Day 6: Glastonbury and Wells

APRIL 9 - Dragged everyone, including Mike, out of bed at 06:00 only to realize the Stonehenge tickets are for tomorrow morning, not today. Change plans and are out the door by 08:00.

Today turned into the ‘medieval’ portion of our tour of the southwest of England, after yesterday’s ‘Roman period’ emphasis. We drove southwest of Bradford-on-Avon, by Frome and Shepton Mallet to the historic center of Glastonbury. Pass through farmlands with thick hedgerows and gentle, rolling topography. Originally, forests probably dominated the lower areas, particularly near the rivers, while grasslands prevailed on the higher, flat plains. With weather extremes moderated by nearby coastlines, it is easy to see how this region could sustain a stable population over thousands of years.

Route taken today: (A) Bradford-on-Avon, (B) Glastonbury, (C) Wells, and (D) Nunney.

Drive all around Glastonbury looking for parking, finally hit upon an area. It is challenging to navigate through the narrow streets and read the signage at the same time. Start up the footpath to Glastonbury Tor.

The path just below the last ascent. “Tor” means ‘hill’ in Celtic. The area around it is mostly flat, and in pre-industrial times, tended to flood in wetter parts of the year. The Tor was an important place at which people could safely graze their animals or grow crops without threat of inundation. It seems quite probable that the hill had some spiritual importance in pagan times, and I’ll bet there was a temple at the top.

A very early Christian church was built at the top, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1235. Though it is not known when this first church was founded, archaeological evidence suggests it was about 540 CE. It was replaced with another church in the 14th Century, and this one was mostly destroyed at the same time as the Abbey in town, in 1539 (discussed later). The piece remaining today is called St. Michael’s Tower.

Back down in town, it is clear that the downtown area has become a haven for New Age stores and a hangout for alternative lifestyle types. Odette adds her mark to the plethora of sidewalk chalk drawings by the church.

Over to Glastonbury Abbey, which, like the church on the Tor, was destroyed in 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. This event, sanctioned by two Acts signed by King Henry VIII, sought to suppress the power and expropriate the wealth of the many monasteries that had popped up since the 11th and 12th Centuries. In the case of Glastonbury, this also meant the (partial) physical destruction of nearly all the buildings.

One of the main entrances, which is actually still in good shape.

They left most of the kitchen/dining building intact.

Well, here is supposedly the (second) resting place of King Arthur. What were presumably his bones were moved from their original discovery site in 1191 to here in 1278. However, the tomb was destroyed along with most everything else in 1539. We can only speculate now on the authenticity of King Arthur, and all the other associated personalities of the Arthurian legends. It did appear to serve a political purpose, by giving a unifying hero to all of Britain.

Grab some fish and chips, so now we’ve successfully eaten an emblematic British dish. Drive to the city of Wells.

It shouldn’t be surprising that Wells Cathedral is built over a previous church that was constructed in 705 CE, which in turn was built over a late Roman mausoleum. The current building was built in the 12th Century and is a good example of pure Gothic architecture.

The whole time we were in Wells, they were ringing the bells to celebrate a wedding.

The figure-8 architecture at the end of the hall looks modern but is actually as old as the original design.

A rather large number of people are buried beneath the floor of the cathedral. I saw dates ranging from the late 1600’s to the late 1800’s.

There are also some older tombs that line the passage. This is Ralph of Shrewsbury, Bishop of Bath and Wells (1326-1363), and builder of Vicar’s Close. I did not see an explanation of why it was OK to cover him in graffiti.

The entrance gate to the Bishop’s Palace and Gardens, which is still surrounded by a moat.

From Wells we carried on to Nunney. I would never have thought of going there, but Mike suggested it. It turned out to be a really pleasant little town with a shell of a castle in the middle of it.

Nunney Castle is the product of one Sir John de la Mare, a wealthy local who was inspired by French castles he had seen to create something similar around his house. He obtained a license from King Edward III in 1373 to make this happen. It was eventually damaged and stripped by Parliamentarian forces in 1645 during the Civil War.

We walk around the town and sit by the stream, a really relaxing end to our day. Back to Bradford-on-Avon, where I once again talk travel with Mike and we battle to get Odette to complete some math exercises.

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