Ep 09 Pilgrims, Pints & Mudlarks - Getting Ship Faced In Rotherhithe at The Mayflower Pub

The Mayflower Pub along the river is such a great one.  Why did the Pilgrim father's sail away?  Let's investigate further
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Google map with pubs covered in previous episodes pinned, courtesy of Andy Meddick:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/4/edit?mid=12c-WKa3XiT1qTLydK8psZocUR7Y_Wes&usp=sharing

Or TinyURL: https://tinyurl.com/bduca5dv

The following resources are referenced or quoted frequently in these episodes:

• Ted Bruning  -- Historic Pubs of London (ISBN 978-0658005022) and London By Pub (ISBN 978-0658005022)
• Wikipedia
• https://londonspubswherehistoryreallyhappened.wordpress.com/  by Ann Laffeaty

Additionally, the  following resource(s) were quoted in this episode:

• https://thamesfestivaltrust.org/heritage-programme/foragers-of-the-foreshore/the-history-of-mudlarking/
• https://www.mayflowerpub.co.uk/history      
• https://www.blackdogpubcompany.co.uk/

Intro music:

Vivaldi - Spring Allegro by John Harrison with the Wichita State University Chamber

Photo: Alison Day

Website: https://historiclondonpubcast.com/

E-mail: hosteric@historiclondonpubcast.com

Transcript

Welcome to this episode of The Historic London Pubcast. I'm Eric Blair, and I'd like to take you on a journey through the rich history of London's iconic pubs. My goal is to share with you my passion for the great old pubs of London. I want to give you some facts to help you appreciate the history of these hallowed establishments mixed in with some fun stories that make it all go down as smooth as a well poured pint. 

Today, let's take a walk down the southeast side of the river, along The Thames Path, down to Rotherhithe and The Mayflower Pub. As we approach, look around Rotherhithe. This area has a long history as a port, with Elizabethan shipyards and working docks here until the 1970s. The name Rotherhithe is thought to have derived from an Anglo-Saxon term meaning, ‘Landing place for cattle.’ The first recorded use of this name was in the early 1100s. 

In the 1980s, the area along the river was redeveloped as housing through a mix of warehouse conversions and newly built developments. Rotherhithe is now a gentrified residential and commuter area, but before you reach the pub, take a moment to admire the grand warehouses that flank your path. 

These aren't your average storage units. These are giants of a bygone era, built with a solidity that speaks of their past lives. Once they would have been a hive of activity, their cavernous insides crammed with exotic goods from all corners of the globe. Tea chests from India, spices from the Far East, bolts of silk from China. All would have passed through these grand doorways.

Look ahead. You spot the unmistakable red brick facade of The Mayflower Pub, nestled in between two brown brick industrial strength buildings. The pub's name is a beacon for weary travelers or thirsty walkers like yourself. Walking in, you immediately see why The Mayflower is known for its traditional cozy English pub atmosphere. The pub, with low wooden beams on the ceiling and worn floorboards, a crackling fireplace on the left just past the bar and up a step is a cherished place, especially when the brisk winds are blowing across The Thames. Wooden tables and chairs are about. The walls are adorned with nautical touches. 

Let's settle in with a pint and chat about the special history of this fine drinkery. The pub's claim to fame is that is from this very spot along The Thames in 1620 that the Mayflower set sail, captained by Christopher Jones and carrying The Pilgrim Fathers to the New World, where they could enjoy religious freedom.

The name of the pub at the time was called The Ship, but even then, it was not a newbie. Some sources suggest that a tavern existed here as early as the mid-1500s. The Ship continued on for another hundred years or so after the Pilgrims’ departure, until it was completely rebuilt in the early 1700s and renamed the Spread Eagle and Crown. Another two centuries passed, and then in 1957 it was then again rebuilt, restored and renamed The Mayflower, celebrating its place in history. 

Okay, for now, let's not talk about The Ship, as the pub was once named, or The Mayflower as the pub is currently named, but the ship Mayflower - the real floating vessel. And let's start with its Captain, Christopher Jones.

