Location: Glastonbury is 11 miles east of Bridgwater, and the 'For is just to the east of the town, reached along narrow lanes. {S'V 512386)
Glastonburv Tor.
Ditztnarx Fool.
Glastonbury has long been known as the island of.valon, and maybe it was. It was certainly once an island: before the relatively recent drainage schemes the whole of the surrounding area was swampland and often flooded. Traces of Celtic lake-
Villages have been found nearby. The ror itself is a landmark visible from miles around, a strange conical hill seeming to offer entry to another world. Its slopes are ridged, and some people have been able to trace a spiral path along the ridges, winding round and round the hill to the summit, possibly a route taken bv pilgrims making a long and arduous ascent of the sacred hill. In legend the 'For can give access to the fairy land of. Annwn, and the sixth-century saint Collen is said to have paid a brief visit to the fairy palace, when invited by the king of the fairies, Gwyn ap.udd. He entered the palace and was offered food by the king, but knowing this to be a trap, St Collen spilled the holy water he had secretly brought with him, and immediately the king, his courtiers and palace disappeared and St Collen found himself alone on the silent 'For.
Church dedicated to St Michael was built on the summit by monks, but this was later demolished by an earthquake. "Fhe tower standing there now is all that remains of a later church, also dedicated to St Michael. The hill’s supposed. Arthurian connection comes from Caradoc’s of Gildas. .According to this, .Arthur’s wife Guinevere was kidnapped by Melwas, king of Somerset, and taken to his stronghold which was probably on the 'For. Excavations in the 1960s did find traces of buildings Arthurian date. .Arthur arrived with an army to rescue his wife, but a treaty was arranged in time to prevent a battle.
World History
