Glastonbury, in the hundred of Glaston, five miles nearly south from Wells, and about seven from Somerton, is situated, in a low marshy country, almost in the centre of the county, on a spot once called Ynyswytryn, or the Glass Island; in Latin Avalonia. The town was built in the reign of King Ina, A. D. 708, and endowed with several privileges. About the year 873, it suffered much from the Danes, but was re-edified by Edmund, the ninth Saxon King. In 1184, the abbey and town were consumed by fire, and again rebuilt by King Henry III.; but, on the eleventh of September, 1276, it was once more destroyed by a dreadful earthquake, which precipitated the church of St. Michael from the Tor Hill. It at present consists of two principal streets, and comprehends two parishes, St. John the Baptist, and St. Benedict; each having a church, containing several ancient monuments. Not only the town, but the environs of Glastonbury, abound with religions reliques. The most conspicuous is the Tor, or Tower of St. Michael, standing upon a very high hill, north-east of the town. On this bleak and desolate spot the Saints Phaganus and Diruvianus erected a small oratory to the honour of St. Michael the archangel. After the earthquake in 1276, mentioned above, the church was erected, of which the tower still remains, lifting its head to the clouds; an object of admiration to travellers, and an ornament to the surrounding country. At the west end of it is the carved figure of St. Michael the archangel, holding in his hand a pair of scales, in one of which is the Bible, in the other a devil, with another devil hanging by it, striving to make weight, but both are too light.

According to the legendary traditions, Joseph of Arimathea was sent into Britain by St. Peter, to convert the natives, and he took up his residence at Glastonbury. After the death of Joseph and his companions, the people, for want of pastors, returned to their idolatry, and Christianity was nearly forgotten when Phaganus and Diruvianus, sent by Pope Eleutherius, arrived. These men soon converted King Lucius, and most of his subjects, and in travelling about they by chance arrived at Glastonbury; where, finding the chapel built by Joseph and his followers, they obtained it of the king, and appointed twelve of their number to reside there. This society was at length brought into a more regular form by St. Patrick, the Irish apostle, who instructed them in the monastic discipline, and became their first abbot, in which office he continued thirty-nine years: St. Dunstan afterwards introduced amongst them the rules of the order of St. Benedict.

In the year of our Lord 708, King Ina pulled down the old monastery, and, according to the monkish historians, rebuilt it in the most sumptuous and magnificent manner, adorning the edifice with a costly chapel, garnished and plated it over with two thousand six hundred and forty pounds weight of silver, and presented it with an altar, of two hundred and sixty – four pounds weight of gold; besides which they add, he gave rich ornaments thereto, as chalice, censor, candlesticks, basins, buckets, images, and a pall for the altar, of incredible value, with precious gems for the embroidery of the celebrating robes. He also bestowed on the abbey a great extent of land, and valuable privileges and immunities. Succeeding monarchs, and other opulent and superstitious characters, continued to enrich and increase the revenues of this house by various grants, merely to obtain them a place of sepulture therein. It suffered, however, some terrible reverses during the depredations of the Danes, as well as by the earthquake of 1276. At the time of the Conquest, it possessed lands of immense value, many of which were seized by the Conqueror, though he still left the monks forty-one manors in this county. At the dissolution of monasteries, Richard Whiting was the sixtieth and last Abbot of Glastonbury; and he being unwilling to surrender his abbey to the King, was seized upon at his manor-house of Sharpham, A. D. 1539, and without much formal process dragged on a hurdle to the Torr Hill, where, without regard to his age or character, he was hanged, his head set upon the abbey gate, and his quarters sent to Wells, Bath, Ivelchester, and Bridgewater. Besides being chief of the most ancient abbey in England, the abbot was always a member of the upper house of convocation, and a parliamentary baron, being summoned by a particular writ to sit among the elders and barons of the realm. His abbey was a kind of well-disciplined court, whither the sons of noblemen and gentlemen were sent for virtuous education, and returned thence excellently accomplished. After this manner Abbot Whiting bred up near three hundred pupils, besides others of a meaner rank, whom he fitted for the universities at home. His table, attendants, and officers, were numerous. He is said to have entertained five hundred persons of fashion at one time; and upon Wednesdays and Fridays, weekly, all the poor of the county were relieved by his particular charily, and when he went abroad (which he seldom did but to national synods, general chapters, and parliamentary conventions), he was attended by upwards of one hundred persons. The fate of the abbot and abbey being thus decided, the buildings and revenues of this house, which had flourished for such a length of time, became the objects of depredation, and the estates of the monastery devolving to the Crown, were granted or sold away.

Most of the buildings in the town of Glastonbury exhibit some marks of antiquity, and even such as are of modern erection are decorated with the spoils of the Abbey. That which is now called the Abbey- house, was constructed out of the ruins of the Abbot’s lodging, and exhibits a multitude of escutcheons, devices, and ornaments in relief. What was once the front gate of the abbey, is become an inn, as is also an hospital for the entertainment of pilgrims, situated northward from the Market Cross. The front of the latter is most elaborately and curiously ornamented, and has niches and canopies for images in abundance. Two hospitals for poor and infirm people, whose benefactors were abbots of this place, and two chapels, said to have been erected by the same personages, still subsist. Relics of other ancient buildings are too numerous to be detailed. "The foundation plot of this immense fabric (including the several offices, &c., ) occupied an area of sixty acres; but, except St. Joseph’s Chapel, the Abbot's Kitchen, and some large fragments of the Church, this space now contains little else but rubbish. The nave of the church, from St. Joseph’s chapel to the cross, was two hundred and eighty feet; each transept forty-five, and the choir one hundred and fifty-five feet in length. The chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea, contiguous to the western end, measures one hundred and ten feet in length, and twenty-four in breadth. Adjoining to the south side was the cloister, which formed a square of two hundred and twenty feet. There were five chapels, (in addition to that already mentioned,) communicating with the church, and some remains of these may still be seen.

