Iowa Society | |
of Mayflower Descendants |
The National Pilgrim Memorial Meetinghouse
is located on the same plot where the Mayflower Pilgrims built the original
Fort/Meetinghouse by 1622. The General Society Of Mayflower Descendants has
taken deed to the building and is undertaking restoration and repairs. This
fifth structure, begun in 1897 and completed in 1899, stands at the top of
Leyden Street overlooking Plymouth's historic Town Square.
The cornerstone of the present fifth
meetinghouse was laid 29 June 1896 with dedication on 21 December 1899. The
church is approximately 62 feet by 96 feet. The bell tower is 38 ft by 38 ft
and 88 feet high sitting on the highest building lot on the street.
Everything about the building says Pilgrims and the records of design and
construction mention:
…the design should be somewhat monumental in
its character permitting some fitting memorial of the Pilgrim name.
…the arched front entrance was modeled after
that of St. Helena’s Church in Austerfield, England where Governor William
was baptized in 1590.
…the Romanesque
Revival style was chosen as it would incorporate features of the Pilgrim’s’
Norman churches
in England.
…tablets on the east wall list Ministers of
the Church from 1606 in Scrooby, England to 1922 in Plymouth.
…on of the most prominent features in the
sanctuary is the heavy, hand-carved, hammer-beam roof truss’ which are
intended to evoke the upturned hull of the Mayflower.
…a piece of the step of the Delftshaven,
Holland church where the Pilgrims worshiped was laid in the floor of the
sanctuary.
…many of the 12 stained glass windows tell
the story of the Pilgrims. They were designed and built by world famous
Tiffany Glass Company. They include “Signing of the Mayflower Compact”,”
Rev. John Robinson’s Farewell Sermon (3)”, “the Landing of the Mayflower”,
and ”the Treaty with Massasoit”.
…one of the tower bells is a 1,000 pound
Paul Revere bell originally cast in 1801 and recast after the 1892 fire.
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