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The Isle of Avalon
Nov. 3rd, 2005 03:12 amThe trip to Glastonbury was through some very nice countryside and a gray, rainy day. We reached it mid-morning, with a view of Glastonbury Tor as we approached, looming up against the cloudy sky. Once we’d situated the car, we took a hike up to the Tor itself, a grassy hill that towers above the surrounding landscape. We saw rabbits, ravens, and falcons along the way, and the wind blew fiercely, carrying a faint mist of moisture along with it.
At the summit was St. Michael’s Tower and the wind kicked up even more, strong enough that you thought it could blow you off the top of the hill. The Tor offered a spectacular view of the surrounding countryside, literally for miles. I noted that when people occupied it a thousand years ago, it must have seemed like the top of the world, although in truth it probably seemed more like the legendary island it’s associated with, Avalon, since the surrounding area back then was marshland rather than cultivated fields. While we were there the sun broke through the clouds and light streamed across those fields, the wind began to die down, and the sky started to clear.
We made our way down to the Chalice Well, a lovely garden spot surrounding the well itself. Both it and the Tor were truly holy ground — a deep sense of peace pervaded them. The water that flows from the “red spring” of the Chalice Well contains enough iron to stain the stones it flows over a Martian red color, part of its association with the Holy Grail and the cauldron of the Goddess. Christopher and I drank from the Lion’s Head fountain and Christopher bottled some of the waters to bring home with us. We sat for a while and soaked in the quiet atmosphere while watching the sky clear around the Tor to a brilliant blue.
Then it was on to lunch at the George & Pilgrim Hotel, which was built about 250 years before the U.S. Declaration of Independence (as a place for visiting pilgrims when the old Glastonbury Abbey was still active). England is full of places that provide a real sense of perspective when it comes to history.
Another one was Glastonbury Abbey, or the ruins thereof, dating back to around the same period (the 16th century). Even the ruins were majestic; the abbey’s cathedral and buildings must have been quite something to see when they were intact. It’s supposedly where workers discovered the grave-site of King Arthur, associated with legends that the Tor may have been the Isle of Avalon. There’s nothing to see at the actual site other than a historical marker, however. Any remains were supposedly removed elsewhere.
Then there was the shopping: Glastonbury has more pagan and New Age shops than any place I’ve ever seen! We floated through many of them, along with bookshops, cafes, and, of course, pubs. We found a charming bed & breakfast for the night, got some Chinese take-away after a drink at the G&P, and called it a night. Tomorrow, we head out to the Salsbury Plain and Stonehenge, then Kala wants to take us on a brief visit to her old stomping grounds in Oxford on the way back west toward London.
At the summit was St. Michael’s Tower and the wind kicked up even more, strong enough that you thought it could blow you off the top of the hill. The Tor offered a spectacular view of the surrounding countryside, literally for miles. I noted that when people occupied it a thousand years ago, it must have seemed like the top of the world, although in truth it probably seemed more like the legendary island it’s associated with, Avalon, since the surrounding area back then was marshland rather than cultivated fields. While we were there the sun broke through the clouds and light streamed across those fields, the wind began to die down, and the sky started to clear.
We made our way down to the Chalice Well, a lovely garden spot surrounding the well itself. Both it and the Tor were truly holy ground — a deep sense of peace pervaded them. The water that flows from the “red spring” of the Chalice Well contains enough iron to stain the stones it flows over a Martian red color, part of its association with the Holy Grail and the cauldron of the Goddess. Christopher and I drank from the Lion’s Head fountain and Christopher bottled some of the waters to bring home with us. We sat for a while and soaked in the quiet atmosphere while watching the sky clear around the Tor to a brilliant blue.
Then it was on to lunch at the George & Pilgrim Hotel, which was built about 250 years before the U.S. Declaration of Independence (as a place for visiting pilgrims when the old Glastonbury Abbey was still active). England is full of places that provide a real sense of perspective when it comes to history.
Another one was Glastonbury Abbey, or the ruins thereof, dating back to around the same period (the 16th century). Even the ruins were majestic; the abbey’s cathedral and buildings must have been quite something to see when they were intact. It’s supposedly where workers discovered the grave-site of King Arthur, associated with legends that the Tor may have been the Isle of Avalon. There’s nothing to see at the actual site other than a historical marker, however. Any remains were supposedly removed elsewhere.
Then there was the shopping: Glastonbury has more pagan and New Age shops than any place I’ve ever seen! We floated through many of them, along with bookshops, cafes, and, of course, pubs. We found a charming bed & breakfast for the night, got some Chinese take-away after a drink at the G&P, and called it a night. Tomorrow, we head out to the Salsbury Plain and Stonehenge, then Kala wants to take us on a brief visit to her old stomping grounds in Oxford on the way back west toward London.
