The Pilgrims Meet in Billericay

Billericay is located in Essex, east of London. It is an old community with evidence of occupation that pre-dates Roman Britain. In the 13th and 14th centuries pilgrims began to arrive in Billericay from Canterbury. A meeting of the Pilgrim fathers took place in a basement under one of the businesses on this street prior to their sailing on the Mayflower. It isn’t open to the public, but it was described to me as an old stone basement with cuts in the stone to hold candles for light. Four people from Billericay were on board the Mayflower when she left for the new world. All four of the pioneers died shortly after their arrival in Cape Cod, MA. Their unfortunate fate did not deter other pioneers from Billericay and in 1655 the town of Billericay, MA was established to commemorate origins of some of the first settlers.