Around 1600, Rotherhithe and its neighboring parish were country retreats for wealthy Londoners, but continued growth, courting the shipping industry resulted in a rapid increase in residential and commercial building. By 1620, Captain Jones was one of the reported 120 Mariners living in this area, according to parish records. At that time, wine was the primary trade product of commercial London and made the fortune of Rotherhithe’s Mariners. 

As examples, two of Jones's associates were Anthony Wood, who owned shares, three ships, and numerous houses, and was listed at the top of the parish taxpayers, and William Spite, a wine merchant owning country estates, warehouses and a nice crib opposite Shakespeare's Globe Theater. Jones was likely not as well off as these blokes, but life was good. He was part owner of the Mayflower ship and according to the pub's current owner, he was also part owner in The Ship pub.

Messrs. Wood, Spite, and Jones prospered due to the popularity of alcohol. At the peak of the wine trade in 1615, London imported three times the wine that it had brought in just 20 years previously. In 1615, a typical voyage by Jones and the Mayflower would be to depart for France, carrying trade goods, largely English woolens (the country's strongest export) to be exchanged for quality French wine. He would return from France, carrying as much as 80 tons of wine. 

By 1620 though, the decline in the European economic situation resulted in a waning of the shipping trade. As a family man, Jones had to keep his ship operating. He was finishing up a trip importing 50 tons of wine for Mr. Spite when the opportunity came up to take a charter of 65 passengers to the New World.

Hey, it was summer. The seas were calm. What could possibly go wrong? Simple. Out and back. Done deal. Okay, who were the said pilgrims? Despite what we may have been taught in grade school, they were a mixed bunch. Henry, the Eighth’s pressing need to get a divorce had resulted in a law requiring all in the country to be members of the newly established Church of England.

There were those who firmly opposed doing that and wanted to form their own worship structure. They were termed, ‘Separatists.’ Some of the Separatists had already left the country around 1607 and were resettled in Holland. But these folks began to feel that they were losing their culture in a foreign country. Other Separatists toughed it out in southern England, but by 1620, all had enough.

Okay, here's the plan. Let's charter a ship from London for the folks in England. Oh, you have some friends and neighbors who are not really Separatists, but want a new life in the new world. Okay, bring them along, then will sail out to Devon. And you folks from Holland charter a ship and meet us there, and we'll all go over together.

Great plan. The Mayflower departed with 65 passengers in the middle of July. After finishing up their last pint at the pub, they met up with the ship from Holland, the Speedwell, on England's west coast. But that's where the problems began. There were repair issues with the Speedwell and after two false starts and burning about a month of time, all the passengers who wanted to continue got on the Mayflower and said, let's get out of here.

That was about 102 passengers and, with a crew of 30 to 40, space was tight. They departed on September 6th. By then, rough sailing weather had set in. After 66 days of fighting gales and with the ship's timbers rupturing, combined with deteriorating health of all on board, the Mayflower sailed into Cape Cod Bay on November 11th. The passengers and crew proceeded to establish a settlement called Plymouth.

Hey, fellow pilgrims, what do we call this place? What was the name of that town we left? Just a couple of months ago in Devon. Oh, yeah, Plymouth! Okay, well, that'll do. Over the next five months of winter and into the spring of 1621, Captain Jones and his crew remained. His crew suffered the same bouts with disease as pilgrims did, and it wasn't until the spring that his men began to recover and allow the return trip to start.

 Jones and the Mayflower were able to put Plymouth in their rear-view mirror on April 5th, but with a short crew with more than a dozen sailors having died over the winter. The Mayflower for once had some good luck and made the trip back in just a month.

By the summer of 1621, Jones and the Mayflower resumed trading voyages to continental Europe, but the severe deprivations of the Pilgrim voyage had undermined his health. He died early in March 1622 at around the age of 52, after returning from a voyage to France. He is buried in the graveyard of Saint Mary's Church, about a minute’s walk from today's pub. The location of the exact grave has been lost, but he's there somewhere. Captain Jones R.I.P., thank you for your service. 