"St. Joseph’s Chapel is pretty entire, excepting the roof and floor, and must be admired for the richness of the finishing, as well as the great elegance of the design. Its style is mixed Anglo Norman or Saxon, as it is commonly called, and partly Gothic; both perfect in their kind; a range of windows rather loftily placed, surround the building. The little ornamented cornices edging the arches of the windows, are in the zig-zag manner, and of what is called raised work, that is, separated from the mass of stone by the labour of the chisel. The light is admitted through these perforations, which throw an unequalled degree of lightness and elegance over the whole structure. In the northern entrance the builder seems to have exerted all his skill. The returning archways are supported by slender pillars, surmounted by magnificent capitals; the mouldings separated by four compartments of costly carving, exhibiting running patterns of foliage and fruit, tendrils and flowers entwining each other in the richest profusion. A handsome crypt runs round the eastern part of the chapel. The communication with the church was by a spacious portal; there are doors to the north and south besides; one is ornamented with flower-work and history, the other with very elaborate flourishes and figures. The arches of the window's (of which there are six on each side) are pointed; underneath appear compartments of interlaced zig-zag arches of five pillars, and some others in a different style, their spandrils adorned with roses, crescents, and stars. Large stones falling in from above, have damaged the floor so much that a great part of it has sunk into the vault below, which was turned upon arches that were groined and pointed. At the southeast corner of this vault is an arched way, said to lead to the Torr, and, we were informed, this has been traced to some distance, but it is most probable that the whole was intended to be a repository for the dead. Many leaden coffins have been taken up here, and may be seen in different parts of the town, serving for cisterns. —The ivy, with which the walls of the chapel are most exuberantly covered, gives them a truly venerable and interesting effect. Two of the pillars that supported the tower, with part of the arch, and a few fragments of the south walls of the choir, are the whole of the conventual church now standing. There is a sufficient specimen of the workmanship, however, in the arches of the windows, to authorize a belief that this edifice was in the best style of the early Gothic."

"The Abbot’s kitchen is octagonal, four of the angles being filled with fire-places, each of which measures 16 feet in length, and has an inclined chimney, the smoke passing out at a double octangular vent, that crowns a pyramidal roof of the same number of sides. The stones of the pyramid are all cut slanting with the same bevils to throw off the rain. This curious and durable structure is said to have been built in Henry VIIIth’s time; Mr. Grose thought it not so modern."

There are eight carved ribs in the interior of this kitchen which also support the vault, and eight funnels for letting out the steam through the windows. Within this pyramid there is one of lesser size, in which was hung the bell whose chime was the signal for collecting the poor at the adjoining almonry, now in ruins, on the north side of the kitchen. The stones of the pyramid are all cut in a slanting direction, in such a way as to throw off the rain. Beneath the ruins of this monastery history informs us many kings, nobles, and prelates, were buried; though their monuments are all defaced or demolished. Among them it would be an unpardonable neglect not to mention the name of the illustrious British King Arthur, who having met his death at the fatal battle of Camlan, was brought here and buried in front of the high altar, where he reposed, undisturbed, neglected, and unknown, for a period of many ages. A tradition, however, of his death, had fortunately been preserved among the British Bards who had fled to the mountainous districts of Wales after the Saxon conquest. One of these poets happened to discover the secret in a legend which he had the honour of reciting to Henry the Second. The monarch ordered the spot described in the poem to be opened, when at a distance of seven feet from the surface, a plate with the following inscription appeared: —

"Hic jacet sepultus inclitus Rex Arturius in insula Avalonia."

Encouraged by this they continued their search, and found, at the depth of nine feet further, the hallowed trunk of an oak tree, containing the gigantic bones of the British king, who is justly considered as one of the greatest and most accomplished monarchs.

The town of Glastonbury contains several places of worship for Protestant Dissenters.

The environs, as well as the town itself, abound with striking remains. Of these the most conspicuous is the Tor, or Tower of St. Michael, a short way to the north-east of the monastery. The first erection upon this hill was a small oratory, the work of the Saints Phaganus and Duruvianus, which was dedicated to the honour of St. Michael. This was rebuilt by St. Patrick, and adorned by several of his successors. In latter times not only a church and monastery were added to the original building, but several dwelling-houses and offices were erected around it. At last in the year 1271, these structures were thrown from their lofty foundation by an earthquake. But though erected anew in a more splendid style, none remain at present except the tower. The appearance of this Tor, rearing its lofty head above the clouds, is very grand and impressive as viewed by the traveller from the plain below. It is much admired also as a specimen of architectural antiquity. At the west end of it, there is a carved figure of St. Michael the Archangel, holding in his hand a pair of scales, in one of which there is a Bible, and in the other scale a Devil, assisted by an Imp in pressing upon the scales; both, however, are represented as much too light to weigh down the holy volume. To the south-west of the town is Weary All Hill, which, according to the monkish chronicles, derived its name from St. Joseph and his companions resting here when much fatigued in travelling through the country during their pious mission in England. Here they say St. Joseph fixed his staff which immediately took root, and ever after put forth its leaves on Christmas day. It had, till the reign of Queen Elizabeth, two distinct trunks, when one of them was destroyed by a Puritan; the other met the same fate during the great rebellion. The blossoms of this tree were esteemed such great curiosities as to become an object of gain to the merchants of Bristol, who exported them to different parts of Europe. Besides the holy thorn, there also grew in the abbey church-yard a miraculous walnut tree, which never budded before the eleventh of June, the feast of St. Barnabas. This is also gone: these trees were visited as sacred by all ranks of people, and James the First and his noble attendants are said to have given considerable remunerations for sprigs of them. But even so late as 1751, a man named Matthew Chancellor, a parishioner of North Wooton, by pretending to a vision respecting a miraculous spring of water near the Chain Gate, succeeded in drawing great numbers of people to Glastonbury from all parts of the kingdom, so that at one time there were not less than ten thousand strangers in the town and its neighbourhood. However, after staying a few months, most of these pilgrims found themselves relieved of their money, but not of their disorders, and returned home deprecating their own folly and too easy belief.

