Historic Mayflower steps found in pub under women's bathroom
The famous Mayflower steps in Plymouth are where the Pilgrim Fathers left England aboard the Mayflower in 1620 before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to settle in North America. However, according to a local landlord, the actual location of the steps is not the spot where tourists line up every year, but instead beneath the Admiral MacBride pub just a few feet away, under the women's bathroom.
Perhaps the most famous steps in history, the Mayflower Steps have supposedly been located in a surprising, yet somewhat cheeky spot — under a women's restroom in an English pub.
A set of steps built in Plymouth in 1934 commemorates the location where the Pilgrims are said to have left England on the Mayflower in 1620 to settle North America. However, a local landlord says the actual location of the steps is not where tourists line up every year, but rather beneath the Admiral MacBride pub just a few feet away, SWNS reports.
“Legend has it that this is the home of the Mayflower Steps," Admiral MacBride’s head chef Ollie Marshall, said in comments obtained by SWNS. ''The building was put on top of it more than 300 years ago and they are directly beneath the women’s toilets."
The ladies toilets at the Admiral Macbride pub at the Barbican in Plymouth, Devon where the Pilgrim fathers left for America. (Credit: SWNS)
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Marshall added that he knows the pub "quite well," given that he's been drinking there for the "best part of 20 years."
"It is well known that the original Pilgrim Father steps are in the ladies toilets," Marshall continued. "I’ve not yet had an invite to go and see them yet but I know they're there. It’s one of those things, it’s a story or part of legend that’s never subsided so people do mention it and you hear it from time to time."
The Admiral Macbride pub at the Barbican in Plymouth, Devon where the ladies toilets were apparently built on the spot where the Pilgrim fathers left for America. (Credit: SWNS)
Florida resident Kenny Pope, who was visiting Plymouth for a week, said he knew about the steps and the bathroom after doing some research.
“I knew there was a lot of damage from [World War II] and the bombing and I know that over 400 years a lot of things get moved around so it was not a shock," Pope said. “But it would be interesting to see if there's ever an opportunity to remove them and put them back."
Marshall said that it's nice to know that he is so close to the historic spot.
The famous steps in Plymouth are where the Pilgrim Fathers left England aboard the Mayflower in 1620 before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to settle in North America. Every year thousands of tourists - most from the U.S. - flock to the city to retrace the footsteps of the iconic pioneers. But a local landlord has said the holidaymakers and historians are actually visiting the wrong spot. (Credit: SWNS)
“It’s nice to know I’m not too far from them and in a weird way they have been preserved, albeit underneath what is now tiles and toilets," Marshall said.
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