Glastonbury Tor

For the pilgrim the landscape of Avalon is a treasure trove where sacred sites abound. The most obvious to the visitor is Glastonbury Tor, which can be seen from a great distance rising enigmatically above the flat Summerland meadows.

There are many myths and legends associated with the Tor - it is the home of Gwyn ap Nudd, the Lord of the Underworld and King of the Fairies, and a place where the fairy folk live.

In early-medieval times there was a small monks' retreat on top of the Tor, founded probably in the time of St Patrick in the mid-400s. This was followed in the early 1100s by a chapel, St Michael de Torre. This was destroyed in a powerful earthquake in 1275 and rebuilt in the early 1300s. The tower is all that remains today.

In recent years there has been discussion about the significance of the terracing of the Tor. It was proposed first by Geoffrey Russell and then expanded on by Geoffrey Ashe, the well-known Arthurian scholar, that the terracing on the slopes of Glastonbury Tor is the remains of a great three-dimensional neolithic labyrinth, a ceremonial way dedicated to the ancient British Goddess.