Boston is in Lincolnshire, 120 miles northeast of London and 34 miles southeast of Lincoln.  It is, of course, the city after which Boston, Massachusetts is named.  That is due to the influence of the Reverand John Cotton.  In the early 17th century he was a minister in St. Botolph's church in the English Boston, preaching doctrines that were not in agreement with Anglican Church orthodoxy, blending into what was to become the Puritan movement.  Previously, in 1607, a number of so-called Pilgrims with ideas similar to Cotton's, including William Brewster and William Bradford, were imprisoned in the town as they were on their way to Leiden in The Netherlands.  After being held for a month in the town hall cells, they made it across to Leiden and remained there until 1620.  Then a number of them came back to England and sailed on the Mayflower out of Plymouth, landing in what is now Provincetown before sailing across the Bay to found the Plymouth Colony.  Cotton eventually convinced his parishioners to emigrate and join the colony  which they did in 1630.  Cotton, persecuted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud, for his unorthodox preaching, followed in 1633.   Cotton became a leader of the Puritans, founding a church separate from the Anglican Church, which steered the Bay Colony toward becoming a theocracy. 

 

St. Botolph's, also known as "The Stump"is still very much there.  We asked several people why it is called The Stump, but they did not know exactly why..  A side chapel in the church has a placque displaying coats of arms of Boston, England families who became distinguished families in Boston, Massachusetts.  The families include Quincy, Lowell, Adams, Eliot and Sears, among others.

 

Boston is on what is known as The Fens, very large swampy areas.  The drainage of these Fens in the 16th century by the government was not a popular move at the time because many residents earned their living from fen resources.  The discontent is purported to have played a role in encouraging the emigration.

 

The  Within river which drains into the Wash, bisects the town.  The tides in this part of England have a large range, and when the tide is low, as it was when we were visiting, large unattractive mud banks are exposed.