Blackfriars

The distillery building dates back to 1400s. It was formally inhabited by the Black Friars. In 1536, at the time of the Reformation and dissolution of the monasteries, it was put to a variety of other uses including being the town’s debtor’s prison, the first Non-Conformist meeting place and a billet for Huguenot refugees who fled France for Plymouth. In 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers spent their last night in England in the building before setting sail in the Mayflower. Records of a ‘mault-house’ on the premises go back as far as 1697. Distilling of Plymouth Gin began in 1793.