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With a population of 8,000, Glastonbury may be Britain’s smallest famous town.
Or its most famous small town.
It’s situated in the Somerset Levels, a low-lying area sometimes called “Little Holland”.
It rises up like an island,
and before the 13th century, when land reclamation started,
it was almost completely surrounded by marsh.
It’s said to be the Isle of Avalon of Celtic mythology.
The most prominent feature is the Tor, rising about 500ft (160m) above sea level.
“Tor” is a local word for a conical hill, but for many, Glastonbury Tor is “the” Tor.
The tower is all the remains of St Michael’s, built in the 1360s after an earthquake destroyed the original.
One legend surrounding the Tor is that it’s the gateway to Hell;
another, that the Holy Grail is buried here.
Nearby is Wearyall Hill, said to be where Joseph of Arimathea landed, bringing the Holy Thorn.
It’s actually a type of hawthorn unique to Glastonbury.
It flowers twice a year: in spring and at Christmas;
and every Christmas, a cutting is sent to the monarch.
These and other legends have attracted people looking for a more unconventional lifestyle.
There’s evidence that the area has been lived in since about 8000 BC,
so even the oldest buildings are relatively new.
The Pump House harks back to the 18th century, when Glastonbury was a spa town.
The Town Hall is about 100 years younger.
St John’s Church is much older, more or less completed by 1500,
and its richly-decorated tower is the second tallest in Somerset.
The Market Cross was built in 1846.
The rather magnificent George and Pilgrims Hotel has been in business for over 500 years.
A 15th-century house served as the Tribunal, and now the Tourist Information Centre.
But nothing compares with the abbey.
The first buildings were probably started around AD 712,
and continually added to over the centuries.
It was dissolved in 1539, the last abbot, Whiting, executed on the Tor.
It was already in ruins by Shakespeare’s time.
In 1086 it was the richest abbey in England; at its dissolution, only Westminster was wealthier.
The scale of the building is hard to imagine.
The Great Church was the longest in northern Europe.
A model in the Visitors’ Centre shows what it must have looked like and how it must have dominated the town.
It must have been a magnificent sight.
Some paint is still visible here and there,
and a few tiny fragments of the original floor survive.
The monks claimed to have found the grave of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere in 1191.
At the time, the abbey had cash-flow problems, so some skepticism might be called for here.
The fragments that remain are mostly of the church itself;
the domestic buildings have almost disappeared, only the foundations remaining.
The exception is the Abbot’s Kitchen, the only complete building remaining.
Benedictine monks ate simple foods, but guests had to be given proper feasts,
so the Abbot, who ate with the guests, had his own kitchen,
and a surprisingly full appointments diary.
In addition to the chimneys at each corner,
the entire ceiling is designed to funnel smoke and steam up and out.
In mediaeval times, Glastonbury relied on pilgrims to bring money in.
Today, we call them “tourists”, and this is still Glastonbury’s only real industry.