Glastonbury Abbey
Richard Whiting | |
Architecture | |
---|---|
Status | Ruins |
Site | |
Location | Glastonbury, Somerset |
Country | England |
Coordinates | 51°8′44″N 2°42′52″W / 51.14556°N 2.71444°W |
Official name | Glastonbury Abbey |
Designated | 9 October 1981 |
Reference no. | 1021077 |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
Official name | Glastonbury Abbey |
Type | Grade I |
Designated | 21 June 1950 |
Reference no. | 1345447 |
Glastonbury Abbey was a
The abbey was founded in the 8th century and enlarged in the 10th. It was destroyed by a major fire in 1184, but subsequently rebuilt and by the 14th century was one of the richest and most powerful monasteries in England. The abbey controlled large tracts of the surrounding land and was instrumental in major drainage projects on the
From at least the 12th century, the Glastonbury area has been associated with the legend of King Arthur, a connection promoted by medieval monks who asserted that Glastonbury was Avalon. Christian legends have claimed that the abbey was founded by Joseph of Arimathea in the 1st century.
History
Suggestions that Glastonbury may have been a site of religious importance in Celtic or pre-Celtic times are considered dubious by the historian
Glastonbury fell into Saxon hands after the Battle of Peonnum in 658. Saxons under Cenwalh of Wessex conquered Somerset as far west as the River Parrett, perhaps with the intention of gaining control of the abbey. Cenwalh allowed the British abbot, Bregored, to remain in power, a move perhaps intended as a show of good faith to the defeated Britons.[9] After Bregored's death in 669, he was replaced by an Anglo-Saxon, Berhtwald, but British monks remained for many years.[9]
Saxon era
The medieval Glastonbury Canal was built about the middle of the 10th century to link the abbey with the River Brue, a distance of about 1.75 kilometres (1,900 yd). Its purpose is believed to have been to transport stone to build the abbey, but later it was used to transport produce, including grain, wine and fish, from the abbey's outlying properties.[17][18] Much of the building stone came from the abbey's quarries at Doulting,[19] accessed by way of the River Sheppey at Pilton.[20] From the 11th century, the abbey was the centre of a large water-borne transport network as further canalisations and new channels were made, including the diversion of the Brue to access to the estate at Meare and an easier route to the Bristol Channel. In the 13th century, the abbey's head boatman transported the abbot in an eight-oared boat on visits to the abbey's nearby manors.[18] During the Middle Ages, bone fragments of Saint Caesarius of Terracina were translated to Glastonbury Abbey.[21]
Medieval era
Norman conquest
At the
Early drainage work on the
King Arthur's tomb
In 1184, a great fire at Glastonbury destroyed the monastic buildings.
Pilgrim visits had fallen and in 1191 the alleged discovery of King Arthur and Queen
According to Giraldus, the digging for the tomb was prompted by the intelligence obtained by
Historians today generally dismiss the authenticity of the find, attributing it to a publicity stunt performed to raise funds to repair the Abbey, which was mostly burned in 1184.
