Glastonbury Abbey was founded in the early 7th Century by the Britons. When Somerset was conquered by the Saxons, their Christian King, Ine of Wessex, built a minister - a settlement of clergy - in Glastonbury. King Ine built a stone church at the base of what now forms the west end of the Nave.
In 960, St Dunstan became the Bishop of Glastonbury. Dunstan, a famous illuminator, musician, artist and metalworker, originally worked as a scriptorium and silversmith at Glastonbury. St Dunstan established a Benedictine monastery at Glastonbury.
Glastonbury became very wealthy; however, the Abbey could not cushion the Saxons from the invasion of the Normans when they invaded England. The very skilled Norman craftsmen added magnificent buildings to the Abbey. In 1086, the Domesday Book was commissioned to provide a record of census of life in England. In this census, Glastonbury was listed as the wealthiest monastery in England.
A fire in 1184 destroyed many of the ancient treasures and the buildings created by the Normans at the Abbey. In 1191, monks at Glastonbury Abbey discovered a massive hollowed-out trunk that contained two skeletons. The skeletons were a large-boned man and a woman with remnants of golden-coloured hair still attached to her skull. A leaden cross was discovered with the bodies with the inscription, "Hic jacet sepultus inclitus rex Arthurus in insula Avalonia - Here lies interred the famous King Arthur on the Isle of Avalon."
Several stories surround the discovery of the bodies. It was said that Henry II had encouraged the search for the bodies after hearing a story from an old Welsh bard that suggested that Arthur and Guinevere were buried at the site of the Abbey. It was also suggested that, in order to rebuild the Abbey after the fire, the monks may have come up with the story of discovering the bodies of Arthur and Guinevere as a way to raise much-needed money for the restoration of the buildings. It was even said that the monks at Glastonbury had accidentally stumbled across the skeletons when digging a grave for a monk from the Abbey.
In 1197, Savaric fitzGeldewin, Bishop of Bath and Wells, traded the city of Bath to the King in return for the Monastery of Glastonbury. He planned to be the Bishop of Bath and an Abbot of Glastonbury. The monks of Glastonbury Abbey protested and sent an appeal to Rome, which was dismissed. King Richard sided with the monks after hearing their plight, and allowed them to vote for their own leader. They chose William Pica, and Savaric responded by excommunicating him. In 1199, John became the King in place of his brother, Richard. Savaric saw an opportunity, and forced his way back into the Abbey. This time, a small party of protesters, including William Pica, travelled to Rome to appeal to the newly-appointed Pope Innocent III. Initially siding with the monks, Pope Innocent III lifted Pica's excommunication. However, during this appeal process, Pica and several of his supporters died in Rome. Some believe it was due to poison, administered by Savaric. Pope Innocent III then changed his mind and reinstated Savaric. His plan was to secure more control of the monasteries in his diocese. However, he died before he could put his plans into action.
In 1213, services began at the Great Church that had been reconsecrated. On the 19th of April 1278, King Edward I and Queen Eleanor attended the service of the re-burial of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere at the foot of the High Altar. By the 14th century, only Westminster Abbey was wealthier than Glastonbury Abbey. In order to accommodate the large number of pilgrims travelling to the Abbey, the George Hotel and Pilgrims Inn was constructed.
Between 1536 and 1541, the Dissolution of the Monasteries occurred. Instigated by King Henry VIII, the Dissolution resulted in the disbanding of Catholic monasteries, priories, friaries and convents in England, Wales and Ireland. At the start of the Dissolution there were 850 monasteries and, by 1541, there were none. Over 15,000 monks and nuns were displaced, and all the buildings and their assets were seized by the crown.
Unexpectedly, in September 1539, Richard Layton, Richard Pollard and Thomas Moyle visited Glastonbury Abbey. They were there, on the orders of Thomas Cromwell, to take all assets and values and seize all property. When the Abbot, Richard Whiting, resisted, he was taken to Glastonbury Tor where he was hung, drawn and quartered as a traitor.
Following the Dissolution, two of Glastonbury Abbey's manors in Wiltshire were given to John Thynne and, thereafter, they passed to his descendents who would eventually become the Marqueses of Bath. The ruined Abbey was eventually stripped of its lead and all of its dress stones. Edward VI granted the site to Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset. Seymour established a colony of Protestant Dutch weavers on the site.
By 1551, the Abbey reverted to the crown and, with the reign of Mary, the weavers were removed from the Abbey. In 1559, Elizabeth I granted the site to Peter Carew, an English adventurer who had served in the Tudor conquest of Ireland, and it remained in private ownership until the 20th century. In 1908, the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey were purchased by the Diocesan of Bath and Wells. The ruins then became the property of the Glastonbury Abbey Trust. On acquiring the site, the trust commissioned Frederick Bligh Bond to do an archaeological study of the site. Bligh Bond went on to discover the Edgar Chapel, the North Porch and St Dunstan's Chapel. When Bligh Bond revealed in his book, "The Gates of Rememberance", that he had discovered the buildings at Glastonbury Abbey under the direction of dead monks, the Trust distanced themselves. Bligh Bond had conducted the first documented psychic archaeological dig. He said that the ghosts of monks had guided him through his psychic friend, Captain John Bartlett, and through automatic writing.
There have been many reports of paranormal activity at Glastonbury Abbey. Ghostly monks have been seen wandering around the buildings, and even fishing at the River Brue. The chant of monks has been heard by visitors to the Abbey. The ghost of a monk, said to have killed himself after his fathering of an illegitimate child was brought to light, purportedly haunts the abbey grounds. A ghostly monk also wanders the orchard. He is said to have gone mad after drinking the dregs of poison meant for someone else. A monk and supposed spy for Henry VIII is also said to haunt the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey. Many photographs showing a white spectral figure have been taken by tourists in the grounds of the Abbey. The Holy Thorn tree at Glastonbury Abbey is believed to have grown from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea, who may have even had the child, Jesus, with him when he purportedly visited the Abbey. There has been speculation that Glastonbury Abbey is indeed the location of the fabled Isle of Avalon. There is also said to be a large knight in dark armour with blazing red eyes that walks amongst the ruins of the Abbey, angry and trying hard to eradicate the memory of King Arthur.
I was very excited to visit Glastonbury. I remember that walking amongst the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey felt very peaceful.
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