Island House, Barbican

Island House
View of Island House off Southside Street
Island House Location within Plymouth, Devon
General information
Status	Completed
Town or city	Plymouth
Country	United Kingdom
Coordinates	50.36696°N 4.13494°W / 50.36696; -4.13494
Current tenants	Pilgrims Ice Cream
Estimated completion	1570s-1600s[1]
Designations
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Island House
Designated	25 January 1954
Reference no.	1386438
Known for	Final place of accommodation for the Pilgrim Fathers prior to their Mayflower voyage

Island House is a former merchant's house and Grade II listed building on the Barbican in Plymouth, Devon, England.

History

Built between the 1570s and 1600s, it is known for being the last place of accommodation for the Pilgrim Fathers on English soil, prior to them setting sail on the Mayflower on 6 September 1620.[2]

Construction

It is a local example of a jettied merchant's house.[3]

Present day

Island House has maintained its Grade II listed status,[4] until c. 2010 as a tourist information centre and since then an ice cream shop.

A blue plaque from 1976 can be found beside the shop entrance describing Island House as "one of the houses where a group of English puritans, since known as the Pilgrim Fathers, were entertained ashore prior to their final departure for America on the 6th September 1620 in the 'Mayflower'".

Blue plaque commemorating Island House

References

1. Bracken, Charles William; Harris, W. Best (1970). A history of Plymouth and her neighbors. S. R. Publishers. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-85409-608-4. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
2. Hoblyn, Ernie (2018). Historic England: Plymouth: Unique Images from the Archives of Historic England. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-8331-7. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
3. Cherry, Bridget (2001). Devon ([2nd, extensively rev.] ed.). Harmondworth: Penguin. ISBN 9780140710502.
4. Historic England. "Island House (1386438)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 June 2020.