Glastonbury Abbey
 Abbeys |
Glastonbury is a sacred site whose history is tightly interwoven with mystical associations, which tends to dim the dividing line between fact and legend.
The history of Glastonbury Abbey is somewhat sparse, but archaeological evidence suggests that there was a settlement on the site as long ago as two thousand years. Documentary evidence confirms that in AD688 the first stone monastery was built at Glastonbury by King Ine of Wessex, and that it is the burial place of at least three Saxon kings. St Dunstan, later to become Archbishop of Canterbury, enlarged the church whilst Abbot of Glastonbury from 940/56; he introduced the Benedictine doctrine and from his appointment seems to stem the rise in wealth and influence of the abbey.
After fire had destroyed the early church in 1184, reconstruction began almost immediately thanks to Henry II's purse strings being loosened. The rebuilding programme progressed through the 13 th century at a rather slow rate, in fact, building continued for nearly two hundred more years. What finally arose, like a Phoenix from the ashes, was the greatest Benedictine establishment in England, a church vast and cathedral-like in its magnificence. At last there stood a building whose physical presence and splendour matched its vast wealth and power. Throughout the Middle Ages, Glastonbury Abbey was the richest monastery in the country, with enormous landholdings contributing to its wealth; its annual income only occasionally fell below that of Westminster Abbey. The Dissolution of the Monasteries, 1536-40, saw an end to Glastonbury's power and influence; the abbey was devastated in 1539 and its last abbot, together with two of his monks, was hanged and quartered on the nearby Tor.
Despite being brought to ruin, some spectacular remains of this once mighty abbey stand in broken defiance of man's attempts to reduce it to nought. At the west end of the church, the surviving shell of the Lady Chapel provides a hint of the magnificent Romanesque style building. Its stonework is lavishly adorned with delicate carvings and contains a wonderfully carved doorway, whilst beneath in the crypt, is a deep well, considered to have held some special significance. The Chapel was the first building to be completed after the conflagration. Despite there being hardly any visible evidence remaining of monastic buildings, isolated features of the vast edifice remain for us to wonder at. Of the nave, stretching out for some 550ft in length, two tall piers and parts of the south wall stubbornly remain. These provide tantalising fragments, which, by means of the details of arch and ornament trace the transition in building style from Norman to Gothic, at the same time reminding us of the sumptuous carving that originally enveloped the entire abbey.
Standing apart, the unusual 14 th century Abbot's Kitchen survives intact, and is presented internally much as it would have appeared six hundred years ago. Inside there are massive fireplaces and chimneys in each corner. Its external appearance is funnel-like, having an octagonal roof and high central lantern with smoke-holes to act as a vent. The kitchen remains the only evidence of a once great complex of secular monastic buildings that occupied ground now reclaimed by nature.
Other buildings survive outside the precinct, most notably the great 14 th century abbey barn that houses the excellent ‘Somerset Rural Life Museum'. Also, standing in the town's High Street, is the ‘Tribunal', the abbey's medieval courthouse with its small many-windowed 15 th century frontage, where the abbots enjoyed considerable influence - it too is now a museum.
Even in its ruinous state, Glastonbury Abbey is undoubtedly one of the most atmospheric of all the medieval ruined abbey sites. The story of Joseph of Arimathea, arriving here from Jerusalem one Christmas morning in mid 1 st century AD, carrying with him the Holy Grail and leaning on his staff which immediately took root and is supposedly still flowering, is not so hard to believe when stood in the midst of these evocative ruins. Nor, too, the many richly layered Arthurian legends that are instinctively and forever tied to the stones of Glastonbury. In 1191, grave-digging monks allegedly unearthed the bones of Arthur and Guinevere, together with a leaden cross bearing the Latin inscription ‘Here lies the renowned King Arthur in the Isle of Avalon'. In 1278, the royal corpses were enshrined with great ceremony in the abbey choir, and Albion's best-loved hero, the ‘Once and Future King', lies sleeping, awaiting the call to arms. Undoubtedly, there is a spiritual aura pervading the entire site and that it is enhanced by our imaginings of associated myths.