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Austerfield, whose name derives from the Germanic ‘Ouestraefeld’ meaning ‘eastern field’ is a quaint village full of historical links and connections with the famous ship ‘The Mayflower’.

It was here in Austerfield that the ships pilgrim father William Bradford originated. William Bradford, along with his fellow pilgrims boarded The Mayflower on September 6, 1620 in the hope to settle in New Plymouth and to lay the foundations of the New England States. On the 11th November 1620, having spent 66 days at sea and having covered 2,750 miles The Mayflower made its first landfall at what is now Provincetown, Massachusetts. Bradford is credited as the first to proclaim what popular American culture now views as Thanksgiving.

The Mayflower is famous in American history as a symbol of early European colonization of the future U.S. In 1623 the captain of the Mayflower ‘Christopher Jones’ died and it is thought the ship was then dismantled for scrap lumber.