Anyone talking openly about this kind of experience stood in danger of a witchcraft trial. Somerset During the great solar eclipse of August 1999, two separate and unconnected groups of people reported seeing a large orange ball of light hovering to the south of the Tor. ', Glastonbury Tor A story about the young Arthur says he visited that realm, and while there was presented with the cauldron of rebirth and the sword of power. Some have seen it glowing with a strange light. There are very few big stones on the Tor, and from their positioning they look like deliberately placed markers. Centuries of legends and folklore have gathered around this Tor. "The historical story, from a very old source, 17th century, says of a large tunnel leading into the Tor which had a large cave in it, with two pools of natural spring water that flowed underground to the Chalice Well. When they flow down from the Tor again, the lines then pass through the other major Glastonbury sites – Chalice Well, the Abbey and Wearyall Hill. An otherworldly being met on the Tor might be called a fairy in one century, a nature spirit in another and ET in more recent years. The stones from Arthur’s fort on the Tor were later used to build the 12th century Church of St.Michael there. Walk upon England’s mountains green? The faintest echo of it still rides our winter nights in the form of Santa’s merry sleigh. "Somerset" is short for "summer settlement" because the area was too flooded to inhabit in winter. Apart from their connection with sacred sites, these lines are also associated with strange lights, and other unexplained phenomena. Whatever these lights are, they seem connected in some way with the powerful energies of sacred sites and earth meridians. But it’s only on the Tor that their energies combine. The National Trust took control of the Tor in 1933, but repairs were delayed until after the Second World War. There were seven guardians there in pale blue robes. On Sept 11th 1275, an earthquake shook down the Tor’s new church. Perhaps with some of Guinevere’s newfound inside knowledge, he returned later, better prepared. The original wooden church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1275, and the stone church of St Michael built on the site in the 14th century. Many people today prefer to think the Chalice Well water represents the life-giving blood of the earth mother. Glastonbury Tor, some 525 feet high (160 m), has been called the 'Heart of England'. The top of the Tor was levelled at some point in the 10th or 11th century to build a large stone church. Several buildings were constructed on the summit during the Saxon and early medieval periods; they have been interpreted as an early church and monks hermitage. Tor is 158m high; entrance to Moneybox field wheelchair-friendly but slope rapidly becomes steep. Please consider making a donation or, even better, become a Friend of the National Churches Trust. Glastonbury Tor has been a site of religious significance for over 1000 years and is known as being one of the most spiritual sites in the country, as well as its close links to Christianity, its pagan beliefs are still very much celebrated. The wealth of the Abbey was supposedly sent to swell Henry VIIIth’s coffers in London. One problem was the difference between fairy time and ours. They were described as tall, youthful despite great age, and 'fair' – ie. Gwyn ap Nudd, who later became the Tor King of the Fairies, began his career as a symbol of death. These are described as luminous, alive, and somehow conscious. Under the flooring there was a hidden vault. Gwyn was seen as a kind of mediator between them and the human race. The Michael and Mary lines are especially powerful. It would hurtle across the night sky, the white Yeth hounds running before, hunting souls to take back to the underworld. The bit I walked was, or at least seemed to be, several hundred yards.". Anyone who returned from a fairy foray was likely to discover large chunks of missing time in their lives. There are echoes of Gwyn’s kidnapping of Creiddyladd in the story about Guinevere’s abduction. His mission was to suppress or destroy all records of Arthur. They connect major sacred sites throughout the South West and beyond. A famous Tor story is the encounter between St. Collen with Gwyn ap Nudd. By 1127 the annual Tor Fair was so successful and popular that King Henry I granted a charter for them to continue as long as they were held on the Tor at least two days a year. Tintagel and Cadbury Castle were probably his main strongholds – but so was Glastonbury Tor, according to both legends and evidence. They were therefore a threat to the new faith, and the way of life that went with it. In the same way, St.Mary churches delineate the Mary line and replaced older shrines to a nurturing and gentle earth mother. Fashions in belief are changing again, and once again the Tor is somehow the perfect model for the latest style, while never a fashion victim. The Tor had enough strategic and symbolic importance for this to be more than likely. In those days, fairies were nothing like our twee pictures of them. Before long, Gwyn the mediator answered him in person. There are undertones in that story of older blood sacrifices to propitiate the gods. The soft green hill of the Tor, crowned with its enigmatic tower, has become a symbol of Glastonbury. Their energy may be an important source of the strong mystical element that’s been associated with these places for many hundreds of years. Hilltop churches were often dedicated to St.Michael, who was the Christian version of older gods connected with high places and power meridians