The Pilgrim Woman stands by the waters edge, contemplative of the journey she’s about to make and the home she’s leaving. She holds in her hand an apple, a symbol of growth, of new beginnings. The plinth reads ‘Steering our future, informed by the past’ and is carved into a piece of local stone, Ancaster Weatherbed by Graeme Mitcheson.

About the Sculpture

In May 1608, a group of religious separatists boarded a barge called the Francis at Gainsborough. They sailed up the River Trent to Stallingborough near Immingham, to escape to the Netherlands in search of religious tolerance.

Over 80 people boarded the barge as it sailed north, making their way to join a growing separatist community in Amsterdam. Some of these separatists later sailed to America to establish one of the earliest English colonies at Plymouth in Massachusetts. The first group sailed on the Mayflower in 1620, and became known as the Pilgrims.

Take a look at the Pilgrim Woman Project pages discover more. Watch short films, listen to the podcast, read the articles in Radical Roots and much more.

Rachel’s sculpture represents the women who began their life’s journeys from this riverside all those centuries ago. Commissioned by West Lindsey District Council with funding from the Gainsborough Development Trust