William of Malmsbury asserts, that several pyramids used to stand in the abbey church-yard at Glastonbury, in front of the Sarcophagus of King Arthur. That nearest the church was twenty-six feet high, and consisted of five courses or stories. In the upper story was the figure of a bishop; in the second that of a king, with the inscription Her Sexe, and Bliswerth. In the third the names Wemeresste, Bantomp, &c., with others not less barbarous upon the rest of the columns or pyramids. Hadde is called Episcopus; but Bregorted, and Beorwalde, are said to have been early Abbots.

A flat road intersecting what for the most part was formerly nothing but a spongy moor, stretches in nearly a straight line from Glastonbury to Wells, but affords no object of peculiar interest or curiosity.

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GLASTONBURY is a municipal borough and market town, 132 miles by rail, via Templecombe and Salisbury, and 158 by rail via Bristol, from London, 40 south, via Highbridge, from Bristol, 18 east by rail from Bridgwater, 6 south from Wells, 9 south-west from Shepton Mallet and 7 ½ north from Somerton, in the Eastern division of the county, Glaston Twelve Hides hundred, Wells petty sessional division, union and county court district, rural deanery of Glastonbury, archdeaconry of Wells and diocese of Bath and Wells; it formerly consisted of two parishes, St. John the Baptist and St. Benedict, which, however, were united, for civil purposes only, under the authority of a special Act of Parliament, in 1834.

By an order of the Somerset County Council made under the provisions of the “Local Government Act, 1894, ’’ the united parishes have been divided, for civil purposes, into the parishes of Glastonbury and Sharpham, Glastonbury comprising that portion of the late united parishes within the borough of Glastonbury, and Sharpham that part lying without the borough. The two new parishes are partly divided by the river Brue. The town is intersected by the great Western road from London, passing through Bath and Wells.

In 1834, under the authority of an Act obtained in 1827, a canal was opened from Highbridge( where it is connected with the Bristol Channel) to Glastonbury, and by a subsequent Act, passed in 1852, the canal was purchased by the Bristol and Exeter Railway Company, and subsequently sold by them to the Central Somerset Railway Company, who constructed the line from Highbridge to Glastonbury and its extension to Wells in 1855. The Central Somerset Railway Company was ultimately merged into the Somerset and Dorset Railway Company, who carried out the further extension to Bath and to Poole and Bournemouth; but the line is now leased to and worked by the London and South Western and Midland Railway Companies jointly. The station is a short distance from the police barracks and about half a mile from the centre of the town.

The town was incorporated by Queen Anne, 20th June, 1706, the corporate body then consisting of eight “capital burgesses,” including the mayor for the time being, and sixteen “inferior burgesses,” besides a recorder and town clerks. Peter King esq. (afterwards created in 1725 Lord King, Baron Ockham and Lord High Chancellor of England, May 25, 1725), was the first recorder, and it was chiefly through his influence that the charter was obtained. Under the Municipal Corporations Act, 1835 (5 & 6 William IV. c. 76), the number of the Corporation was reduced to four aldermen and twelve councillors. The inhabitants were summoned, A.D. 1319, to return two members to Parliament, but William de Grinstede, then bailiff to the Twelve Hides, made no return to the writ. The mayor and ex-mayor have magisterial jurisdiction within the bounds of the borough, the mayor being a justice of the peace for the year succeeding his year of office.

The police arrangements are under the control of the chief constable of the county.

The town is paved and lighted with gas from works in Northload street, the property of the Corporation, and is partly supplied with water from two ancient wells, one on the west side of Edmund hill, distant 1 mile, and the other at Bovetown; both were built and the water conveyed in pipes to the public conduits, by one or more of the former rulers of the abbey, but the chief supply from the ancient and modern local springs and wells is now collected in reservoirs in Well House lane, Edmund hill and Edgarley; the latter, constructed in 1887, is capable of holding 5 million gallons.

An additional supply is obtained from springs at West Compton and North Wootton, the Corporation serving the parish of West Pennard en route.

Glastonbury, the “Ynyswytryn” of the Ancient Britons, “Avallonia ’’ of the Romans, and “Glsestin-ga-byrig” of the Anglo-Saxons, is a place of great interest to the historian and antiquary. The first and third names are derived from the peculiar position of the place as surrounded with water, literally and poetically “the isle of the glassy wave,” which it was before the neighbouring streams had been artificially confined within their present limits. The second name, “Avallonia” (the mead of the apple), is derived from the word “aval,” the Saxon for apple, the island being then, as now, remarkable for the beauty of its apple orchards.

This place gave the title of baron to James Grenville, esq. created Baron Glastonbury, 20 Oct. 1797, but this peerage became extinct on his death in 1826.

More recently the place has furnished a new peerage title, Admiral Sir Arthur W. Acland Hood G.C.B. being created in 1892 Baron Hood of Avalon.