of the earth – sometimes also called dragon lines. There are stories about monks who found these tunnels, but were 'insane' or 'unable to speak' when they returned. That side of their nature was placated with offerings. A heedless Annwn adventurer might slip permanently into the past or future. St. Collen, a devout Christian monk, had heard about the heathen fairies of the Tor, and decided to do something about it. In 1275 an earthquake levelled this church. Although cautious about the fairy world, people did like their fairs. Fifteen hundred years on, the spirit of Arthur is alive and well in the legends that have become a vital part of the British psyche. There were twelve columns around it, whitish in colour. Adventurous people who sleep in the tower talk about strange and vivid dreams, and a white light that sometimes fills the place. Another danger was the food. Although very worn now, it can still be traced. Maybe something in the experience unhinged their sheltered monastic minds. This has been interpreted in different ways. With the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539, the Abbey was reduced to a stone quarry. These are geomagnetic lines in the earth, like acupuncture meridians in the body. After the dissolution, there was a grim episode when Richard Whiting, the Abbey’s last abbot, was dragged up the Tor on hurdles and hanged there, along with two of his priors. The earliest group known to move into the Tor was the fairies. Legends say that when the secret treasure is found again, it will herald a new age of peace and happiness. There could be some truth in this, although the knight may not have been a ghost. Before modern drainage, the Tor in winter would have towered above the flooded Somerset Levels. Glastonbury Abbey is connected with legend to a degree that is unparalleled by any other abbey in England. Some said this was the fairies’ doing. On top of Glastonbury Tor stands the tower of the church of St. Michael. A persistent ancient belief says there’s an entrance to Annwn somewhere on the Tor, which was well known as a strange, magical place. A physical indication of what might have been some ancient ritual, is the terraced pathway that spirals around the Tor. But the advantages of the Tor were clearly not lost on Arthur. He was Lord of the Underworld, like the Norse Odin. In 1786, Richard Colt Hoare of Stourhead bought the Tor and funded repair of the tower in 1804, including the rebuilding of the north east corner. The soft green hill of the Tor, crowned with its enigmatic tower, has become a symbol of Glastonbury. He led St. Collen into his court, where the fairies offered their food and drink. Over the years, a substantial number of credible witnesses have seen balls of light around the Tor. The hill has a long religious history with evidence of Pagan and early Christian settlement on it. The conical shape of Glastonbury Tor is natural. Beneath the Tor is said to lie a subterranean kingdom ruled over by the Lord of the Wild Hunt, Gwynn ap Nud, a powerful other-worldly figure who was once banished by the Celtic St. Collen, but who is … This same person showed me one of the mentioned tunnels which still lead into the Abbey from outside of town. A local chieftain, Melwas, had a stronghold on the Tor. by Atasha McMillan. It is said the cave was part of a Druidic initiation, a journey into the dark and the inner self. He described it as "a little place under a rock in a secret, out-of-the-way place". By whatever means, the Tor has successfully turned its church into the pagan symbol of an upstanding tower. It has been suggested that the terraces form a kind of maze that guided pilgrims up the sacred hill. There was a very fragrant scent there. Steps, rails and seat only on part of route. The white temple was on top of the Tor with trees and rushes and water all the way round. It dominates the town and the surrounding landscape, and is the first sign to the traveller that Glastonbury is drawing near. Blue badge holders can park on double yellow lines at Moneybox field entrance at top of Wellhouse Lane. Christian churches later replaced the older sacred sites that were built along these lines. It was at one of these Tor fairs that the famous Blondin did a tightrope act so good we still have the reports praising it. Thousands of years ago it was an island. Despite that, a large number of these tales survive. All that’s now left of it is the tower that was added in the 1360s. This would make it an important focus of regeneration and life, both symbolically and practically. Archaeological excavations during the 20th century sought to clarify the background of the monument and church, but some aspects of their history remain unexplained. A huge number of fairy encounters are associated with magical hills. Its tower remains, although it has been restored and partially rebuilt several times. Some on street parking at bottom of tor but very limited. At the top, they merge and unite. Just being on that islet was restorative in itself.". The new beliefs were still firmly rooted in the Celtic underworld of Annwn, which was closely associated with Glastonbury Tor. Roman influence later modified that idea, saying it’s not the hills that are alive, but the gods who live in them. The marshes and swamps surrounding the Tor made it difficult for Arthur to attack with any hope of success. As the Middle Ages farmed on, people learned that potential threats from both fairies and nature could be avoided by heeding certain rules. ExploreChurches has been developed by the National Churches Trust using our core funds.

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