Discover Gainsborough | News

Residents of and visitors to West Lindsey are invited to attend the final Illuminate event in Gainsborough to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower story this autumn.

A special Illuminate event involving lanterns, performers, music, projections, an arts trail and a spectacular fire garden will bring to an end the commemorations in the town, 400 years after the Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving in America.

Last year’s event went online due to the Coronavirus outbreak, but this November the 400th anniversary event brings people back together to look back on the story of the Separatists’ journey to America in 1620. Many leading Separatists on the Mayflower, who later became known as the Pilgrims, came from the Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire region.

Continue reading “Illuminate event to light up Gainsborough this November!”

Last year’s postponed ‘Flight of the Separatists’ event will take place on Saturday 17 July in the grounds of the newly re-opened Gainsborough Old Hall.

The event had been scheduled for May last year, to mark the town’s links to the Mayflower story in its 400^th anniversary year, but had to be postponed due to the pandemic.

Continue reading “All aboard the Mayflower!”

Saturday 17 July 2021, 10am to 4pm

Gainsborough Old Hall, Parnell Street, Gainsborough, DN21 2NB

FREE Event

The ‘Flight of the Separatists’ event marks the town’s connection to the Pilgrims’ story.

In May 1608, some of the Pilgrim Separatists fled from the town on a barge up the River Trent in search of religious freedom. Others made their way overland to an isolated place along the coast near Immingham. There, they met a Dutch ship in order to flee the country. Many of the men escaped, while their wives and children were left behind for a time, after their attempt to escape was noticed by the authorities. Eventually, they were all reunited in Amsterdam.

Continue reading “Flight of The Separatists”

Residents of Gainsborough are being encouraged to take part in an online event that will commemorate the town’s links to the Mayflower story in its 400th anniversary year.

One Small Candle is an online event that was created after the town’s annual Illuminate Parade was postponed due to current COVID-19 restrictions. Taking place on Thursday 26 November (the date of Thanksgiving), residents are invited to make their own lanterns at home to display in their windows, to give thanks in their own special way for the things that are important to them.

Continue reading “Gainsborough gears up for online Illuminate event this Thursday”

This Saturday would have been Gainsborough’s annual Illuminate parade, where people come together and parade the streets with a magnificent display of colourful lanterns, commemorating the town’s links to the Mayflower story. Like so many other things that have changed recently, this year’s parade has been postponed and new plans made for an ‘Illuminate’ online.

Working in partnership with Pilgrim Roots partners in Boston and North Nottinghamshire, West Lindsey District Council are encouraging the public to make their own lanterns at home to display in their windows on Thursday 26 November (the date of Thanksgiving), to give thanks in their own special way for the things that are important to them.

Continue reading “Building on Gainsborough’s heritage: Illuminate 2020 moves online and new Pilgrim legacies”

Forming a ‘civil body politic’

Once they arrived on the shores of America in mid-November, the Pilgrims faced a hard winter, realised they needed a new legal agreement, and managed to survive thanks to help from the Wampanoag Native Americans who already lived there.

The ship stopped just off the coast of modern-day Provincetown in Massachusetts, some way off from their intended destination to the south in Virginia. They needed to find a suitable place to live, so some of the men were sent out to scout the coast around Cape Cod. The rest of the passengers stayed aboard the ship for some weeks.

Continue reading “Compact”

Composer David Fawcett has written ‘A Sure Refuge’, a major new 50 minute cantata reflecting on the Pilgrims’ story and its resonance today. David is a former student at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Gainsborough and Head Chorister and Organ Scholar at All Saints’ Parish Church. He is also a choral director and professional musician.

This piece of work was commissioned by West Lindsey District Council supported by funding from Arts Council England.

The first performance will take place on Saturday 13 November at All Saints Parish Church in Gainsborough. For more information or to book click here. You can also visit www.davidfawcettcomposer.com/a-sure-refuge to listen to samples, and to read more about David’s cantata.

Continue reading “A Sure Refuge – Mayflower Choral Commission”

West Lindsey District Council recognises this historic date by raising awareness of the area’s links by contributing to the online documentary.

Wednesday 16 September is an important date in history, marking the 400^th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower.

Gainsborough has a special connection to the Mayflower anniversary through the Separatist movements that originated in this region, some of whom later led the journey to America.

Presented by well-known TV historian Dan Snow, the documentary will reflect the story of the Pilgrims’ roots and their journeys, the impact on the Native American people who helped them when they first arrived and the wider colonial context of the Mayflower’s voyage.

Continue reading “TV Historian Dan Snow Commemorates the 400th Anniversary of the Sailing of the Mayflower”

Coming to America

The Mayflower set sail for Virginia in September 1620 with around 130 passengers and crew. In late
November, the ship sighted land – but they were further north than planned. After a long voyage across the
Atlantic, the Pilgrims were just off the coast of Massachusetts.

Continue reading “Voyage”

Indentured passengers on the Mayflower

There were a range of different passengers on the Mayflower, a mixture of Separatist families and others sent to help establish a new colony by those sponsoring the voyage.

Continue reading “Servitude”