Glastonbury

Tuesday we went to Glastonbury, an eclectic town that contains both a strong pagan and Christian heritage. The woman at the farm store where we bought some groceries told us we'd really like it, it was very "alternative." I'm not sure if we looked "alternative" to her or not! But we did love it.
We visited the Tor, a site that is supposed to have been an important pagan site for early pre-Christian people of England. The Catholic church built a church there named after Saint Michael, which is what they usually did when they took over a pagan site. Now a tower sites on top and the wind really blows! Legend has it that this is the site of the Isle of Avalon. We climbed up and just hoped to not get blown off.

Then we went to Glastonbury Abbey, the site of ruins of one of the largest Abbey's in Britain. Built in the 1200's, it was a large and wealthy establishment. When Henry the 8th left the Catholic Church, he closed all the monastaries and claimed their wealth. (Ulterior motives there, Henry?) The Abbott refused to surrender and was killed, the Abbey was taken over by Henry and after taking everything of value, it slowly feel into ruins.