government has been arranged in this way since the reorganization of 1 April 1974, which resulted ...

, seaward of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and consists of a small

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

obelisk mounted on a granite block. It commemorates the attempt at finding religious freedom in September, 1607 by the Scrooby Congregation, a group of English Separatist Protestants who left for

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

. They were precursors of the Pilgrims who later crossed the Atlantic to

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

Connection to the Pilgrim Fathers

The men from

Scrooby Scrooby is a small village on the River Ryton in north Nottinghamshire, England, near Bawtry in South Yorkshire. At the time of the 2001 census it had a population of 329. Until 1766, it was on the Great North Road so became a stopping-off po ...

, Nottinghamshire, chartered a Dutch vessel to transport them to the Netherlands in 1607, but the attempt was thwarted when the captain betrayed them to the local authorities. They were arrested and taken by boat to attend a hearing by the magistrates in the

Boston Guildhall Boston Guildhall is a former municipal building in Boston, Lincolnshire. It currently serves as a local museum and also as a venue for civil ceremonies and private functions. It is a Grade I listed building. History St. Mary's Guild in Boston wa ...

, and they were imprisoned in the cells there for about a month. In 1608, after their release, they made a second, this time successful, attempt from the

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...

first arriving in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. The Scrooby congregation moved to

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

in 1609, before setting sail in 1620 for the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

via

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

The memorial

Pilgrim Fathers Memorial (closeup) - geograph

The memorial was erected by the former Boston Borough Council in 1957, on the 350th anniversary of the event. The work was carried out by Leake's Masonry. The ceremony was attended by several members of the

General Society of Mayflower Descendants The General Society of ''Mayflower'' Descendants — commonly called the Mayflower Society — is a hereditary organization of individuals who have documented their descent from at least one of the 102 passengers who arrived on the ''Mayflower'' ...

, who made a donation towards the cost of the monument. Its design is a tapering shaft rising from a base-block, intended to symbolise the urge which drove a small band of men and women to leave their country and kinsfolk for conscience's sake. The material used typifies by its strength the power and stability of their faith. The inscription on the front of the memorial used to read: :''"Near this place in September 1607 those later known as "The Pilgrim Fathers" set sail on their first attempt to find religious freedom across the seas. Erected 1957"'' It has since been updated to the following: :''"Near this place in September 1607 those later known as the Pilgrim Fathers were thwarted in their first attempt to sail to find religious freedom across the seas. :''Memorial re-worded by the generous gift of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches and The First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa WI USA - 2009"''

References

{{Coord, 52, 56, 31, N, 0, 01, 25, E, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Monuments and memorials in Lincolnshire Buildings and structures completed in 1957 Buildings and structures in Boston, Lincolnshire Monuments and memorials to the Pilgrims Obelisks in England

Connection to the Pilgrim Fathers

The memorial

See also

References