Bawtry Hall is located in the heart of Pilgrim Fathers country and is proud to celebrate the heritage of the original Separatists in England and the Pilgrim Fathers who settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The Separatist congregation that sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 to found the New World colony of Plymouth became known as the Pilgrim Fathers. From the villages of Austerfield and Bawtry in Yorkshire, across to Nottinghamshire's Scrooby, Babworth and Sturton-le Steeple, then eastwards to Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, the Pilgrim's steps can be traced through the Midlands.

At the start of the 1600's The Separatists were part of a wider puritan movement that wanted to reform the Anglican State Church as they saw it as corrupt. In 1604 James I and his Bishops met in conference at Hampton Court Palace and a new list of rules approved by the King was drawn up. All clergy were then obliged to conform to these rules.

But around 100 Anglican clergy refused to comply. They were stripped of their positions and lost their living within the established Church of England. Another 200 or so initially refused to conform but changed their minds. Among these sacked, dissident clergymen were Richard Clyfton, John Robinson and John Smyth. Along with William Bradford and William Brewster, these were the principle players in the story of the Pilgrim Fathers.