Annexation to Bath and Wells
In 1197, Savaric FitzGeldewin, Bishop of Bath and Wells, traded the city of Bath to the king in return for the monastery of Glastonbury. Savaric secured the support of Pope Celestine III for the takeover the abbey as the seat of his bishopric, replacing Bath. The plan was that Savaric would be bishop of Bath as well as abbot of Glastonbury. In his support, Savaric obtained letters from various ecclesiastics, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Hubert Walter, that claimed that this arrangement would settle longstanding disputes between the abbey and the bishops. The monks of Glastonbury objected to Savaric's plan, and sent an appeal to Rome, which was dismissed in 1196. But King Richard, no longer imprisoned in Germany, sided with the monks, and allowed them to elect an abbot, William Pica, in place of Savaric, who responded by excommunicating the new abbot. With the succession of John as king in place of his brother Richard in 1199, Savaric managed to force his way into the monastery and set up his episcopal see within the abbey. The monks appealed to Innocent III, the new pope.[49]
At first, Innocent took the side of the monks, and lifted Pica's excommunication.[49] While the newest appeal was taking place, Pica and a number of his supporters, who had travelled to Rome to appeal in person, died in Rome in 1200,[49][50] and some of the monks alleged this was by poison administered on the orders of Savaric. Meanwhile, Innocent had changed his mind, and reinstalled Savaric as abbot, ordering some English clergy to judge the specifics of the case, and allot the revenues of the abbey between Savaric and the monks. Savaric then attempted to secure more control over other monasteries in his diocese, but died before he could set the plans in motion.[49]
The bishops continued to use the title Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury until finally renouncing their claim to Glastonbury in 1219. Services in the reconsecrated Great Church had begun on Christmas Day, 1213, most likely before it was entirely completed. King Edward I and Queen Eleanor attended the magnificent service at the reburial of King Arthur's remains to the foot of the High Altar in 1278.[51]
14th and 15th centuries
In the 14th century, only Westminster Abbey was more richly endowed and appointed than Glastonbury. The abbot of Glastonbury kept great estate, now attested to simply by the ruins of the Abbot's Kitchen, with four huge fireplaces at its corners. The kitchen was part of the magnificent abbot's house begun under Abbot John de Breynton (1334–42). It is one of the best preserved medieval kitchens in Europe, and the only substantial monastic building surviving at Glastonbury.[52] Archaeological excavations have revealed a special apartment erected at the south end of the abbot's house for a visit from Henry VII, who visited the abbot in a royal progress, as he visited any other great territorial magnate. The conditions of life in England during the Wars of the Roses became so unsettled that a wall was built around the abbey's precincts.
The George Hotel and Pilgrims' Inn was built in the late 15th century to accommodate visitors to the abbey. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.[53] The abbey also held lands outside the town serving large parts of Somerset and including parts of neighbouring counties. Tithe barns were built to hold the crops due to the abbey including those at Doulting,[54] Mells[55][56] and Pilton.[57][58]
Dissolution of the Monasteries
At the start of the
Decline
After the Dissolution, two of the abbey's
Modern history
The ruins of Glastonbury Abbey were purchased by the Bath and Wells Diocesan Trust in 1908. The ruins are now the property of and managed by the Glastonbury Abbey trust. On acquiring the site the trust appointed Frederick Bligh Bond to direct an archaeological investigation. Bond discovered the Edgar Chapel, North Porch and St Dunstan's Chapel, however relations with his employers turned sour when he revealed in his 1919 book, The Gates of Remembrance, that he had made many of his interpretations in collaboration with a psychic medium.[64] He was dismissed by Bishop Armitage Robinson in 1921, because of his use of seances and psychic archaeology[65][66][67] but is remembered as the man who "galvanised our cultural understanding of Glastonbury".[64]
A pilgrimage to the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey was held by a few local churches in 1924.
Architecture
The ruins of the great church, along with the Lady Chapel, are grade I
The great church was 220 feet (67 m) in length and 45 feet (14 m) wide. The choir was 155 feet (47 m) long and the transept was 160 feet (49 m) long. St Joseph's chapel was 110 feet (34 m) long and 24 feet (7.3 m) wide.[73] The remaining portions are of the clerestory and triforium arcades, which were the supports of the central square tower.[74] Other fragments of structures which remain include portions of the outer walls of the chancel aisles and the 14th century retroquire. There is also surviving stonework from the south nave aisle wall, west front and the Galilee along with its crypt linked to St Mary's Chapel.[10] The Lady Chapel, from which the walls survive, was described in 1478 as being 34 yards (31 m) in length and 8 yards (7.3 m) wide.[75]
The Abbot's Kitchen is described as "one of the best preserved medieval kitchens in Europe".[76] The 14th century octagonal building is supported by curved buttresses on each side leading up to a cornice with grotesque gargoyles. Inside are four large arched fireplaces with smoke outlets above them, with another outlet in the centre of the pyramidal roof.[76] The kitchen was attached to the 80 feet (24 m) high abbot's hall, although only one small section of its wall remains.[77]
The analysis of the 20th-century archaeological investigations have recently been published along with the results of a new geophysical survey.[78][79][80]
Library
The abbey library was described by
Abbey House
Within the abbey wall is Abbey House, which was used by the Diocese of Bath and Wells as a retreat house from 1931 until 2018.[83] It is now occasionally open to the public for special events and provides additional administration space for the Abbey.
