Glastonbury Abbey

 

Well, after a long old walk up to the Tor, then down again, then around the town centre and over to the Abbey, we finally entered the site we had been waiting for all along.

Glastonbury Abbey is known most for being the final resting place of King Arthur and his wife, which we assume is Guinevere but she wasnt named. It is widely believed now, especially due to the history of the monks here forging documents to connect to legends, that following the fire that destroyed the abbey the first time round, the monks staged the discovery of King Arthur's tomb in order to increase footfall which had declined so that they could fund the repairs.

Sadly King Edward I and Queen Eleanor were dragged into this by witnessing the reburial of Arthur and his queen in 1278. However, both Henry II and Edward I both fought Welsh wars and were inspired by the Arthurian Legend meaning that an ulterior motive may have been at play here or they simply has the wool pulled over their eyes. Henry II supposedly had the information given to him regarding Arthur's tomb being at the abbey by a Welsh bard which prompted the dig. Further confusion comes when other sources say the dig was prompted by the death of a monk who wanted to be buried where they found the original tomb. Both sources mention the placement between pyramids however, and another source does mention these pyramids confirming their existence, but not the tomb in a hollowed oak found below.

This massively confirms Ren's suspicion that Arthur was never laid to rest here. It is still possible that this Avalon is the one from Legend, just that Arthur's tomb is not here. They may have taken him here to save him, it failed and he was then taken back to Canterbury for burial for all we know. During her research she has come across theories that Arthur is buried under an unmarked pyramid tomb near Canterbury so she may not be far off. All we know going off the research which came after her gut feeling, is that Arthur isn't here.

The abbey was also a Benedictine monastery and was one of the richest and most powerful in England. It fell following the Big Bully King's Dissolution of Monasteries which also led to the death of its Abbot and two monks as they resisted. They were executed at the Tor by being hung, drawn and quartered. It was this that led Glastonbury Abbey to fall to ruin, stones being taken elsewhere and the valuables stripped. The only remaining building standing is the Abbot's kitchen which was used as a Quaker meeting house. This is now set up with a recreation of the kitchen from the period and is very well preserved.

Aside from the supposed tomb of Arthur and Guinevere, other notable graves are within the abbey grounds. These are somewhere within the graveyard (now a nice green area) and the chapel or further within the grounds. These are unmarked as is the case with history but to our knowledge they remain here:

Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia (leader)

Indract of Glastonbury (Saint)

Saint Drusa (Sister of Indract)

Edgar the Peaceful (King)

Edmund I (King)

Ealdgyth (Edith in modern tongue, Queen)

Edmund II (King)

Humphrey Stafford (1st Earl of Devon)

Richard Beere (Abbot)

Eosterwine (Abbot)

Hwaetberht (Abbot)

Relics relating to the below were also interred here assuming that they were also laid to rest at Glastonbury Abbey:

St Oswald (King & Saint)

Balthild of Chelles (Queen)

Aelfflaed (Queen)

Of course the abbey is drenched in history but it isn't as fascinating as the lies which surround the site and cement it firmly in history, causing debates still to this day. The monks were well known with their forgeries and the Arthurian connection was not the first web spun to collect a few coffers. William of Malmesbury's various writings do not mention King Arthur's grave or the abbey's connection to Avalon despite accepting the monks other forgeries. It is believed that his additions regarding this were added later in order to support the monks which sadly has demeaned his own work later down the line as a usually respected historian his work on Glastonbury is below his usual standards.

To say it was a mixed emotion sort of event was an understatement. There were highs and lows but mainly overpriced lows. It seems clear to us now that a very clever monk marketed the Abbey as the final resting place of King Arthur in order to gain some coin, and the tradition clearly lasted all these years.

Lauren didn't want to research the site too much before visiting as she was worried it would cause bias to her gut feelings when there. The first place she headed to when we arrived was the tomb and she immediately said Arthur was not here. 

It took us half an hour or so to discover that the tomb within the chapel was not the original resting place so we went to what used to be (technically still is) the graveyard and tried there. It was a no from us. No goosebumps, no niggles, no gut feeling that this was what we'd been searching for all these years. The man from the most famous legend in England had not been here and certainly was not now (although we knew that as the remains were supposedly confiscated and moved elsewhere or destroyed).

This realisation did kill the mood a little bit, but it was also a good thing. This meant that our research and investigations could continue and we hadn't ended our pilgrimage as soon as we'd begun. Of course it was a bummer adding another notch to the support belt that the man was only a myth, but we all have set backs.

