Two years ago, you may remember, we saw that William Bradford’s (likely) boyhood home in Austerfield, UK went up for sale. Now an even more famous Pilgrim home has hit the market – Scrooby Manor. It is often regarded as the birthplace of the Pilgrims, and through them of all of New England. At one point Scrooby Manor was a truly impressive place – a huge medieval palace home to the Archbishop of York. Those glories were long gone when William Brewster and Richard Jackson lived here, and hosted a separatist church in the archbishop’s own decaying home. Not long thereafter, most of the manor house was demolished. Some have argued the current building shown here was built later, but it is more likely, based on a careful examination of its unusual architecture, that a portion of the manor was left standing, and was then later converted into a farmhouse.
We know that Bradford attended church services here, and it is also very possible that he lived here as well for a time, during a speculated apprenticeship or mentorship with Brewster.
I hope that the new owner, whoever that may be, will continue to allow tour groups on the grounds, we enjoyed our visit to this important spot two years ago. The inside, however, has not been open to the public, but thanks to the real estate listing we can look inside. To see more photos, or buy the property, see the original listing.
For a detailed examination of the manor’s history, see In Search of Scrooby Manor by Sue Allan. (And thanks also to Sue’s post for bring this to my attention).
