We left fairly early on Monday morning and headed to Glastonbury to see the main attractions on offer.
First off we parked the car in one of the central parking areas, and headed off for a walk towards to Glastonbury Tor, situated about 20 minutes walk away.
Glastonbury Tor
The Glastonbury Tor is one of the most famous and sacred landmarks in the West Country. The summit rises to 158m and on a clear day you can see three different Counties. Of course when we got there on Monday morning, there was thick low cloud limiting our views! It has been a place of pilgrimage for over 10,000 years, and in 1275 St Michael’s Tower was constructed to replace a previous church that sat atop the Tor, and that is the structure you can see in the photos.
Heading back to Glastonbury
Chalice Well
Heading back towards the town centre, we next visited the Chalice Well, which contains the ancient red spring of Avalon, and is noted as ‘a natural sanctuary of peace and healing’. The natural spring that flows through the gardens contains high levels of iron, leading to the red staining of the rocks. It was a very tranquil setting where you could bring a picnic and relax on the grass, or walk around the gardens and enjoy the flowering plants, and the quietness of nature. We then stopped for lunch in the Town Centre, and to rest the feet from the walking…
Chalice Gardens, with the Tor in the background
The Well
The Well and surrounds
The Lion's Head, where you can drink the water
Glastonbury Abbey
The major tourist attraction in Glastonbury is the main Abbey Ruins that cover a large area of the town centre. Fenced off of course, so you have to pay to enter, we entered and spent the rest of the afternoon walking the grounds enjoying the remains of the large abbey and other remaining structures on the site.
The other structures onsite included the Monk’s kitchen, the Reredorter (Monk’s toilet – with running water!), Pumphouse, and the Lady Chapel. An orchard is still present on the site, along with ponds and wildlife areas also.
First construction dates back to the 7th Century, and since then over time it was extended and rebuilt. In 1536, during the 27th year of the reign of Henry VIII, there were over 800 monasteries, nunneries and friaries in Britain. By 1541, there were none. More than 10,000 monks and nuns had been dispersed and the buildings had been seized by the Crown to be sold off or leased to new lay occupiers. Glastonbury Abbey was one of principal victims of this action by the King, during the social and religious upheaval known as the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
More info can be found at the following website: http://www.glastonburyabbey.com/
The site of King Arthur’s tomb
St Patrick’s Chapel The Abbot’s Kitchen – now used for live performances such as singing
2 comments:
Was it windy as sh*t up on the tor. Standing inside the tower was crazy when we were up there.
I am loving the jumping shots in the abby as well. Keep up the good work and this will soon take the world by storm!!!
I like the jumping shots too! v v creative. Needs it's own web site.
I'm waiting on PREXY again, so i'm putting the time down to it, while surfing the web, ha ha!
Your 3rd in the footy tips.
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