The church of St. John the Baptist, begun in 1420 and completed by Abbot Selwood in 1485, stands on the north side of and near to the High street, and occupies the site of an earlier cruciform edifice of the Norman period, traces of which were discovered in 1857; it is chiefly of Doulting stone, in the Perpendicular style, and consists of chancel, clerestoried nave of five bays, aisles, transepts, south porch, and a very fine western tower, 140 feet in height, with an open-worked parapet, and eight tall crocketed pinnacles, and containing a clock, erected in 1817, and 8 bells: in the church is an ancient tomb to John Camell or Camville, pursebearer or treasurer to one of the Abbots, and in the chancel are altar tombs to Richard Atwell, ob. 1472, and Joan Atwell, his wife, both liberal benefactors to the church: there is also a small brass with a curious inscription to Capt. John Dyer, ob. 1670: the organ, originally presented in 1818 by Mr. John Yeoman, has since been greatly enlarged: the stone pulpit was the gift of Lady Charlotte Neville Grenville, who died 15th June, 1877: the stained east window is a memorial to the late James John Rocke esq. and was presented by his daughter, Miss Rocke: the ancient stained glass previously in this window has been transferred to two other windows in the chancel; there are memorial windows to Mrs. Frances Bath and Mr. Walter Thomas Swayne: there is in existence a mediaeval seal belonging to the churchwardens, exhibiting a rude figure of a man surrounded by an inscription; and the church possesses an ancient inscribed alms dish: in 1900—2 the tower and body of the church were thoroughly restored and vestries added, at a total expense of about £6,000: there are 500 sittings, nearly all of which are free. The register dates from the year 1603. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly value £57, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, and held since 1894 by the Rev. Henry Lowry Barnwell M.A. of Pembroke College, Cambridge.

St. Andrew’s Mission chapel, attached to St. John's parish, is on the Edgarley road and was built in 1897 at a cost of about £600, on a site given by J. A. Porch esq. of Edgarley House, and will seat 100 persons.

The church of St. Benedict, built on the site of a previous church about A.D. 1520, by Abbot Beere, whose monogram “R. B.” is inserted over the principal doorway, is a building of stone, in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, north porch and an embattled western tower, with crocketed pinnacles, containing 6 bells: in the Sharpham chapel is buried Sir Henry Gould, appointed a justice of the King’s Bench, Jan. 26th, 1699, d. at Serjeants’ Inn, London, 26 March, 1710: there are several stained windows, including one in the chancel to the late Stephen Holman, for many years town clerk of Glastonbury: the church was restored in 1885 and the south aisle added at a cost of £3,000, of which £500 was given by James Austin esq. and £300 by the late Miss Eliza Holman: there are sittings for 375 persons. The register dates from the year 1740. The living, originally a chapelry annexed to St. John’s, is now a distinct vicarage, net yearly value £290, from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, and held since 1884 by the Rev. Charles Grant, prebendary of Wells, rural dean of Glastonbury and surrogate.

The Catholic chapel of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, erected in 1886 by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, is open to the public. The Congregational chapel, adjoining High street, is a substantial building of freestone, erected in 1814 on the site of a house used as a chapel from 1706: Mr. John Yeoman bequeathed to the chapel £600 and an organ: the building will seat 320 persons. The Wesleyan chapel, Lambrook street, built in 1866 at a cost of £2,600, will seat 400 persons. The Primitive Methodist chapel, North Load street, built in 1844 and enlarged in 1878, will now seat 170. The Brethren have a room at Bovetown.

The Cemetery of 6a. 1r. 35p. was formed in 1854 at a cost of £2,000, and has two mortuary chapels: it is under the control of a joint committee of nine members, of whom eight are elected by the Town Council and one by the Parish of Sharpham.

The Town Hall is a plain but substantial building, erected A.D. 1814, and will hold 200 persons, the previous town hall, built in 1717 near the same site being then removed; the insignia of the corporation include two silver-gilt maces, 3 feet in length, dating from 1705; they have chased shafts of unusual elegance, with fluted knops and crowned heads. Adjoining the Town Hall is one of the gatehouses of the abbey, now converted into the Red Lion inn. Underneath the council chamber is the museum of the Antiquarian Society, established in 1887, and of which Mr. Alderman John Morland is the president. The museum contains a valuable collection of antiquarian and topographical works, MSS., autographs and engravings, purchased of the late Mr. Serel, numerous relics connected with the abbey and the town and neighbourhood, including those found in the recently discovered Marsh village: it is open to the public daily from 10 to 6 upon payment of a small fee.

The County Police Station is in Benedict street, and attached to it are dwellings for the officers.

A new Fire Station was erected in 1901 in George street and has a hose tower and fireman’s residence attached.

The Vestry Hall, a building of ornamental character, is in the High street.

The Post Office is in the High street and was erected in 1897.

In 1551 a number of foreign weavers, chiefly Flemings, encouraged by the Lord Protector Somerset, settled in Glastonbury as weavers of woollen cloths; these consisted in all of 46 families, with six widows, to whom were granted letters of “denization ’’ and a confirmation of their “craft letters patent,” with other privileges; the community, governed by a warden and overseers of their own election, and in matters of religion by a superintendent, who dwelt in part of the disused abbey buildings, thus became, in fact, an English guild, but on the death of Edward VI. they lost their patron, the duke, who was attainted and executed Jan. 22, 1551—2, and on the accession of Queen Mary some emigrated to Norwich and the rest probably quitted England and went to Frankfort. The woollen trade, however, continued to flourish here for upwards of a century: in the latter part of the 18th century the silk manufacture was introduced by a man named Job Dutch (ob. 1801), but this branch of industry died out early in the century. For many years the knit-stocking trade gave employment to a large number of hands, but the trade gradually decayed on the introduction of machinery. There are still large factories for sheepskin rugs, leather and kid gloves, shoes, slippers and dressed ornamental leather. There are also steam flour mills and several brick and tile manufactories.

