Pilgrim of Brixham’s History

Pilgrim of Brixham is a member of the UK National Historic Fleet and proudly wears their Ensign. Built by J W & A Upham in their Brixham yard in 1895, she was one of over 300 sailing trawlers working out of the port in the late Victorian period. Her owner/skipper was Brixham man Silas Pine who at 27 years of age was the youngest local skipper of his generation. She is constructed of English oak frames with larch planking, with masts and spars of Douglas fir and decks of oak and Columbian pine.

When she retired from trawling in 1912, Pilgrim was sold to Swedish owners and spent most of the 20th century operating as a cargo vessel around ports in the Nordic area. In 1999 she was recovered in a poor condition from the port of Gilleleje in Denmark and she returned to her Brixham home. After many years of painstaking effort by a valiant group of enthusiasts, Pilgrim underwent a major restoration in the period 2008-2013. Today, she is configured in the original form above decks with comfortable cruising accommodation below decks.

The vessel is now owned and operated by the Pilgrim Heritage Sailing Foundation. The charity’s objects are to maintain and preserve her heritage for future generations while sailing her in the traditional manner. Every year Pilgrim cruises her original fishing grounds including the coasts of Devon and Cornwall and the south west approaches out to the Isles of Scilly and across to the Channel Islands and the Brittany coast. She is the current holder of the King George V Perpetual Cup for Brixham sailing trawlers which she competes for each year.