Glastonbury & The Holy Grail

Legend tells us that Jesus visited this ancient part of England as a boy and that some years later Joseph of Arimathea brought the Holy Grail (the chalice from the last supper, which captured the blood of the crucified Christ) back to the area and founded the first Christian Church in Britain at Glastonbury.

This story may not be as far fetched as it at first sounds; Joseph of Arimathea was certainly a relation of Mary’s and had a mine in the Mendips and while much of the young Christ’s early years are only vaguely chronicled, it is not beyond belief that he would have visited his mother’s family in this country. Indeed, this premise is raised in one of Britain’s most famous hymns – William Blakes Jerusalem

Joseph of Arimathea’s legend continues that some thirty years after the crucifixion he returned to this country from Palestine with the Holy Grail and built the first Christian church at Glastonbury, when he put down his staff and it took root. Since then, Glastonbury has remained one of the most important ecclesiastical centres in Britain but this is often overlooked in favour of the music festival and New Age-ism, that the town now seems better known for.