This trip was actually the second, but I have these pictures ready to go, and who cares what the order is anyway?
Glastonbury is a small village that has several claims to fame. It has the ruins of a very important medieval abbey/cathedral; it is claimed to be where monks dug up Arthur and Guinevere in the 1100s; it is where legend says the Holy Grail was buried; they have a massive Woodstock-like music festival here every year; and New Age religious people and others say that this is one of the place on earth where ley lines of energy converge giving it special religious/spiritual power. It also has some offbeat signs like this store, the "Burn the Bread Bakery."
Here's a model of the Abbey as it appeared before Henry VIII created the Church Of England so he could legally dump wife #1. It was the largest, richest and most powerful abbey (a place full of monks and attendant workers, for those of you not up on your abbeyness) in England at one point. Henry disbanded all the Catholic abbeys, convents, etc., and then took all the riches from them for himself. Then people started taking them apart for building materials. Hence all the ruins of religious buildings scattered around the countryside. I mean, they didn't just build these places as ruins to be picturesque for the tourists to take pictures of centuries later. 
This fellow plays the role of a commissioner from Henry VIII who came to Glastonbury and hanged the Abbot and two monks before coming up with a way to justify taking all the goodies for Henry. He gave my class a personalized tour of the place. He was, to say the least, great. Here he is threatening to skewer one of my students if I do not hand over a large ransom. I decided that I could do with one less student.
In the Middle Ages they used sculpture and stained glass to do show-and-tell for the mostly illiterate. They also did it all in the style they were accustomed to in their day. Just to the left in the bottom row is the birth of Jesus--in a poster bed. Go figure.
The interior of what is left of the Lady Chapel of the cathedral.
Glastonbury was the largest church in the country in its glory days. The main part of the building was over 5oo feet long. This would have been in the main aisle of the nave, looking toward the high altar.
You can see the side aisles here, too, marked by the pointed arches. There is a place in the grass where you can lift up a panel and see some of the medieval tiles that were here originally.
This is the place where in the time of Edward I they erected a huge black marble tomb for what they claimed were the remains of Arthur and Gwenny. Lots of pilgrims showed up--good for the old monastery coffers.
Now this part is the magic. Glastonbury Tor is a 500+ foot hill that rises up out of otherwise flat land. It has been regarded as sacred and mystical for a very long time. A thousand years ago it was mostly surrounded by water and was almost an island. Many say that it is the inspiration for the Isle of Avalon, where Arthur is said to have been taken after his last battle. The day we were there it was raining or misting most of the time. As sometimes uncomfortable as that was, it was the perfect way to experience the Tor. At the top the wind blows very hard all of the time. It's quite an experience. Here you can just make out a tiny figure of a person on the ridge top standing to the right of the tower.
In the 1400s they built St. Michael's Chapel on the top of the Tor. All that's left is the tower. I assure you that no picture I have ever seen or been able to take can convey how steep the climb is. Needless to say, the students made it before their rapidly-aging professor whose life was passing before his rain-blinded eyes as he slogged upward.
Look! It's me. Do I look mystical, or what? I mostly look grateful that the next part of this pilgrimage will all be downhill.
We just stood up there for a long time and looked off through the rain and mist at the town and fields that seem to have dropped away below.
Glastonbury is a small village that has several claims to fame. It has the ruins of a very important medieval abbey/cathedral; it is claimed to be where monks dug up Arthur and Guinevere in the 1100s; it is where legend says the Holy Grail was buried; they have a massive Woodstock-like music festival here every year; and New Age religious people and others say that this is one of the place on earth where ley lines of energy converge giving it special religious/spiritual power. It also has some offbeat signs like this store, the "Burn the Bread Bakery."
Here's a model of the Abbey as it appeared before Henry VIII created the Church Of England so he could legally dump wife #1. It was the largest, richest and most powerful abbey (a place full of monks and attendant workers, for those of you not up on your abbeyness) in England at one point. Henry disbanded all the Catholic abbeys, convents, etc., and then took all the riches from them for himself. Then people started taking them apart for building materials. Hence all the ruins of religious buildings scattered around the countryside. I mean, they didn't just build these places as ruins to be picturesque for the tourists to take pictures of centuries later.This little guy, who looks like an real elf, gave some of my students a hands-on demonstration of weaving the old way. They were pretty good at it. If we had stayed there long enough, who knows, I might have gotten a balnket out of it or at least a pair of medieval socks or something.
This fellow plays the role of a commissioner from Henry VIII who came to Glastonbury and hanged the Abbot and two monks before coming up with a way to justify taking all the goodies for Henry. He gave my class a personalized tour of the place. He was, to say the least, great. Here he is threatening to skewer one of my students if I do not hand over a large ransom. I decided that I could do with one less student.
In the Middle Ages they used sculpture and stained glass to do show-and-tell for the mostly illiterate. They also did it all in the style they were accustomed to in their day. Just to the left in the bottom row is the birth of Jesus--in a poster bed. Go figure.
The interior of what is left of the Lady Chapel of the cathedral.
Glastonbury was the largest church in the country in its glory days. The main part of the building was over 5oo feet long. This would have been in the main aisle of the nave, looking toward the high altar. 
You can see the side aisles here, too, marked by the pointed arches. There is a place in the grass where you can lift up a panel and see some of the medieval tiles that were here originally.
This is the place where in the time of Edward I they erected a huge black marble tomb for what they claimed were the remains of Arthur and Gwenny. Lots of pilgrims showed up--good for the old monastery coffers.
Now this part is the magic. Glastonbury Tor is a 500+ foot hill that rises up out of otherwise flat land. It has been regarded as sacred and mystical for a very long time. A thousand years ago it was mostly surrounded by water and was almost an island. Many say that it is the inspiration for the Isle of Avalon, where Arthur is said to have been taken after his last battle. The day we were there it was raining or misting most of the time. As sometimes uncomfortable as that was, it was the perfect way to experience the Tor. At the top the wind blows very hard all of the time. It's quite an experience. Here you can just make out a tiny figure of a person on the ridge top standing to the right of the tower.
In the 1400s they built St. Michael's Chapel on the top of the Tor. All that's left is the tower. I assure you that no picture I have ever seen or been able to take can convey how steep the climb is. Needless to say, the students made it before their rapidly-aging professor whose life was passing before his rain-blinded eyes as he slogged upward.
Look! It's me. Do I look mystical, or what? I mostly look grateful that the next part of this pilgrimage will all be downhill.
We just stood up there for a long time and looked off through the rain and mist at the town and fields that seem to have dropped away below.
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