The Tudor Gothic house was built between 1829 and 1830 by John Buckler from the stones of the abbey ruins for John Fry Reeves.[84] It was altered and extended between 1850 and 1860, with further alterations in 1957.[85]
Other burials
- Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia
- Indract of Glastonbury and his sister Saint Drusa
- Edgar the Peaceful
- Edmund I
- Ealdgyth (wife of Edmund Ironside)
- Edmund II
- Humphrey Stafford, 1st Earl of Devon
- Richard Beere
- Eosterwine
- Hwaetberht
William of Malmesbury suggested that relics relating to others, including the following, were deposited at Glastonbury:
- St Oswald, King of Northumbria c 604, r. 630/40
- Balthild of Chelles, Queen consort of Burgundy c 626-680
- Aelfflaed, second wife of Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo Saxons (father of Edmund) early C10
Glastonbury Thorn
A specimen of
See also
- Abbot's Kitchen, Glastonbury – Medieval building in Glastonbury, England
- Abbot of Glastonbury – List of medieval abbots of Glastonbury Abbey in England
- Adam of Damerham
- List of monastic houses in Somerset
- History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes – Domes in religious architecture
References
- ^ Hutton, 1991, p.107
- ^ "Glastonbury Abbey: the archaeological story". Reading University. Archived from the original on 25 November 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
- ISBN 9780854313006.
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- ^ "Medieval mythbusting - new research rewrites history of Glastonbury Abbey". Glastonbury Abbey. Archived from the original on 25 November 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
- ISBN 9780854313006.
- ^ Ashe pp.83–90 and p.279
- ^ Edward Huttom, London, 1919, Highways and Byways of Somerset, p.156.
- ^ a b Ashe, p.279
- ^ a b c Historic England. "Glastonbury Abbey (196705)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- ^ a b c "Monasticism". England in the Middle Ages. Archived from the original on 21 June 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
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- ^ Kennedy, Maev (23 November 2015). "Glastonbury myths 'made up by 12th-century monks'". Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
- ^ a b Gathercole, Clare. "Glastonbury". Somerset Urban Archaeological Surveys. Somerset County Council. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ^ "History". St Neots Town Council. Archived from the original on 12 February 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ a b Havinden p.74
- ^ Gathercole, Clare (2003). An archaeological assessment of Glastonbury (PDF). English Heritage Extensive Urban Survey. Taunton: Somerset County Council. pp. 19–20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
- ^ a b Hollinrake pp.235–239
- ^ a b Searle p.100
- ^ S2CID 161985196.
- ^ Ex ossibus S. Caesarii: Ricomposizione delle reliquie di San Cesario diacono e martire di Terracina, testi ed illustrazioni di Giovanni Guida, [s.l.: s.n.], 2017
- ^ Dugdale, William (1693). Monasticon Anglicanum, or, The history of the ancient abbies, and other monasteries, hospitals, cathedral and collegiate churches in England and Wales. With divers French, Irish, and Scotch monasteries formerly relating to England. Translated by Wright, James. Sam Keble; Hen. Rhodes. p. 3.
- ^ Rahtz & Watts 2003, p. 46
- ^ "Glastonbury Abbey". Sacred destinations. Archived from the original on 7 September 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- ^ a b Gulielmus Malmesburiensis [William of Malmesbury]. De Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesiæ. Archived 3 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine 1129–1139. Hosted at the University of Zurich's Corpus Corporum. (in Latin)
- ^ a b c Robinson, Joseph Armitage. "William of Malmesbury 'On the Antiquity of Glastonbury'" in Somerset Historical Essays. Oxford University Press (London), 1921. Hosted at Wikisource.
- ^ "Glastonbury Abbey". New advent. Archived from the original on 28 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- ^ Newell, William Wells. "William of Malmesbury on the Antiquity of Glastonbury, with Especial Reference to the Equation of Glastonbury and Avalon" in Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, Vol. XVIII, No. 4. Archived 17 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine 1903.
- ^ Glastonbury in Norris J. Lacy, Editor, The Arthurian Encyclopedia (1986 Peter Bedrick Books, New York).
