A barn reputedly built using timbers from The Mayflower is in the final stages of being sold off.
The barn, used for weddings and other events, is being sold with the adjoining Quaker-run Old Jordans Guesthouse and Conference Centre near Beaconsfield for close to its £2.5m asking price.
The Mayflower, which brought the first European pilgrims to North America in 1620, was broken up in about 1624, with the beams apparantly sold to the Jordan family which built the barn.
Despite not being able to categorically prove the timber’s authenticity, the wood is obviously from a ship, with one beam having an “M” carving and the middle beam featuring a crack similar to one described in The Mayflower.
In addition, the wood was bought from a ship-breakers in Rotherhithe, where the ship’s Captain had died in 1623.
Janet Cummins, a trustee of barn owner Old Jordans Trust, told TTJ that the purchaser intended to continue preserving the Grade II listed structure, which she described as historically significant.
