Glastonbury Tor

Glastonbury Toris one of the most famous and sacred landmarks in the West Country. From the summit at 158 metres, you can get amazing views over three counties - Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire.

'Tor' is a West Country word of Celtic origin meaning hill. The conical shape of Glastonbury Tor is natural - due to its rocks. It is made up of horizontal bands of clays and limestone with a cap of hard sandstone. The sandstone resists erosion, but the clays and limestone have worn away, resulting in the steep slopes. Before modern drainage, the tor in winter would have towered as an island above the flooded Somerset Levels. The terraces on the slopes date back to medieval times, when the hillside was one of the few dry places where people could grow crops and graze animals. The tor has been a place of pilgrimage for over 10,000 years. Many thousands of people still visit each year, some for its links with religion, legends and beliefs, and others because it is such a renowned landmark.

On the summit is St Michael's Tower, part of a 14th-century church. It was built to replace a previous church which had been destroyed by an earthquake in 1275. The second church lasted until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. At this time, the tor was the scene of the hanging of Richard Whiting, the last Abbot of Glastonbury.

Four orchards on the lower slopes have been re-planted with cider apples - the traditional Somerset varieties of Kingston Black and Yarlington Mill. The planting was undertaken with the help of local volunteers. On the sunny slopes of the tor, look for flowers such as lady's bedstraw, red campion and restharrow. You might also see butterflies like the painted lady, marbled white, meadow brown and gatekeeper. Watch for geese and swans flying over the Levels, and the spectacular gathering of swallows each autumn.

 Glastonbury Tor - St Michaels Tower

Glastonbury Tor rises from the lower lias clays and limestones through the middle and upper lias to a deposit of hard Midford sand on the cap 521 ft. high, known locally as Tor Burr. This is more resistant to erosion than the lower levels making the slopes steep and unstable.  These steep sculptured slopes rising dramatically from the Isle of Avalon in the flat Somerset Levels have encouraged much speculation about the origin of the Tor legend.

The earliest reference is a mid-thirteenth century story of St. Patrick's return from Ireland in which he became leader of a group of hermits at Glastonbury and discovered an ancient ruined oratory on the summit after climbing through a dense wood. Scattered finds of prehistoric, roman and later objects suggest the Tor was always used by man but evidence for actual occupation from the sixth century AD was uncovered in the ecavations of 1964-66. A second phase of occupation between 800-1100 was distinguished by the head of a cross and what were probably christian monk's cells cut into the rock on the summit. The tradition of a monastic site on the Tor is confirmed by a charter of 1243 granting permission for a fair at the monastery of St. Michael There.  The present tower, though later modified. Is essential!y fifteenth century amd is associated with the second of two major churches which stood on the summit. The second one was probably built after the destructive earthquake of 1275. The monastic church of St. Michael, closely associated with the great Abbey in the town below, fell into ruins after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539, when Richard Whiting, the last Abbot of Glastonbury was hanged on the Tor.

Contributed by: Jill Peters