- ^ "'Introduction', A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 8: The Poldens and the Levels". A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 8. Victoria County History. pp. 1–7. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2008.
- ^ Williams p.50
- ^ Historic England. "The Abbot's Fish House (1345067)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 November 2008.
- ^ "Meare Fish House". English Heritage website. Retrieved 3 November 2008.
- ^ Bulleid, Arthur; St. George Gray, Harold (1948). The Meare Lake Village. Taunton: pub. privately. pp. 1–14. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012.
- ^ "Glastonbury Abbey". Cathedrals Plus. The Pilgrims Association. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ "The Lady Chapel". Archaeology at Glastonbury Abbey on-line. Archeology Data Service. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2011.(Free registration required)
- ^ "The Great Church". Archaeology at Glastonbury Abbey on-line. Archeology Data Service. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2011.(Free registration required)
- ^ a b (White 1997, pp. 517–523)
- ^ Sutton, John William. "The Tomb of King Arthur". University of Rochester. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
In his Liber de Principis instructione ("Book of the instruction of princes"), of circa 1193, and his Speculum Ecclesiae ("Mirror of the Church"), of circa 1216. He identified the abbot in charge as "Abbot Henry, who was later elected Bishop of Worcester".
- ^ "Two Accounts of the Exhumation of Arthur's Body". Britania.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ Carley 2001, p. 48
- ^ Brewer, J.S., ed. (1891). Giraldi Cambrensis opera. Vol. 8. London: Longman. pp. 126–.
- ^ Stevenson, Joseph, ed. (1875). Radulphi de Coggeshall, Chronicon Anglicanum. Rolls Series. London: Longmans. pp. 36–. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014.
- ^ Giles, John Allen, ed. (1847). Chronicle of the Kings of England: From the earliest period to the reign of King Stephen. London: Henry G. Bohn. pp. 23–.
- ^ Modern scholarship views the Glastonbury cross as the result of a probably late 12th-century fraud. See Rahtz & Watts 2003, Carley 2001 and Harris 2018.
- O. J. Padel, "The Nature of Arthur" in Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 27 (1994), pp. 1–31 at p.10
- ^ Rahtz & Watts 2003
- ^ Gerald of Wales – Two Accounts of the Exhumation of Arthur's Body Archived 3 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d Knowles, 2004, p.328
- ^ Knowles, et al., 2005, p.52
- ^ "Glastonbury's History and Traditions". Isle of Avalon. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ Historic England. "Abbot's Kitchen, Glastonbury Abbey (1172820)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ Historic England. "George Hotel and Pilgrims' Inn (1345455)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 November 2006.
- ^ Historic England. "Tithe Barn in farmyard at Manor Farm (1221353)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
- ^ Historic England. "Mells Village Hall (1058313)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
- ISBN 978-0715372975.
- ^ Historic England. "Former Tithe Barn in farmyard at Cumhill Farm (1058842)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 November 2008.
- ^ "Case Study | Pilton Barn" (PDF). Caroe & Partners Architects. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2008.
- ^ "The Suppression of Glastonbury Abbey 1539". Medieval Sourcebook. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ "The Suppression of Glastonbury Abbey". Medieval Sourcebook. Internet medieval Sourcebook. Archived from the original on 1 June 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ Gasquet, p.90
- ^ Harris 1992, p. 83
- ^ Carley 1988, pp. 169–175.
- ^ a b Anon. "Discovering Glastonbury Abbey — the psychic way". BBC Somerset: Historic places. BBC. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
- ^ "Discovering Glastonbury Abbey — the psychic way". BBC Somerset — Historic Places. BBC. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ "Glastonbury Enigma". Fortean Times. Archived from the original on 27 July 2003. Retrieved 10 May 2007.
- ^ Hill, p.156
- ^ a b "Services & Pilgrimage". Glastonbury Abbey. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
- ^ "Conservation Area Appraisal Glastonbury" (PDF). Mendip District Council. p. 43. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
- ^ Historic England. "Glastonbury Abbey (1345447)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 November 2006.
- ^ Historic England. "Abbey Gatehouse, including the porters' lodge (1345446)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ Historic England. "Abbey Tithe Barn, including attached wall to east (1057953)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 September 2007.
