Rotherhithe’s contribution to the founding of the USA is to be marked with a series of Thanksgiving events.
Before the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower departure for the New World in 2020, locals will be able to get into the spirit with a whole new world of festivities.
The event, today, Thursday, November 4, begins at St Mary’s Church, with music by the David Idowu choir (at 6:30pm) and a lantern procession (at 7:30pm) through the churchyard to bless the memorial statue, where Mayflower Captain Christopher Jones is buried.
The historic ship set sail for Plymouth -and then Cape Cod – just a stone’s throw away where the Mayflower pub now stands. It carried English separatists – now known to many as the Pilgrim Fathers – who had broken away from the Church of England, looking for a new life in the New World. After stopping off at Plymouth, they became the first permanent European settlers in America.
Two special films about the Mayflower are screening (at 4pm and 8:30pm) in the atmospheric Sands Films Studios along with themed food and drinks.
Celebrations continue at the Brunel Museum and garden from 7:45pm with free food donated by the Ship, the Mayflower, Piccalilly Caff, the Yellow House and the Finnish and Norwegian Churches. There will be a cash bar run by Midnight Apothecary.
