Glastonbury

Glastonbury Tor

We were staying in Somerset for a few days on family business and had to go to Glastonbury on an errand; it seemed essential to capitalise on the opportunity and see the famous Tor and Abbey.

We approached the town expecting it to be full of hippy throw-backs and new-agers. First impressions tended to support these prejudices: the first two people we saw were a middle aged man with shoulder-length grey hair and another man of the same vintage with his grey hair concealed under a knitted pill-box cap.

There were of course loads of shops selling new age books and artifacts, and a surprising number offering material connected with witchcraft - OK perhaps it's not that surprising. At least it meant that it does not look like every other high street in Britain.

The other indicators were more subtle: a house with a notice in the window of the kind that might indicate a lost cat or "no vacancies" turned out to be offering courses in Consciousness and transpersonal psychology. A B&B had a sign offering "Witches for sale" - these turned out to be small wickerwork models, complete with broomstick. Even one of the bands playing in a pub blues night was called Conscious Unconscious.

We parked near the market place, walked past the handsome Victorian Market Cross ....



.... and up the High Street, past the lovely 15th century merchant's house, misnamed the Tribunal, now the tourist office.



From here a signed route to the Tor leads away from the road and, passing an Ashram with Tibetan prayer wheels outside, crosses some steep open ground to reach the road below and to one side of the Tor. We turned left up the road to reach the rear access to the Tor and climbed up the steps enjoying the splendid views over Somerset as we did.



At the top, the tower is all that remains of St Michael's church, built in the 14th century and restored in 1804. It is looking the worse for wear and this is not helped by cow pats left by the cows who graze over the whole hillside.

The descent back towards the town is longer and less steep and the path stretches ahead invitingly.


At the bottom we turned along the road towards the town, passed the church-like Abbey barn, and eventually reached the entrance to the Abbey itself.



The Abbey grounds are substantial, and once through the visitor centre, the first sight is the beautiful Norman lady chapel which dates from 1186. Beyond it, to the right, lies the the 14th century Abbot's kitchen and to the left are the remains of the nave of the enormous abbey church which dates from the 13th century.



The Abbey was destroyed as part of Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries, but the columns in part of the nave are still well preserved. At its height, it was the second wealthiest abbey in Britain, second only to Westminster.



Rating: four stars. Short - perhaps three miles in all - but full of interest.

Map: Explorer 141 (Cheddar Gorge and Mendip Hills West)