By the early C16th many countries across Europe were seeing rising dissatisfaction with the teaching and behaviour of the Catholic Church. John Wycliffe (1328 – 1384) championed reform of the Church with a return to a vow of poverty and following the teaching in the Bible.  He translated the 4th Century Latin Vulgate (Bible) into...

To get a better understanding of what life was like in England during the 17th century we looked at reconstructed buildings such as at Little Woodham – Living History Village in Hampshire. The village started in the mid-1980s as a community project and was initially funded with a grant from Portsmouth Council.  It is now...

Today it is still possible to see buildings all over England and in Leiden in the Netherlands dating back to the period when the Mayflower passengers lived there. In many cases these buildings have been altered over the years although elements of them still survive. To get a better understanding of what life was like...

One the great things about filming for the Mayflower DVD project was being able to see some of the places associated with passengers who sailed to America in 1620. Passenger John Howland lived in Fenstanton in Huntingdonshire. Passengers Elizabeth Tilly, her parents, plus Humility Cooper and Henry Samson all originated from Henlow in Bedfordshire.  While...

The London Guilds played a pivotal role in the Mayflower story and the emergence of England as a great trading nation. Whilst the Guilds themselves did not fund the Mayflower voyage their members did. One of the Mayflower sponsors was really committed to the project as he was a passenger onboard the ship with his...