What happened to the good old ship Mayflower? No one really knows. One tale is that it was broken up for scrap timber. Possibly even to build a barn in England. However, there is no evidence that supports this. 

Okay, now that you know more about the Mayflower ship and its famous voyage than most pub patrons do, let's go back into today's pub. All this talk of hard times and deprivation makes me thirsty! 

The pub has a number of special features I would like to mention while we get our first pour. 

First, The Mayflower has its own wharf built on piles over the river that can accommodate about two dozen patrons. From here you get a good view of the river and the area on the other side, which includes Wapping, a place with interesting pubs in its own right. So, The Mayflower is a pub for all seasons. If the weather's cold, set in front of the nice, warm fire. If the weather's nice, sit outside on the wharf section and enjoy the view. 

The second special feature is that the pub keeps a book for descendants of Mayflower passengers to sign, and thus memorialize our visit. One source estimated that perhaps as many as 30 million people today can claim to have an ancestor on the Mayflower.

Paul Graham, the current owner, was quoted as saying, 

“We've got well over a thousand signed addresses by people from the States. People get very excited.”

Somehow you have to show proof you are a descendant. I am not sure how to do that because, well, now, full disclosure, I have never actually seen or signed the book. I'm not qualified to do so when given the chance of taking a dangerous sea voyage and relocating to a wild, unsettled land with winter approaching, or just staying for another round in the pub, my forebearers evidently chose the latter. I think it must be genetic. 

Third special feature. The Mayflower is licensed to sell both American and British postal stamps, a feature no other place in the UK can claim. Some say this dates back to the time when being the eastern point of the transatlantic trade. This was not uncommon for establishments catering to that business, and that The Mayflower is the only business that has retained its right to do so. Others say this is just a feature secured to further align the pub to its colonial connection for tourist purposes. I choose to think the former, that it is a charming bit of history that the pub has maintained. Congrats! 

The final feature I would like to mention is that the pub has an upstairs for dining. Booking a table for a nice lunch is not something that you will regret. 

Up until now, all the pubs covered in this Pubcast have been owned by major companies such as Fuller's or Samuel Smith’s. The Mayflower is owned and operated by a smaller company, The Black Dog Pub Company, and I'd like to share a bit of info from their website.

“The Black Dog Pub Companywas founded by Paul Graham in 2013. The independent group owns and runs four venues in London. With so many pubs across the capital at threat from property developers, Paul and his team are committed to protecting the heritage of some of London's oldest independent pubs. Since 2001, London has lost an average of 81 pubs a year, and with the social and cultural value they bring. By preserving the characteristics and rich history of these pubs, the Black Dog Pub Company is insuring some of London's most unique pubs can continue to be enjoyed by their local communities and visitors from around the world.”

They seem to be doing a fine job with The Mayflower, and it makes me want to visit their other pubs. Way to go Black Dog Pub Co! Let's drink up and head out. As we exit the pub on your right, there is a passageway that ends in a set of steps going down to the riverbank. Be aware that the river before you is not your average river.

The Thames is a tidal river, meaning the flow of water is influenced by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun. During high tide, the water level rises, and the river can actually flow upstream toward London. During low tide, the water level drops, and the river flows downstream out to sea, and the water level on the bank can change fairly dramatically during the high tide/low tide cycle. 7 to 10m by some accounts. 

The opportunity to search for objects deposited by the flowing river has been a part of London for centuries, and is widely known as, ‘Mud Larking.’ The Thames Festival Trust is a charity with the mission to create and promote river and river related art, education, and heritage events, with particular interest in the Thames and its tributaries.

