Glastonbury Abbey

Glastonbury Abbey, 8th-century abbey in Glastonbury, Somerset, now in ruins. Medieval tradition has it that Joseph of Arimathea established the first Christian church in England at the site of Glastonbury Abbey. King Ine of Wessex founded the abbey at Glastonbury during the early 8th century, and it was greatly expanded by St Dunstan, who became abbot in about 940. The abbey was favoured by the English kings and, at the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, was among the richest and most influential monasteries in England. Though damaged by fire in 1184, the abbey was rebuilt by Henry II. It was at this point that the supposed tombs of Arthur and Guinevere were discovered in the abbey grounds, the discovery probably being manufactured in order to raise interest in—and money for—the abbey’s reconstruction. The abbey ceased to function following the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s, and was quickly stripped of building materials, leaving only ruins.

At the time of the dissolution the abbey church was of cruciform design, with cloisters, refectory, chapter house, and abbot’s lodge to the south. The Norman nave, begun in 1184 following the fire, was not completed until the early 14th century. The transepts—the earliest portions of the Norman abbey to be completed—dated from 1235-1253, and the crossing from 1303-1322. Only the abbot’s kitchen, built between 1303 and 1342, is still structurally complete.