The Sparrow House
When the Plymouth Colony Trust undertook the rehabilitation of a number of old houses on Summer St., many of them were found to contain architectural features of unusual interest. Notable among them, is the Richard Sparrow house. This house is an excellent example of 17th century building, and clearly shows how it was enlarged, a few years after it was built, from the “one-room” to the “lean-to” or “salt-box” type. Its great fireplace, with rounded inner corners and 17th century oven, is remarkable. If, as is believed, the house was built by Richard Sparrow in 1640, it is probably the oldest house now standing in Plymouth. It was therefore decided to restore it to its original appearance, and open it to the public.
The Sparrow House is now the headquarters of the Plymouth Potters, a group of local craftsmen doing very attractive and original work with local clay. They maintain a workshop and showroom at the Sparrow House. An old water wheel turns in the brook at the foot of the garden and the firing kiln on the shady bank presents much of interest to craftsmen and artists.
Authorities
The history of the Plymouth Colony may be read in considerable detail in the words of its founders.
The most important of these contemporary accounts is Governor Bradford’s history “Of Plymouth Plantation,” covering the years 1602–1647. This has been republished at various times, notably by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1898) and the Massachusetts Historical Society (1912).
In his “Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers” (1847), Alexander Young has gathered together and republished a number of contemporary accounts, including “Mourt’s Relation,” so called, which is actually a journal of 1620–21, written by Gov. Bradford and Edward Winslow, and originally published in London in 1622, with a preface signed “G. Mourt”; “Good News from New England,” Winslow’s journal of 1622–23, published in London, 1624; and various other interesting documents, such as Cushman’s discourse on “The Sin and Danger of Self-Love,” a letter referring to the first Thanksgiving; and Winslow’s account of the church in Leyden, including John Robinson’s farewell sermon.