Glastonbury Tor

Glastonbury Tor, hill just east of Glastonbury village, rising to a height of 159 m (522 ft) from the Brue Valley in the Mendip district of Somerset. It is reputed to be the place to which Joseph of Arimathea brought the Holy Grail in ad 63, and the spot where he planted his staff; it took root and grew into the Glastonbury Thorn that flowers at Christmas. According to another legend, St Collen founded a church dedicated to St Michael in the 6th century (although it is sometimes said to have been built by Christ in late boyhood); it was later destroyed by an earthquake and replaced by another church of St Michael, of which a tower remains. During the Reformation, abbots were martyred on the Tor.

There is also an Arthurian connection; Caradoc's Life of Gildas describes how Guinevere was kidnapped by Melwas, King of Somerset, whose stronghold was the Tor. It is also the legendary burial-place of Arthur, and was known as the island of Avalon; the marshy ground around the Tor supports this, although Arthurian texts largely do not.