Stories Unlocked Gainsborough – United Reformed Church

Pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers The present church was built in 1896/7 as a memorial to John Robinson, the ‘pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers.’ It is a fine example of late Victorian Free Church architecture set within the Gainsborough Conservation Area which includes the adjoining All Saints Parish Church and the 15th century Gainsborough Old Hall. The pipe organ has been awarded an Historic Organ Certificate as an instrument of national heritage importance. Our story: 2020 will mark the 400th anniversary of the voyage of the Mayflower Pilgrims to the U.S.A. John Robinson was very influential in preparing them for the journey, and the church contains a commemorative tablet to this influential Separatist. Robinson was associated with other leading local Separatists including John Smyth of Gainsborough, William Brewster of Scrooby, William Bradford of Austerfield and Richard Clyfton of Babworth Our nonconformist heritage harks back to these seventeenth century Separatists, whilst the present day Gainsborough United Reformed Church traces its origins back to a group of Protestant dissenters called Independents who met in the large upper room of Gainsborough Old Hall for worship in 1773. Image Shows: Engraving of the Mayflower, the ship of the Pilgrims, School History of the United States by John Bach McMaster, 1897.

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