Glastonbury Abbey
=How to get there.=–Train from Waterloo. South-Western Railway.
=Nearest Station.=–Glastonbury and Street.
=Distance from London.=–132-1/4 miles.
=Average Time.=–Varies from 3-1/2 to 5 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=–Single 21s. 0d. ... 10s. 6d.
Return 36s. 9d. ... 21s. 0d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=–"George Hotel,” “Red Lion Hotel,"
“Crown Hotel,” etc.
=Alternative Route.=–Train from Paddington. Great Western Rly.
In the early days of Christianity in Britain this celebrated abbey,
according to tradition, was established in A.D. 63. Joseph of Arimathea
was supposed to be the founder, and the “miraculous thorn,” which
flowered on Christmas Day, was believed to be holy by the common people
even up to the time of the Puritans. During the wars between Charles I.
and his Parliament the thorn was destroyed, but sturdy trees grown from
cuttings of the original still flourish in some of the neighbouring
gardens. This thorn was believed by the people to be the staff used by
Joseph in his journey to Britain from the Holy Land. At one time
Glastonbury Abbey covered 60 acres, and was the lengthiest
ecclesiastical building in England, but as many of the houses in
Glastonbury, and also a causeway across Sedgemoor (where the unhappy
Duke of Monmouth was defeated) were constructed of the materials, the
ruins are of necessity much diminished. The most interesting remains are
the Abbey Church, with St. Joseph’s Chapel, St. Mary’s Chapel, and the
Abbot’s Kitchen. St. Joseph’s Chapel is supposed to have been erected in
the time of Henry II. and Richard I. It is one of the finest specimens
in existence of transitional Norman work. It is now roofless, and even
the vaulting of the crypt is nearly destroyed. The windows and archways
of St. Mary’s Chapel are beautiful, although roofless. The Abbot’s
Kitchen, a square massive structure with strong buttresses, was built
about 1450. The roof is of stone and is surmounted by a louvre, through
which the smoke escaped during the great culinary preparations in the
days of the abbey’s prosperity. The gargoyles around the building,
representing the heads of sheep and oxen, are suggestive of the purpose
of the building. Henry VIII., who coveted the treasures of the abbey, in
1539 summoned Abbot Whiting to surrender, and on his refusal ordered him
to be drawn and quartered. This was carried out on Glastonbury Tor.
[Illustration: Photochrom Co., Ltd.
GLASTONBURY ABBEY.
The doorway of St. Joseph’s Chapel.]
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Preface •
Ham House and Petersham •
Walton-On-Thames (scold’s Bridle) •
Harrow •
Holwood House, Keston •
Chigwell, Essex •
Waltham Abbey and Cross •
Downe •
Epsom: Its Races and Its Salts •
Epping Forest •
Hampton Court •
Rye House, Broxbourne •
Hatfield House, Herts •
Runnymead, the Signing of Magna Charta •
The Oldest Brass in England •
St. Albans •
Stoke Poges Church, Bucks •
Windsor •
Jordans and William Penn •
Knole House and Sevenoaks •
Greenstead Church •
Chalfont St. Giles •
Westerham •
Guildford, Surrey •
Gad’s Hill •
Ightham Mote, Kent •
Penshurst •
St. Michael’s Mount and Marazion •
Rochester Cathedral •
Tunbridge Wells •
The Quintain Post At Offham and Malling Abbey •
Eversley •
Farnham, Surrey •
Hindhead, Surrey •
Shottermill •
Penn’s Chapel At Thakeham, Sussex •
Chawton the Home of Jane Austen •
Selborne •
Elstow •
Lewes, Sussex •
Bodiam Castle, Sussex •
Colchester, Essex •
Layer Marney •
Battle Abbey •
Cambridge •
Arundel Castle •
Olney, Bucks •
Wantage and the Country of Alfred the Great •
Canterbury and Its Cathedral •
Reculvers •
Oxford •
Midhurst •
Pevensey Castle •
Savernake Forest •
Ely Cathedral •
St. Ives, Huntingdonshire •
Winchelsea and Rye •
Blenheim Palace •
Peterborough Cathedral and Crowland •
Peterborough •
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Helmingham Hall •
Stonehenge, Wiltshire •
Netley Abbey •
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New Forest, Hampshire •
Osborne House •
Carisbrooke Castle •
Lutterworth •
Compton Wynyates •
Kenilworth Castle •
Belvoir Castle •
Bath •
Boston and the Pilgrim Fathers •
Warwick •
Gloucester and Its Cathedral •
Norfolk Broads •
Norwich Cathedral •
Lichfield •
Sherborne and Its Abbey Church •
Newark •
Wells and Its Cathedral •
Stratford-On-Avon •
Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk •
Lulworth Cove, Dorsetshire •
Corfe Castle •
Lincoln and Its Cathedral •
Somerset, the Birthplace of Tennyson •
Glastonbury Abbey •
Walsingham, Norfolk •
Cheddar Caves, Cheddar, Somerset •
Newstead Abbey •
The Wessex of Thomas Hardy’s Romances •
Tintern Abbey •
Chesterfield, Derbyshire •
Dukeries •
Haddon Hall, Derbyshire •
The Isle of Athelney, and Sedgemoor •
Raglan Castle •
Dovedale •
Wellington and the Wrekin, Shropshire •
Wroxeter and the Roman City of Uriconium, Salop •
Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire •
Ludlow and Its Castle •
Shrewsbury •
Buxton and the Peak District •
Tewkesbury •
Exeter and Its Cathedral •
Market Drayton, Salop •
Chester •
Exmoor •
Knutsford •
Torr Steps On the Barle, Somerset •
Cleeve Abbey, Somerset •
Hawarden •
York Minster •
Coxwold, Yorkshire •
Llangollen and Valle Crucis Abbey •
Knaresborough, Dripping Well •
Fountains Abbey •
Ripon Cathedral •
Dartmoor •
Haworth •
Rievaulx Abbey •
Brixham, Devon •
Conway Castle •
The Doone Valley, Exmoor •
Llandovery, South Wales •
Dartmouth, Devon •
Richmond, Yorkshire •
Tintagel •
Whitby •
Carnarvon Castle •
Plymouth •
Durham and Its Cathedral •
Raby Castle, Durham •
Snowdon •
Harlech Castle •
Grasmere and Rydal Mount •
The Lake District •
St. Davids Cathedral •
Furness Abbey, Lancashire •
Monkwearmouth, Near Jarrow •
The Isle of Man •
Brantwood •
Fowey •
Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall •
The Lake District •
Keswick •
Alnwick Castle •
Lanercost Priory, Cumberland •
Lanercost Priory and Stepping-Stones.] •
St. Ives, Cornwall •
Bamborough Castle, Northumberland
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