Glastonbury: Tor, Thorn and Holy Spring

Glastonbury Tor is a conical hill of clay and Blue Lias, capped with hard sandstone, rising to 158 metres out of the Somerset Levels, with the roofless tower of St Michael's Church on top. Its Welsh name was Ynys Wydrin, the Isle of Glass, and the monks of the abbey below made it Avalon: destroyed by fire in 1184 and rebuilding slowly as pilgrims fell away, the abbey announced in 1191 that it had found the tomb of Arthur and Guinevere in its cemetery. The last abbot, Richard Whiting, was hanged, drawn and quartered on the Tor in 1539. The Glastonbury thorn flowers twice a year, in winter and in spring, and a flowering sprig is sent to the monarch every Christmas; and at the foot of Chalice Hill the Chalice Well, the Red Spring, has been in almost constant use for at least two thousand years.