Their website tells us about Mud Larking past and present,

“For eleven continuous miles in London, both sides of the river have been packed with docks, wharfs, warehouses, shipbuilding yards, ship breaking yards, fish markets, factories, breweries, slaughterhouses, municipal buildings, offices, pubs and houses. Over the last 2000 years of human activity along the river, countless objects have been intentionally discarded or accidentally dropped into its waters. For millennia, The Thames has been an extraordinary repository of these lost objects, protected and preserved by its dense mud. In Victorian times, the less fortunate engaged in Mud Larking, scavenging for anything on the exposed riverbed which they could sell in order to survive. They were often children, mostly boys, who braved dangerous conditions to find practical items like coal, iron, and copper, nails and ropes which they could sell in order to buy food and essentials for themselves and their families. Their income was very meager, and they were renowned for their tattered clothes, filth, and terrible stench. These young children went Mud Larking to survive. In the 19th century, they were considered among the lowest members of society in London.”

Henry Mayhew, author of London Labor and the London Poor, published in the mid-1800s, interviewed a nine-year-old Victorian Mud Lark, 

“His trousers were worn away up to the knees. He had no shirt, and his legs and feet, which were bare, were covered with blisters caused by exposure to extreme cold temperatures. He had been three years Mud Larking, and supposed he should remain a Mud Lark all his life. What else could he be? For there was nothing else that he knew how to do. He could neither read nor write. All the money he got, he gave to his mother. And she bought bread with it. He worked every day with 20 or 30 boys who might all be seen at daybreak, with their trousers tucked up, groping about and picking out pieces of coal from the mud on the banks of the Thames. He went into the river up to his knees, and in searching the mud he often ran pieces of glass and long nails into his bare feet. When this was the case, he went home and dressed the wounds, but returned to the riverside directly, for should the tide come up without having found something, he must starve until the next low tide.”

A tough life all around. The tradition of Mud Larking is still alive and well, but happily, things are much improved. The Thames Festival Trust website continues, 

“In contrast to the young Victorian scavengers of the Thames, Mud Larks today have a passionate interest in London's rich archaeology and history, and it has become a popular hobby which gives both adults and children a unique hands-on history experience and deepens our understanding of London's past. Modern Mud Larks have discovered and recovered an incredibly wide range of artifacts from all periods of British history, from prehistoric to modern times. They search the foreshore using a variety of methods. Some search by eye, while others use a trowel, sieve, or metal detectors.”

I link to the website in the notes. Please be advised that if you visit the pub, regard Mud Larking as a ‘Look, but don't touch’ activity. In order to actually go Mud Larking in London, a Thames Foreshore Permit must be obtained from the Port of London Authority, and all objects which are 300 or years old or more must be reported to the Museum of London. 

Anyway, it is so much easier just to look down from The Mayflower deck with a nice pint in hand, and watch these dedicated searchers. Mud Larking and Captain Jones's grave are not the only interesting features around The Mayflower. Before you go, there's one more historic item near the pub - the Thames Tunnel, a tunnel beneath the river, connecting Rotherhithe and Wapping.

It was built between 1825 and 1843 by Mark Brunel and his son, and was the first tunnel known to have been constructed successfully under a navigable river. The tunnel was originally designed for horse drawn carriages, but was mainly used by pedestrians and became a tourist attraction. In 1869 it was converted into a railway tunnel and with modification is still partly used to this day.

A one-minute walk from The Mayflower is The Brunel Museum, located at the site of the vertical shaft that was dug from which the tunneling began. As you can imagine, there were challenges to this effort, but the tunnel finally opened to first year traffic in March of 1843. Appealing to sightseers more than commuters, about 2 million people a year visited the tunnel, each paying a penny to pass through.

A traveler of the time, William Allen Drewe, wrote,

“No one goes to London without visiting the tunnel,”

and described it as,

“The eighth wonder of the world.” 

Okay, dear Listeners, that concludes our visit to the Great Mayflower Pub. I hope you have an easier journey away from the pub than Captain Jones and his passengers did a few years ago, back in 1620.

Please join me for our next Pubcast adventure and until then, Cheers!