21 June: Glastonbury Tor

On the Summer Solstice Stonehenge isn’t the only place people go to celebrate. Glastonbury Tor is another popular venue. It has belonged to the National Trust since 1933. Here are 10 things you might not know about it.

1. Glastonbury Tor is a conical hill formed of clay and Blue Lias, formed when surrounding softer deposits were eroded, leaving the hard cap of sandstone exposed. Its rocks date from the early Jurassic Period. At one time the Somerset Levels were covered in Water, and the Tor was effectively an island.
2. Glastonbury Tor is visible for over 20 miles.
3. The sides of the Tor have seven deep, roughly symmetrical terraces. How or why these are there isn’t known. If they are man made, there are numerous theories as to their purpose. Agriculture is one, so the Tor could be used for growing crops, but they’re not just on the best side for growing things. Why would ancient farmers go to a great deal of effort to terrace the north facing side as well as the south? Perhaps they formed a defensive rampart. Another theory is that there was a spiritual purpose – a three dimensional labyrinth dating to Neolithic times.
4. There were certainly people visiting, if not living on, the Tor in Neolithic times. Flint tools have been found at the top of the hill.
5. By Saxon times, there were buildings up there. Evidence has been found of at least four buildings. It’s possible one of the buildings was a church or hermitage, because the head of a stone cross was found partway down the hill. By the Middle Ages there was a metalworker’s forge there.
6. A wooden church dedicated to St Michael was built on the summit in the 11^th or 12^th century. It was common at that time for Christian churches to be built on the sites formerly used for pagan worship, and those churches would often be dedicated to St Michael. St Michael was often the saint to whom places of worship in high places was dedicated (Hence St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall and Mont St-Michel in Normandy). This church was destroyed in an Earthquake in 1275. The epicentre was in the area around Portsmouth or Chichester and could be was felt in London, Canterbury and Wales.
7. In the 14^th century, another church dedicated to St Michael was built on the summit. This one was made from local sandstone by Abbot Adam of Sodbury, incorporating the foundations of the previous building. It was probably a daughter house of Glastonbury Abbey in the nearby town. There is a record of Henry III granting a charter for a six-day fair there in 1243. Most of this church was demolished in 1539 as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, although the tower is still there. Richard Whiting, the last Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, and two of his monks, John Thorne and Roger James, were executed on the Tor.
8. There is a lot of myth and legend associated with Glastonbury Tor. The Celts called it Ynys Witrin, or the Isle of Glass, and believed it was a gateway to the underworld, home of Gwyn ap Nudd, Lord of the Underworld, and also of fairies. Another legend says the Tor is the Island of Avalon, burial site of King Arthur. Christian legend has it that Joseph of Arimathea, a merchant, used to travel to the area for trading purposes, and on one occasion, brought a young Jesus with him; that after the crucifixion, Joseph returned and as well as planting his staff on nearby Wearyall Hill to form the Glastonbury Thorn, he hid the Holy Grail somewhere near the Chalice Well, and iron rich spring at the base of the Tor. It’s also said that St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, led a group of hermits there in the 13^th century. A more recent legend is that the Tor forms part of the Glastonbury Zodiac, a huge zodiac carved into the landscape in ancient times. This theory was first put forward in 1927 by Katherine Maltwood. The Tor forms part of the representation of Aquarius.
9. The mysterious nature of the landmark is enhanced by visual effects which can be observed at times. One of these is a phenomenon known as a Fata Morgana (derived, appropriately enough, from Morgan le Fay, a powerful sorceress in Arthurian legend) in which rays of light are strongly bent when they pass through air layers of different temperatures. This makes the Tor appear to float above the mist.
10. A representation of the Tor played a part in the opening ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012. A model based on the Tor (with a tree on top instead of the tower) was used to display the national Flags of the athletes as they entered the stadium.

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