The market, which is an extensive one for cattle, is held on the second and fourth Mondays in each month, and is well supported, the Corporation having now acquired the market rights, have built a spacious cattle market in George street. Large and important horse, sheep and cattle fairs are held here on the 2nd Monday in September (called the Tor fair), and on the 2nd Monday in October (called Michaelmas fair); these fairs are held in a large field conveniently situated about midway between the Somerset and Dorset railway station and the market place. The market cross, 60 feet in height, was erected in 1846, at the intersection of the four principal streets near the site of the ancient high cross and conduit.

The “Central Somerset Gazette” is issued on Friday and Saturday, and the “Avalon Independent” on Friday. The Avalon Club, in High street and erected in 1897, contains reading, billiard and recreation rooms and all the usual accessories of a first-class club.

St. Saviour’s Isolation Hospital, Wearyall hill, contains 8 beds and has a caretaker’s house attached. It is under the control of a joint board composed of members of the Urban District Councils of Glastonbury and Street.

The Victoria Nursing Home, Fisher’s hill, is an emergency ward, was built in 1697 in commemoration of the long and glorious reign of Her late Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria.

The local charities are of very limited extent. On the west side of Magdalene street is the almshouse of St. Mary Magdalene, for 5 poor old men, and in the rear of the Red Lion inn (formerly the abbey gatehouse) is an almshouse for 10 poor old women: both these institutions were founded by successive abbots, the latter being the work of Abbot Beere, A.D. 1512, and each has an attached chapel; the alms people were formerly supported by endowments from the founders, but at the Dissolution all the revenues connected with the abbey were seized by the king. The present revenues are derived from an investment of £2,034 14s. 7d. in Three per Cent. Annuities; an annuity of £6, presented by Roger Nightingale (clerk) and Margaret his wife, A.D. 1634, and charged on the Crown inn, and another annuity of £2, to which an addition of £8 yearly was made by Dr. Parfitt, late incumbent of St. John’s church, and charged on lands at Meare.

The Austin Memorial Almshouses, erected in 1896, in Magdalene street to the memory of Mrs. Rebecca Austin, are for four poor old women, and have a small endowment.

In 1666, James Levinston esq. founded what is called the “second poor charity,” now (1901) producing about £33 a year, half of which is given to poor persons not receiving parish relief, and the residue is applied in aid of the funds of the National schools. There are two or three other charities of small amount.

The discovery by Mr. Arthur Bulleid F.S.A, in March, 1892, of a pre-historic or Celtic marsh village on the north-west boundary of the town has invested the district with a new feature of great archaeological importance. The village consists of upwards of 60 low mounds, covering a space of nearly 5 acres, each mound indicating the site of a dwelling. The late Mr. Edward Bath, town clerk, generously presented the land to the Glastonbury Antiquarian Society, and in the museum are deposited many of the numerous and interesting relics obtained during the extensive excavations; amongst the most curious is an almost complete marsh boat or canoe found near the site shortly after the discovery of the village itself; it is about 17 feet long, carved from a solid block, beautifully shaped and in excellent preservation. Professor Boyd Dawkins and other eminent antiquaries believe the village to belong to the earlier iron age. The find of greatest importance in bronze is a well preserved bowl. It is made of two pieces rivetted together; the under surface is semi-circular and a hole in it has evidently been made good by rivetting on a small piece. The excavations are at present (1901) suspended.

Ponter’s Ball, or Wall, intersected at right angles by the road from Glastonbury to West Pennard (at Havyatt), is an earthwork of great strength, constructed by the Belgic Britons, and extends to the low lands, formerly marshes, on each side of the road. There are traces of ancient military works on and round Tor Hill. A Roman road crossing the moor between Northover and the village of Street was discovered in 1880.

