Abbaye de Glastonbury

Glastonbury

The abbey is in ruins, and it is from its ruins that its fame comes. A great fire destroyed it in 1184; seven years later, in 1191, the monks announced that they had found in their cemetery the tomb of King Arthur and Guinevere. Historians today very largely regard this discovery as a publicity exercise designed to bring pilgrims and patrons back to a ruinously expensive rebuilding project. The abbey was dissolved in 1539: the last abbot, Richard Whiting, was dragged on a hurdle to the top of the neighbouring Tor, hanged, drawn and quartered with two of his monks, and his head nailed above the west gate.

Getting there : Admission charge; site run by an independent trust since its purchase by the Diocese of Bath and Wells in 1908

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound