Glastonbury

Glastonbury is a unique experience, and completely worth the trip out to Somerset. Glastonbury is an ancient pagan epicentre, and later became the site of the largest abbey in England. Is is also heavily associated with Arthurian legend, and claimed to be the Isle of Avalon by some. The abbey was destroyed during Henry VIII’s dissolution of the abbeys, but magnificant remains have been left behind. The focal point of Glastonbury is the Tor, which may have prehistoric spiral earthworks on it. The remains of the chapel of St. Michael stand at the top. It’s worth the climb to the top for the legend and the view. The connections with Arthurian legend are many: it is said St. Joseph of Arimathea came to Glastonbury with the Holy Grail filled with the blood of Christ, and a staff made from the same thorn tree as Jesus’ crown of thorns. St. Joseph is said to have dropped the Grail in a well (now known as the Chalice Well), and planted his staff in the hillside (thorn trees from the Middle East still grow in Glastonbury- one is on the grounds of the abbey ruins). Glastonbury is said to be the Isle of Avalon- King Arthur’s resting place before he returns to England- and it did used to be a salt marsh, with only the Tor as a sort of island. In the 12th century, the monks of the abbey claimed to have found the remains of a man in a hollowed-out oak on the abbey grounds, with a cross declaring the body to be that of Arturus. You can still see the site of the supposed grave. Whether or not the legends have any grain of truth doesn’t matter- the place is magical.