A – Z OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
G
is for Glastonbury Tor
Today we travel to Glastonbury Tor in the county of Somerset
Glastonbury Tor is a 500 foot conical hill of clay with
terraced slopes topped by the roofless St. Michael's Tower, the only remaining
piece of a 14th Century church, now a Grade I Listed Building managed by the
National Trust.
Glastonbury is steeped
in history. The terracing on the
hillside is of unknown origin but artefacts have been found dating from the
Iron Age to the Roman era.
Earlier religious
buildings were constructed on the summit from Saxon and early medieval times
and were thought to have been an early church and monks’ heritage.
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The Tor
with the ruins of St. Michael's Tower
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The
climb to the top of the hill
The last few feet
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Photos
from Wikimedia Commons
The Tor
has many legends and myths and spiritual connotations mixed with it. It is associated with Avalon and King Arthur
since the alleged discovery of King Arthur’s and Queen Guinevere’s neatly
labelled coffins in 1191 recounted by Gerald of Wales.
It is
also reputed to be called a magic mountain, a faeries’ glass hill, a spiral
castle, a Grail castle, the Land of the Dear, Hades, a Druid initiation centre,
an Arthurian hill-fort, a magnetic power point, a crossroad of leys, a centre
for Goddess fertility rituals and celebrations and also a converging point for
UFOs.
A
life time love affair
Arthur
and Guinevere
The
power plays of the day
Were
not easy to keep at bay
Little
did they know
They
would always be on show
Centuries
have come and gone
Their
names live on and on
In
myths and legends
Buried
on an island
A
spiritual place with swirling mists
Ghostly
encounters of trysts
Imagined
or real who can say anymore
People
travel to the top of the Tor
Not
sure what they are looking for
Maybe
they are changed forever more.
Thank you for showing me to these lovely places that I would probably never see if you had not taken my there. Glastonbury Tor certainly beautiful and rich in history. I chose gymnastics for my G post. If you have time hop over the pond and visit my blog to see why.
ReplyDeleteThose are beautiful pictures, what an inspiring place full of mystery! Love the line, "Spiritual place with swirling mists". Thanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree about the photos. This makes me want to go back to England at once!
ReplyDeleteVisiting from Australia and A-Z.