Glastonbury Tor, Somerset, 1985. The area around Glastonbury was once a watery marsh with islands of high land, one of which was the mythical Avalon of the Arthurian legends and the repository of the holy grail, brought to England by Joseph of Arimathea. Here also Arthur and Guinevere are said to be buried, near the ruins of the old Glastonbury Cathedral. The most prominent feature on the landscape is Glastonbury Tor, which rises 130 feet over what is now drained, cultivated land. The top of the Tor has been the site of numerous structures, including a pagan temple, a chieftain’s stronghold, a Saxon church, and finally the 14th century St. Michael’s Church, whose tower alone survives. The Tor’s ridges may be the remains of a pagan and Christian ritual path which circled the hill seven times to the summit.
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