Discover Gainsborough | 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 their houses beset & watched night and day, & hardly escaped their hands; and the most were fain to flee & leave their houses & habitations, and the means of their livelihood.”

This is how William Bradford, Pilgrim chronicler and Plymouth colony Governor, recollected the plight the Separatists had faced in England before they fled to Holland.

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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 been produced in an online format so it can be shared widely across Lincolnshire and further afield. West Lindsey District Council’s Mayflower 400 cultural programme has worked with the University of Lincoln’s Transported programme, bringing arts to people in Boston Borough and South Holland, and Bassetlaw’s ‘The Few to the Many’ project to create an arts-led response to the region’s role in the Pilgrims’ heritage story.

Continue reading “New ‘Radical Routes’ online edition reflects on Pilgrim anniversary”

The generosity and kindness that has been displayed across the country recently reminds us of one of the leading separatists, William Bradford and his inspirational words that united people around the world 400 years ago.

 “as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindle hath shone unto many”

He is referring to their struggles and efforts leading up to their arrival in America and that it would serve as a light that will inspire many more to follow them (the way one small candle can light a thousand).

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The Two Congregations

Who were the ‘Separatists’? How do they relate to the ‘Pilgrims’?

Four centuries ago, the Church of England was the established Christian church of the state, set up by King Henry VIII following his battles with the previously established Church in Rome.

Religion played a hugely important role in everyday life for everyone, but it was a divisive issue. Separatists were people who wanted, for a variety of reasons, to separate themselves from this Church.

Separatists are sometimes compared to Puritans, but the Puritans wanted to ‘purify’ the Church from within, rather than leave it altogether.

This was a time when it became easier for more people to read more things, and to publish their own writing. The printing press had been invented in the fifteenth century, and it had changed the world – much like the internet has done for us today.

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An online programme commemorating the Mayflower Pilgrims throughout Summer 2020, 400 years on from their historic transatlantic voyage

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be bringing you short stories about that group of people who many know as the Pilgrims, as part of our summer PilgrimAGE programme to commemorate the Mayflower story in its 400th anniversary year. 

Each week we’ll consider a different theme, either connected to the lives of the Pilgrims, the places they travelled to, or themes which run throughout the history of their lives. We’ll be signposting you to interesting content connected to Pilgrims’ history and heritage, as well as what’s been happening as part of the 400th anniversary commemorations. 

Continue reading “Welcome to PilgrimAGE”

Gainsborough’s historic Pilgrim date commemorated

West Lindsey District Council is working with local partners to develop an online programme of activities that will tell the story of the Mayflower Pilgrims and their connections to Lincolnshire and the Pilgrim Roots region.

Starting on Gainsborough’s historic Pilgrim date this Sunday 10th May, a new digital campaign – PilgrimAGE – will be launched. The campaign will run throughout the summer, leading up to the 400^th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower in September and will include historical blogs, snapshots of exhibitions as well as videos, podcasts and specially commissioned digital activities.

Continue reading “Mayflower 400 programme moves online adapting to lockdown challenges”

John Smyth was a preacher in the city of Lincoln from 1600 to 1602. The Bishop of Lincoln dismissed him for his strange doctrines and forward preaching of his Puritan views (people who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices) that had been developing since his early days at Cambridge University.

Continue reading “Leading Separatists in the Pilgrim Roots Region”

Sir Christopher Wray of Glentworth was a cautious and conservative Lord Chief Justice under Elizabeth I, but his three children used their wealth and prestige to support radical Christianity in its struggle against authoritarian church leaders. These siblings played a key role in the development of the Mayflower Pilgrims, hosted the founders of the Baptist denomination, and trained a generation of radical preachers.

Continue reading “Separatists in the Pilgrim Roots region”

The United Reformed Church in Gainsborough stands as a memorial to John Robinson, famously known as the pastor to the Pilgrims and one of the founders of the Separatist movements.

He led the Pilgrims to the Dutch town of Leiden, helping them plan their pioneering voyage of the Mayflower. However he would never make the journey. He was instrumental in planning a second Pilgrim voyage but would tragically die before being able to live his dream.

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William Bradford was born in 1590 in Austerfield near Doncaster which forms part of the Pilgrim Roots region.

Bradford was a member of the Scrooby congregation and also prominent in the churches both at Leiden and Plymouth. He became the second elected Governor of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1621 and continued to serve the Colony for almost 30 years.

Continue reading “Leading Separatists in the Pilgrim Roots Region”