Glastonbury Tor, early spiritual center
by Aisling D'Art © 2003-4, all rights reserved

Glastonbury Tor is one of four hills rising dramatically from an otherwise level plain. The peak of the Tor is 500 feet above serene downtown Glastonbury, just a few blocks away.

The Tor is open to the public, and the hike to the top is worthwhile, not just for the rabbits that hop merrily alongside travelers, but also for the spectacular view from the relatively recent twelfth-century tower that was once the Church of St. Michael.

The mystical tales of Glastonbury Tor emerged thousands of years before King Arthur, with the construction of the Glastonbury Zodiac.

The Glastonbury Zodiac

Katharine Maltwood rediscovered the Zodiac in 1927. Mrs. Maltwood estimated that this huge astrological table was constructed at about 2700 BCE, while others suggest a far earlier date, perhaps as early as 7000 BCE, relating to Egypt’s Dendarah Zodiac.

The Glastonbury Zodiac can be seen only from heights of 20,000 feet and above. This vast circle includes the Tor and Chalice Hill (Aquarius) and nearby Wearyall Hill (Pisces). The diameter of the Zodiac is approximately 10 miles wide, and about 30 miles in circumference.

According to some, the Glastonbury Zodiac may be the original Round Table.

However, the Zodiac is not the only mystical link to earlier times.

Standing Stones and a Lunar Observatory

Long after the construction of the Zodiac, the Tor was part of another huge project: Over 30 standing stones on the Tor and nearby hills formed a lunar observatory that could predict eclipses. These stones also lined up with the sun on May Day and on Lammas (around the first of August).

Most of these standing stones had vanished by the 1880’s, but one remains on the lower western slope of the Tor’s east-west axis.

This megalith, a power stone, is called Living Rock on the Ordinance Survey Maps. People who touch it at dawn or very late at night, often report feeling a mild electrical current emanating from the stone.

This megalith also marks the site of the Tor Fair.

Faeries, Druids, and the Otherworld

The Tor Fair has been linked to the “Faery Fairs,” at which the faeries gather, trade horses, and so on. The most famous of these fairs is at Pitminster, on the slopes of Black Down Hill.

The Tor Fair predates the year 1127, when King Henry I granted a charter to continue the annual fairs, as long as the celebration was held upon the traditional, sacred site for at least two days each year.

However, the Tor was a sacred site long before King Henry’s charter. For example, it appears that the Druids built a seven-tiered labyrinth, or perhaps a processional path, on the Tor.

Archaeology shows that as early as 2000 BCE, there was a stone structure on the Tor. It may have been a religious site. In legend, it was the summit castle of Gwynn ap Nudd, the ruler of the land of Annwn.

Annwn (or Annwfn) is a Celtic Otherworld, sometimes described as an island, a nd sometimes as an underworld kingdom. There are many links between King Arthur, Annwn, and Glastonbury Tor.

King Arthur and Glastonbury Tor

In one of his earliest adventures, King Arthur visited Annwn to claim its fabulous cauldron of rebirth and magical sword. The entrance to Annwn was guarded, perhaps by Gwynn ap Nudd. (Meaning, "Gwynn, son of Nudd")

of the Underworld and the King of the Faeries--became one of King Arthur’s allies, and perhaps one of his warriors.

However, there is a second story in which King Arthur visits Glastonbury Tor, and a castle on that hill:

Guinevere was kidnapped by King Melwas and taken to his Glastonbury castle.

In Caradoc of Llancarfan's early 12th-century account:

"Melwas, the ruler of Somerset carried off Arthur's wife 'Guennuvar' and kept her at Glastonbury. Arthur assembled troops from Devon and Cornwall to recover her, but the watery surroundings made it difficult."

Arthur rescued Guinevere, and avoided battle with Melwas by having St. Gildas mediate between the two rulers. Arthur and Melwas parted as friends.

In another variation of this story, Lancelot was forced to kill King Melwas to secure Guinevere’s safety.

Later, King Arthur claimed the castle on the Tor, and retained it as a stronghold, to protect the entrance to Annwn.

In the final link between King Arthur and Glastonbury Tor, Annwn may have been Avalon, the fabled land of healing to which Arthur was brought after his battle at Camlann.

Annwn’s entrance, and the remnants of Arthur’s stronghold

According to legend, the castle and its entrance to Annwn were later “exorcised” by St. Collen. After this time, the faeries were not often seen on the Tor.

The stones from Arthur's stronghold on the Tor were used to build the 12th century Church of St. Michael. It stood only briefly atop the Tor. Soon after its completion, it was cast down by an earthquake in the 13th century.

Next, those same stones were used to build Glastonbury Abbey, which stood until King Henry VIII closed it in 1539. As the Abbey decayed, the stones were removed, to construct the walls of houses in Glastonbury.

Today, visitors who stay in older B&Bs in Glastonbury, can touch the stones that may have been part of the faeries’--and later, King Arthur's--castle on the Tor.

On the next page, Glastonbury, England - More Arthurian Lore - Does the grave at Glastobury Abbey really belong to King Arthur and Guinevere? Legend and archaeology suggest that it does.

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