Let The Light Shine

As 2019 draws to a close, Harwich prepares for a very special celebration as 2020 marks the 400th anniversary of The Mayflower’s famous Pilgrim Fathers voyage to the Americas. It all begins with an Illuminate Festival with an American feel

Thanks giving is not a holiday usually celebrated in England, or Essex, but it is a celebration intrinsically linked with our county. The tradition, held on the last Thursday of November commemorates the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers (and Mothers) as the first European settlers in North America.

Taken there by The Mayflower in 1620 – 400 years ago next year – the historic voyage is most usually associated with Plymouth. The Devon port city was the final departure point, albeit an accidental one.

‘The hasty stop only took place after a second vessel, The Speedwell, was sabotaged by unenthusiastic crew not willing to make the transatlantic voyage,’ explains Mike Carran, head of sport and leisure at Tendring District Council, which is co-ordinating much of the town’s celebration of the story 400 years on. ‘The Plymouth layover took place to allow a transfer of pilgrims and supplies onto The Mayflower,’ says Mike.

Much more intimately linked with The Mayflower is Harwich, on the north Essex coastline.

A historic port town with a rich naval and seafaring history, Harwich claims to be the birthplace of The Mayflower. While no records exist showing where the ship was built, it was certainly registered as ‘of Harwich’ in the port books of 1609-11.