The famous Benedictine abbey of St. Mary, to which this place owes its chief celebrity, is traditionally said to have been founded by Joseph of Arimathea, who, A.D. 63, was sent with others by St. Philip, then preaching in France, to evangelise in Britain, and who having been admonished, after his arrival here, by the archangel Gabriel, erected on the island of “Ynyswytryn” or “Avallonia,” a chapel of wattled work, 60 feet long by 26 wide, being the first Christian oratory in England dedicated to the, worship of God; these missionaries at length died, and the spot again became a solitude until, in 166, other evangelists, sent by Pope Eleutherius, discovered the deserted chapel, and during a residence here of nine years re-established the mission and settled a number of their converts as anchorites; the establishment was visited about 433 by St. Patrick, who formed the mission into a regular monastic community, and assumed the office of abbot, which he held until his death in 472, being then, according to the legend, 111 years of age; and his remains were interred in the chapel, on the south side of the altar; and in 512, Gildas, the historian, dying here, was also buried in the chapel, which, the chronicler records, was repaired by St. Paulinus, Archbishop of York, who boarded it over and protected the roof with lead; besides the original chapel (vetusta ecchsia), several others were built at different times to the east of it, the earliest of these being one reared by St. David on his visit in the 6th century, another was made by the twelve converts from the north part of Britain, and a third by Ina, King of the West Saxons, so that at the beginning of the 8th century these constituted a group of buildings, the ancient church being the westernmost, and that of Ina at the extreme east end of the site. The afterwards famous Dunstan, a recluse here, and made abbot by King Edmund in 940, introduced the Benedictine rule, and began in 954 the erection of a large church and a complete arrangement of monastic offices, which remained until the accession of the Norman abbots, the original chapel with its attendant oratories being apparently left undisturbed: the first Norman abbot, Turstinus, installed in 1082, undertook the rebuilding of the great church, but his work was wholly removed by Herlewin his successor (1101—1120), who erected a new church upon which he spent a large sum; Henry de Blois, brother of King Stephen and Bishop of Winchester, was abbot from 1126 to 1171, and erected a bell tower, and completed the whole of the monastic buildings as well as a fine palace, after the Norman model. On St. Urban’s day, 25 March, 1184, the abbey was entirely destroyed by fire, but was soon after rebuilt under the authority of a charter of Henry II. the direction of the work being entrusted to Ralph the chamberlain, son of King Stephen, under whose superintendence the church of St. Mary, now called “St. Joseph’s chapel,” was re-erected on the site of the venerable structure built by St. Joseph and his companions, and consecrated 11 June, 1186 (circiter), by Reginald, Bishop of Bath, a period of two years being occupied in the work: by the king’s order he repaired the monastic offices and began the building of the great church, to which, when completed, the remains of St. Patrick, Gildas, and the martyr Indractus, which had been dug up after the fire and placed in shrines, were removed; the monks also produced other relics, which they asserted were those of St. Dunstan, and a great controversy arose with Canterbury on this point; the abbot Henry de Soliaco, nephew of Henry II. by order of that monarch, disinterred the remains of the renowned King Arthur and his Queen Guinevra, which had been buried near the church, and eventually placed them in a sarcophagus of black marble in the midst of the presbytery: Walter de Tantonia, who became abbot, c. 1322, erected when prior the pulpilum or choir screen, which was adorned with figures and had above it a great rood: Adam de Sodbury, abbot 1322—35, vaulted nearly the whole of the nave and enriched it with paintings, and he also gave the great automatic-clock, which was set up in the south arm of the transept, but on the dissolution of the abbey this ingenious machine, constructed by Peter Lightfoot, a monk, and the earliest of the kind on record, was removed to the Cathedral of Wells, where its face and a great part of its mechanism still remain: this abbot further bestowed upon the church organs of unusual size, and placed an image of the Virgin over the high altar: Walter Monington, abbot 1341—74, vaulted the choir and presbytery and lengthened the latter by two bays: Richard Beere, abbot 1493—1524, yaulted the central tower and strengthened it with buttressing arches, like those at Wells; he repaired the choir, built St. Edgar’s chapel on the east side of the south transept, the chapel of our Lady of Loretto north of the nave, and that of the Holy Sepulchre on the south side and also presented to the church a lectern of ancient work: Abbot Beere died 20 January, 1524, his successor being Richard Whiting, the last abbot, who was nominated by Cardinal Wolsey, the monks having voluntarily given him that privilege: the abbey had now attained the utmost height of prosperity; it was one of the most wealthy and magnificent establishments of the kind in England, and possessed a library hardly equalled by any other in all Britain, while the abbot’s lodge was one of the greatest schools in the country, educating at least 300 sons of nobles and gentlemen; and such was its hospitality, that on every Wednesday and Friday all the poor of the neighbourhood were entertained: Abbot Waiting, remaining firm to his duty and denying the king’s authority, was on the 14 November, 1539, after a mock trial at Wells, ignominiously hanged, with two of his monks, on a hill overlooking the abbey. The work of spoliation soon began; the valuable library of the abbey was scattered, the buildings dismantled or razed, and the once hallowed precincts were given up to desecration. The abbey estate and manor of Glastonbury, comprising a large portion of the town, were given by Edward VI. to the Duke of Somerset, on whose attainder all fell again to the Crown. The abbey estate was afterwards obtained by the Duke of Devonshire, who, in 1733, sold it to Thomas Bladen esq. for £12,500: this gentleman had two daughters, whose husbands. General St. John and Lord Essex, sold it for £40,500, and in 1806 James Rocke esq. becoming the purchaser at £75,000, sold portions to different persons. The manor, with the hundred and lordship of Glaston XII. Hides, was held, about 1606, by Sir Henry Campbell bart.: it subsequently became divided into seven parts, and after passing through divers owners, by whom nearly all the lands belonging to the manor were from time to time sold off, the manor itself, with the hundred of the Twelve Hides, was sold to W. B. Naish esq. in 1838, who disposed of his interest to J. J. Rocke esq. of Glastonbury, the late lord of the manor. The abbey estate was afterwards purchased of the late Henry Danby Seymour esq. M.P. at a cost of £43,000, by the late James Austin esq. who improved the grounds, preserved the abbey ruins from further dilapidations, and collected and stored all such scattered fragments as could be found. His son, Stanley Austin esq. is the present proprietor.

