Plymouth Mayflower Steps and the Pilgrim Fathers, Plymouth, South Devon
Famous steps from which the Pilgrim Fathers sailed to America
The Pilgrim Fathers left for America in 1620 from the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth. They sailed on a boat called the Mayflower. The steps lead from the quayside down to where the ship would have been harboured. Originally two ships left Southampton but they were forced to dock at Plymouth. Only the Mayflower left for America in September 1620.
The superb Plymouth Mayflower Visitor Centre is across the way. It tells the story of the Pilgrim Fathers and their journey to Plymouth, Massachusetts in America.
Location of the Plymouth Mayflower Steps
We've positioned the Plymouth Mayflower Steps on Google maps. Zoom in on the 'Satellite' setting to see their location.
Mayflower Steps Memorial
‘The Barbican, Plymouth, Devon, England. The Mayflower sailed from here September 16 (new style), 1620, for Plymouth, New England. Part of her passengers were colonists from London, part were a Separatist congregation which had begun in Babworth, Nottinghamshire, on July 11, 1586, and had moved to Scrooby in 1606, to Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1608, and to Leyden in 1609. The Leyden Group had sailed on the Speedwell from Delft Haven August 1 (N.S.), 1620, for Southampton, Hampshire, England, to join the London group who were on the Mayflower. Both ships left Southampton on August 15 (N.S.), but leaks in the Speedwell, forced a turning back to Dartmouth for repairs. Leaving Dartmouth, after proceeding about 300 miles, the leaky Speedwell caused a second return of both ships, this time to Plymouth. Here the Speedwell was abandoned, and the passengers of both ships combined on the Mayflower – 102. Elder William Brewster was the spiritual leader of the Separatist Pilgrims, and remained so in New England, until his death in 1643-44. Stephen Hopkins of Wotton-Under-Edge, Gloucestershire (later of St. Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel, London), a Separatist, made his second voyage to the New World in the Mayflower (180 tons) in 1620. He had previously sailed from here in the Sea Venture (800 tons) on July 28, 1609. He reached Virginia in 1610, after having been drive ashore in Bermuda, where his shipwreck furnished the subject for The Tempest (1611) by William Shakespeare.’ (Plaque on site.) Also see PUK Dartmouth Bayard’s Cove and the Pilgrim Fathers.
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