The most interesting connection between Glastonbury Abbey and the Arthurian Legend that we have found post visit is that of the Black Night with Red Eyes. This is a negative spirit said to haunt the grounds of the abbey in order to eradicate the Legend of King Arthur. No one knows why the knight is so hell bent on destroying the memory of King Arthur but apparently he has been seen by several researchers and sightings of this spirit have been mentioned for the last 400 years. Truth? Or is this a clever way of covering up the fact Arthur was never here?

On the subject of ghosts, the odd time slip has been had here and ghostly sighting such as monks in white and candles floating alongside silhouettes, but nothing concrete and nothing experienced by us.

What really contributed to the lows was the fact the long standing tradition of ripping people off here still stood. The giftshop was tiny, no mention of King Arthur, and everything was hiked in price. It was mainly aimed at 3 year olds and you would have thought that a place boasting it was the final resting place of King Arthur would have more trinket wise relating to the legend. The only historical keepsake was a cutting of the Glastonbury Thorn which was £15, the same historical tree which boasts a cutting sent to the queen every year. A tradition upheld since James I's reign. We have two cuttings and are not massively happy about it.

There's an overpriced cafe in with the giftshop and an overpriced popup on the grounds of the abbey selling other refreshments. It just seemed like a money grab. I'm not saying that this hasnt become the norm for all heritage sites as it seems that way, its just with the entry fee and the fact the site has fought so hard to remain private instead of part of the National Trust or English Heritage it seems like its done because they think they are more important than they are. It's a bold choice for a site whose foundations rely on forgeries and fraud, perhaps this is what continues to make it stand out from the rest. This isn't just a historical ruin, this is a ruin who fooled generations of people to make money and continues to do so without good reason.

Dont get us wrong, the remaining skeleton of Glastonbury Abbey is absolutely stunning and well worth the admission fee. This is not our issue. Neither is the fact it supposedly, falsely markets itself as Arthur's final resting place. This can neither be proven or disproven, but we respect the fact the claims are true to their own history even if this turns out not to be the case. What saddens us is the fact history lovers are being pushed out in favour of cheap plastic toys to quiet those younguns being dragged along on family days out to see the pretty ruins rather than keepsakes for those who care. In our opinion it would increase spending to have items that related to the site and to keep things affordable in this day and age. We're losing more and more history because of money here in the UK. There just isn't enough, so in order to keep things ticking educational days out should be more affordable and then more people would go. There would be more people learning and enjoying and living rather than ghosts of the past, right now only those who can afford to splash out are doing so and that's how revenue is lost. You're pressuring the poor to be poorer with your plastic dinosaurs which have nothing to do with Glastonbury Abbey.

Rant sort of over, it was a nice afternoon out and we ended our trip with a roast dinner at The George & Pilgrims not too far down the road. It was a stunning pub with amazing food and we were thrilled to be able to get a table and just relax before our drive home. It was a perfect way to round off our roadtrip and we'd 100% go back.

We HAVE to talk about The George & Pilgrims Hotel as aside from the delicious food it is actually classed as the most haunted hotel in Somerset. 

At night it's reported that in one of the bedrooms (known as the haunted cell) a happy monk walks through the wall leaving a cheerful presence to those inhabiting the room. This is bittersweet to hear considering the monk committed suicide in that room, but he's no longer sad.

Another ghost is said to haunt the bedrooms in the form of a tall man with long arms, he watches inhabitants sleep. 

Elsewhere at the hotel there is said to be the smell of cigar smoke which comes from no where and wisps of smoke materialising to be viewed like Lauren experienced at Jamaica Inn. Sadly we weren't privy to any of this during our visit but its worth mentioning and we will be back to learn more! (and eat more food!)

Would we go back to Glastonbury Abbey? Yes. There was so much to see that we just didn't have time, and now that we are equipped with more knowledge on the abbey's history and what to expect we can view it with suspicion and delve deeper into why it may or may not be associated with the legend. Just because the burial may not have been true doesn't mean there wasn't still some connection to Arthur somewhere. We'd love to go back and explore further, we'll just avoid the gift shop.

Did we see any ghosts? No. The place is haunted as it has had such a varied history it cant not be, but there was nothing that jumped out at us and no bad feelings. We didnt see the malicious knight who is trying to erase King Arthur from history, we seemed to have escaped his clutches on our search for the lost king. It's a shame, as it would have been cool to do so as that's one in favour of King Arthur to rival the one against now that we know the monks likely made it all up.

Will we ever get some solid answers on our quest? Time will tell, but our investigations into the Arthurian connections in the South West of England are not over.

Haunted: 6/10

Worth the visit: 7/10

Giftshop: 2/10

Ghost count: 0

Dog friendly: Yes (not in the giftshop)

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