The buildings previous to the dissolution of the monastery comprised the great church, with the ante-church and chapel of St. Mary at the west end, cloisters on the south side, with a chapter house in the eastern alley, and a slype or passage, giving, access to the infirmary and its chapel, and in the south alley the frater (refectory); the principal gateway stood opposite the north porch in the nave of the church; south-west of the church was another gatehouse for the laity and guests, and here also stood the almery, with other buildings, including the abbot's guest-hall and kitchen, and brewery, bakehouse, granaries &c.: the dimestic buildings, however, with the exception of the abbot’s kitchen, have wholly disappeared: the church, with its western annexe, had an extreme length of about 520 feet, the church proper consisting of a nave of ten bays, 200 feet in interior length, transept 160 feet, choir of six bays, with retro-choir, together 145 feet, central tower, and a porch about 45 by 25 feet, on the north side of the nave; the internal width of both nave and choir was 70 feet, and that of the transept about 60 feet; the total internal length of the church proper was about 380 feet: the western annexe consisted of an ante-church of three bays, 57 feet in length, and continued from it westward the chapel of St. Mary, about 55 feet long, both having a width of 25 feet, and beneath extended a vaulted crypt, go by 20 feet: the Norman chapel, which is the earliest portion of the existing remains, was built in 1184—6 as an isolated rectangular edifice with a turret at each angle, and it so remained until about the middle of the 13th century, when it was connected with the great church by the Early English structure then erected between the two; the chapel, which consists of four bays, is admirably built, and has four round-headed windows on either side, enriched with zigzag ornament, below these is an interlaced arcading with Purbeck shafts; the springers of the vaulting, elaborately carved, remain, and there are two fine Norman doorways; the turrets are also arcaded, and have pyramidal roofs, and the western turrets have newel staircases: of the Early English building only one dilapidated bay now exists, the north doorway also remaining; the noble flight of steps which led into the great church are entirely gone, but their abutments may be traced; the crypt, entirely a construction of the 15th century, was formed for the purposes of burial, and was vaulted from low shafts at the sides, but Norman materials, probably derived from buildings then in course of Te-erection, were largely used and ingeniously adapted for the purpose; the windows, very irregularly placed, are heedlessly cut through the basement mouldings of the buildings above: in 1724 the vaulting was broken in and the crypt filled with rubbish and water, but in 1826 Mr. J. F. Reeves, then owner of the ruins, cleared out the interior and strengthened the walls of the chapel with bonding arches of brick; on the south side of the crypt is a passage conducting to a small and richly carved arched recess of the same date as the chapel and containing an ancient well: the portions of the great church now standing include part of the west front with the central doorway, three bays and a half of the south wall of the nave, the eastern piers, with fragments of the arch supporting the tower, and attached to these large masses of the walls of the transepts, exhibiting, especially on the south side, the details of the triforium and clerestory; five bays of the south wall of the choir and part of the east wall of the north transept are also left, and there are slight remains, about 4 feet in height, of the east wall of the choir, which, as well as the transepts, had eastern chapels: the whole of this work is elegant Early English, profusely adorned with zigzag moulding, with the exception of relics of the Perpendicular panelling applied by Abhot Monington to the triforium and clerestory and the western doorway, which is fully developed Early English of later character: the space to the east and west of the great arch is covered with turf, but at the western limit of the crossing a terrace is formed, the nave being on a lower level, and here a flight of four steps has been constructed out of voussoirs from the crypt of St. Mary’s chapel; the common cemetery lay to the north of the church, and on the south side of St. Mary’s chapel was the cemetery of the monks; a little beyond the west front of the chapel and towards the north once stood two crosses, which, in 1777, were reduced to a height of about 10 feet, and on the south were two others, one of which, immediately opposite the south side of the chapel, marked the original burial place of St. Joseph and King Arthur, the other, more to the east, once bore a brass plate bearing an inscription reciting the visit of the first missionaries and the dedication and dimensions of their church: this plate, now supposed to be lost, was in Hearne’s time (he d.1735) in the possession of Mr. Thomas Hewes, of Wells: the abbot’s kitchen, situated to the south-west of the church, is a building of the 14th century, about 33 feet square, with an octagonal roof of wood, forming a great louvre, the boards of which could be opened in sections by means of cords; the whole is surmounted by a lantern. On the 3rd of Aug. 1897, a great assemblage of bishops and clergy, including the Primate, was held within the ruined choir.

Tor Hill is a remarkable and well-known eminence, on which a chapel is said to have been founded A.D. 166: after this a chapel dedicated to St. Michael was built on the site of the old chapel; this edifice, destroyed by a landslip, 11 Sept. 1275, was rebuilt and again destroyed, but the tower, a structure of the 14th century, with later additions and a very beautiful though simple composition, still stands and may be seen from almost every elevated point in the county. At Beckery, south-west of the town, during excavations in 1887—8, some, interesting and extensive remains were discovered of the supposed site of the monastery previously mentioned as erected by St. Patrick about A.D. 450: they comprised the foundations of a large quadrangular building inclosing an earlier church with massive walls but of very small dimensions, the interior measuring 26 feet by 19 feet; adjacent foundations of domestic buildings were met with: six skeletons, numerous tiles, coins of Edward I. and II. and other relics were found and are now deposited in the Glastonbury museum: according to “Adam of Domerham” this colony in the “Isle of Beckery” or “Little Ireland” existed for several centuries as a celebrated seat of learning and the buildings were repaired in 1275: originally dedicated to St. Mary, this religious house was afterwards re-dedicated to St. Bridget and the field containing the site is still called “Brides.”

On the southern slope of the Weary All Hill, near the Tor, grew for centuries a famous white thorn, reputed to have been planted here by. Joseph of Arimathea and originally his staff, which budded and blossomed every year at Christmas, and its produce was not only sent as a Christmas gift to the Kings of England, but was shipped by merchants of Bristol as a rare and sacred curiosity to places beyond the seas; its twin trunks continued to flourish till some fanatical Puritans during the Civil War tore them from the consecrated hill. There are now specimens of this thorn, which had been propagated from an early period, both in Glastonbury, the neighbourhood and elsewhere; these, produced always by budding and grafting, retain the peculiarity of the original thorn, viz., of flowering twice, once early and again later, but the early blooms yield ho fruit.

Norwood Park, 1 mile east, and Sharpham Park, 3 miles south-west, were two of the seven parks held by the abbots: in the former, at the Dissolution, there were 800 deer, and in the latter 300; at Sharpham, now a farmhouse, the celebrated Henry Fielding, author of “Tom Jones,” was born, 22 April, 1707; he died at Lisbon, 8 October, 1754. At both places are some interesting remains of ancient mansions.