- ^ Dowling, 1845, pp.231–232
- ^ Bond, 1920, p.22
- ^ Willis, 1866, p.77
- ^ a b Historic England. "Abbot's Kitchen, Glastonbury Abbey (1172820)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
- ^ Dunning, Robert W.; Siraut, M. C.; Thacker, A. T.; Williamson, Elizabeth. "Glastonbury and Street". A History of the County of Somerset. UK: British History Online. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
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- ^ "Glastonbury Abbey Excavations". University of Reading. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
- ^ "Excavation Archive Project (2009–2012)". Glastonbury Abbey. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
- ^ "Houses of Benedictine monks: the abbey of Glastonbury". A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 2. British History Online. 1911. Archived from the original on 5 May 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ Carley 1988, pp. 143–144.
- ^ Williams, Hattie (28 July 2017). "Glastonbury Abbey retreat centre to close". Church Times. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
- ^ Dunning, Robert W.; Siraut, M.C.; Thacker, A.T.; Williamson, Elizabeth (2006). "Glastonbury: Parish". A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 9: Glastonbury and Street. Institute of Historical Research. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
- ^ Historic England. "Abbey Retreat House (1167617)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ Hallett, Emma (9 December 2010). "Vandals destroy sacred thorn tree". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 10 December 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
- ^ "Historic Holy Thorn tree cut down in Glastonbury". BBC News. 9 December 2010. Archived from the original on 12 December 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
- ^ Kennedy, Maev (9 December 2010). "Glastonbury Thorn chopped down as town rages over attack on famous tree". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 20 September 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
- ^ Lance et al., p.15
- ^ "Sprig of Holy Thorn in Glastonbury is cut for the Queen". BBC. 8 December 2010. Archived from the original on 12 December 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
- ^ Humphrys, Geoffrey (December 1998). "Attempts to regrow the Glastonbury thorn after it died in 1991". History Today. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
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- Ashe, Geoffrey (1960). From Caesar to Arthur. Collins.
- Bond, Frederick Bligh (1920). An Architectural Handbook of Glastonbury Abbey with a Historical Chronicle of the Building. Kessinger. ISBN 978-1-4179-7776-5.
- ISBN 978-0-85115-460-2.
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- Gilchrist, Roberta; Green, Cheryl (2015). Glastonbury Abbey: archaeological investigations 1904–79. London: Society of Antiquaries of London. ISBN 9780854313006.
- Harris, Kate (1992). Glastonbury Abbey Records at Longleat House: A Summary List. Somerset Record Society. ISBN 978-0-901732-29-3.
- Harris, Oliver D. (2018). "'Which I have beholden with most curiouse eyes': the lead cross from Glastonbury Abbey". Arthurian Literature. 34: 88–129. S2CID 200168947.
- Havinden, Michael (1981). The Somerset Landscape. The making of the English landscape. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-20116-9.
- Hill, Rosemary (2009). Stonehenge. Profile Books. ISBN 978-1-86197-880-6.
- Hollinrake, Charles; Hollinrake, Nancy (2007). "Glastonbury's Canal and Dunstan's Dyke". In Blair, John (ed.). Waterways and Canal Building in Medieval England. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-921715-1.
- Knowles, David (2004). The Monastic Order in England: A History of its Development from the Times of St Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council 940–1216. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-54808-3.
- Knowles, David; Brooke, C. N. L.; London, Vera C. M. (2005). The Heads of Religious Houses England and Wales, I 940–1216. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-02872-4.
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- ISBN 978-0-7524-2548-1.
- Rouse, Robert Allen; Rushton, Cory (2005). The Medieval Quest for Arthur. Stroud: History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-3343-1.
- Searle, Muriel V. (2002). West Country History: Somerset. Bristol: Venton Publications. ISBN 978-1-84150-802-3.
- White, Richard (1997). King Arthur in Legend and History. London: Dent. ISBN 978-0460879156.
- Williams, Michael (1970). The Draining of the Somerset Levels. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-07486-5.
- Willis, Robert (1866). The Architectural History of Glastonbury Abbey. Cambridge: Deighton, Bell.
External links