The Glastonbury Athletic Ground, of about 11 acres, situated close to the station, belongs to a limited company formed in 1900, and has been laid out at considerable expense for cricket, football, cycling, golf, tennis &c.

The “George Hotel,” or “Pilgrims Inn,” High street, is a building of Late Perpendicular date, and was erected by Abbot John Selwood about 1475, as a town guest house for pilgrims or visitors to the abbey: the front is richly panelled and traceried and over the gateway are the arms of the abbey and those of Edward IV.

The “Tribunal” is an ancient building also in the High street, erected by Abbot Beere; here, it is said, the judicial courts of the abbots connected with the lordship of the XII. Hides were held, and opposite was the ancient Hospitium of the Abbey. At the junction of Chilkwell street and Bere lane is the “Abbey Barn,” said to have been erected by Nicholas Fromond, appointed abbot A.D. 1420; it is a large cruciform building 93 feet in length, 63 wide and 36 feet high, with a fine timbered roof, numerous interesting figures and architectural details still in excellent preservation.

There are several mineral springs in Glastonbury which rise near the Tor, the waters of which were brought into high repute about 140 years ago by a man named Matthew Chancellor: pump rooms were subsequently built, and for years the waters were resorted to by large numbers, and exported in considerable quantities; but they have for many years ceased to be used medicinally. The most noted is a chalybeate spring in the valley between Tor and Chalice hills called the “Blood Spring,” where, according to legendary history, Joseph of Arimathea buried the chalice of the Last Supper: traces of a watercourse from this spring to the Holy Well of the abbey, previously mentioned, still exist.

In the turf moor of Meare, adjoining Glastonbury, at a varying depth of from 2 to 7 feet, is an ancient timber road, commonly called “the Abbot’s way,” several portions of which have been from time to time uncovered; it consists of rude balks of wood, about 5 feet long and from 6 to 9 inches broad, placed close together transversely, and held down on either side by rods or small poles, kept in place by wooden pegs, to which they were by some means attached; the actual origin of this trackway has not been determined.

Mrs. McLean and Miss Emily Rocke are ladies of the manor.

The principal landowners are Stanley Austin esq. John Albert Porch. esq. J.P. Robert Neville-Grenville esq. of Butleigh Court, William Dickinson esq. of Kingweston House, and Lady Esme Stuart Gordon, of Paxton Park, St. Neots, Hunts.

The area of the old united parishes is 6,816 acres of land and 17 of water; the borough and new parish population in 1881 was 3,719, and old united parish 3,828; in 1891 borough 4,119, parish 4,233, and in 1901, borough 4,016, parish 4,106. The area of the new parish and borough of Glastonbury is 4,802 acres; rateable value, £22,836. The area of Sharpham parish is 2,014 acres, rateable value, £2,969.

The ancient tithings of Edgarley, 1 ½ miles east from the church, and Norwood Park, 1 ¼ north-east, are in Glastonbury, the former having been the property of Edgar, King of the West Saxons, who occasionally resided in a palatial residence there.

Formerly there were two separate parishes, viz.: St. John the Baptist’s and St. Benedict’s; these for civil purposes were united by Act of Parliament in 1834. Parts of these united parishes, under the “Divided Parishes Act” of 1882, went to the neighbouring districts of Butleigh, Street, Meare, North Wootton, Walton and St. Cuthbert (Out), Wells. Then by Local Government Act, 1894, the united parishes were again divided, the larger part being formed of the borough and the remainder of the rural district, to which the County Council, in the following year, gave the names of Glastonbury and Sharpham respectively.

Petty Sessions are held at the Town hall every 3rd Monday at 11 a.m.

The following parishes are included in the division:-Baltonsborough, Butleigh, Glastonbury, Meare, Sharpham, Street, Walton & West Pennard.

PLACES OF WORSHIP, with times of services

St. John the Baptist Church, Rev. Henry Lowry Barnwell M.A. vicar; 8 & 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.; daily 10 am. & 6 p.m.; saints’ days & holy days, 8 & 10 am. & 6 p.m.

St. Benedict Church, Rev. Prebendary Charles Grant, vicar; 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.; during winter months, Thur. 7 p.m.

St. Andrew’s Mission chapel, in connection with St. John’s.

Our Lady of the. Sacred Heart, Catholic, Rev. John Power D.D. superior; Sun. & holidays of obligation, holy communion 8 & mass 10.30 am.; benediction 6.30 p.m.; daily mass 7 am.

Congregational, High street, Rev. Alfred William Bennett; 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.; Thur. 7.30 p.m.

Brethren Mission Rooms, Bove Town, ministers various; 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.

Primitive Methodist, North Load road, Rev. Castle Ross; 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.; Thur. 7.30 p.m.

Wesleyan Methodist, Lambrook street, Rev. John E. Winter; 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.; Thur. 7.15 p.m.

Salvation Army, Magdalene street; 7.30 & 11 am. & 3 & 6.30 p.m.; every evening at 8.

SCHOOLS

St. John’s & St. Benedict’s National (mixed & infants), with master’s house attached to each, the former the gift of the Rev. Thomas Parfitt D.D. the late incumbent; the latter of the late E. Bath esq.

St. John’s National (boys &; girls), High street, erected with master’s house in 1865, for 160 boys & 160 girls; average attendance, 130 boys & 115 girls.

St. John’s Infants’, founded in 1864, for 170 children; average attendance, 122.

St. Benedict’s National, Benedict street (mixed), founded in 1875, for 315 children; average attendance, 240.