Glastonbury The Great British Story: Regional Histories

Glastonbury, in Somerset. A stunning landscape, bordered by the

Mendip Hills to the north, and the ocean to the West. It's the site of

some of the most extraordinary events that Britain has ever seen.

I'm Tom Craine, and I'm going on a tour of Glastonbury, to discover

its rich and colourful history, and to uncover its layers of legend and

mystery. Having grown up here in Somerset, I'm keen to investigate

one of its most well-known towns. It's like you're sucking on a coin.

Starting 2,000 years ago, with the arrival of Christianity to British

shores. So, these carvings are the flat screen TVs of their day? I'll

explore the co-existence of religion and ancient paganism.

free love making, the naked dancing. I'll discover the impact of

legendary Medieval Kings on the region, until the devastating

actions of Henry VIII. When did this lovely building become less of

a building? And I'll attempt to separate fact from fiction. This is

Warner Brothers, where was Camelot? This is surely one of the most

fascinating towns in the UK. I just feel my heart expand with joy when

Ynis Witrin, the Isle of Glass, Avalon. All names given to the town

of Glastonbury. It used to be surrounded by water. An ancient

island. My exploration into its vast history starts atop Wearyall

Hill, so called after some weary travellers arrived here to bring

Christianity to Europe. My guide around Glastonbury is Tor Webster.

He tells me the story of Jesus' Uncle, Joseph. The story goes that

Joseph of Arimathea and Mary Magdelene, and also Mary the Mother,

all came here in a boat, 12 of them, and Joseph of Arimathea was given a

staff by Jesus. He planted his staff in the ground and it took

root and it started to grow. thorn tree is thought to originate

from Palestine. Its descendants now flourish around Glastonbury, unlike

the original. The holy thorn tree has had quite a troubled existence,

hasn't it, throughout its time. I'm a right in thinking that this isn't

actually the original, if we just step over here. Can you tell me

about this stone here? This stone was placed here where the original

stood. It was planted here, and about 300-years-ago, a puritan cut

it down because of the connection with Joseph of Arimathea, because

it didn't fit in with the Christian story from Rome. The tree was

replanted on the hill. But it recently suffered a similar fate.

In December 2010, it was cut down in an act of vandalism. In April

this year, it was once again replanted. But it too has been

destroyed by vandals. Next, I'm heading to another place where

Joseph of Arimathea is said to have visited. The Chalice Well is among

the best known holy wells in Britain. Joseph of Arimathea is

said to have buried a cup here. The one Jesus used at the Last Supper.

I've heard the water that flows here is sometimes called the Blood

Spring and its high iron content is said to have strength-boosting

properties. So Tor, as you can see, I'm a very weak man. I think some

iron-fueled water is what I need. I'm going to give it a go. I'll see

you a bit later. And showing me around the Chalice Well is manager,

Natasha Wardle. So Natasha, thank you so much for showing me around

Chalice Well. It's such a beautiful place. Can you tell me a bit about

what we're seeing, what surrounds us here? Well, the heart of Chalice

Well is an ancient holy well, and we're at the foot of Glastonbury

Tor. We call this the vesica pool, because you've got these two

circles, which interlock with each other, and that's a symbol you'll

see repeated throughout the gardens. Flowing through the gardens you'll

see the water, this is flowing from the well itself, it has a very red

colour because it's very rich in iron. And if you'd like to have a

taste of it. Am I going to enjoy this, does it have a nice taste?

I'm trying to judge your face! Have you tried it? I drink it a lot.

Look at the colour. Have a taste. You can really taste the iron. It's

like sucking on a coin. It's interesting. It is pleasant. In the

1700s, a spa was built at the Chalice Well for visitors wishing

to bathe in its healing waters'. One summer, it's reported that

10,000 people came to Glastonbury. We're entering where the water

springs up, so shall we go to the well? Yes, this is the well head,

and this is really the heart of the gardens, this is where people come.

You can see the natural stone seating around here. What an

amazing design this is. Yes, this was made by an armaments factory,

and they had been making weapons for the Second World War. But this

was the first thing they made with the iron, following the war. So,

it's become imbued as a symbol of peace. The celebration of peace has

continued at the well, thanks to local visionary and writer Wellesly

Tudor Pole. He founded the BBC's silent minute during WWII, which is

still recognized today on remembrance Sunday. He also set up

the Chalice Well Trust. It encourages guests to regularly take

part in a healing minute'. Every day at 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock, we

ring a bell for a minute's silence, and anyone who is in the garden, or

anybody who hears that, will just stop for remembrance, and just be

still. As well as daily silences, moments of reflection are also key

during ceremonies that take place at the Chalice Well. Today, I'm

taking part in the Spring Equinox celebrations. I actually found that

to be very rewarding. I'm not the kind of person who's 'at one' with

mother earth or anything like that. But simply to share a moment of

calm with people from all different walks of life, all drawn to this

one place because they see it as being special. And I suppose if

what I draw from it is a moment of peace, then that has to have value.

In other news though, at the beginning I was told to centre

myself, to find my balance, failed to do that, and I've got quite bad

cramp. It is my fault though I suppose. But I can heartily

recommend that. Come to Glastonbury and do that. The ancient symbol on

the lid of the Chalice Well is thought to have formed the design

for the key building at Glastonbury Abbey. And it's there that we

venture next. Glastonbury Abbey. Thought to be the location of the

first church in Britain. St Joseph is said to have brought

Christianity to Britain, and built a church right here. Another

relative of Jesus, St John, is said to have taken the same message to

the Holy Island of Patmos, in Greece. With one saint landing in

Glastonbury, and the other arriving in Patmos, Glastonbury resident Zoe

D'Ay decided the link between the two places should be recognized.

circumstance, I found myself on the island of Patmos, in the Cave of

the Apocalypse, where St John had his revelation and wrote the last

book of the new testament, the Book of Revelation. I was given the

distinct impression. I know this is Glastonbury, but I'm not going to

say I heard a voice! I was given the distinct impression that I

should twin the Holy island of Patmos with Glastonbury, which as

you know, was the sacred isle of Avalon. The abbot gave me his

blessing, and then it just happened. In 2009, in September, the Greek

Patmos delegation came here. Joseph of Arimathea's old' church has

attracted visitors since it was built around AD63. A religious

community grew up around the wattle-and-daub building. But in

the 12th century, it burnt down and a more permanent structure took its

place. The abbey's archeologist John Allen is showing me around.

What would this part of the building have been? Well, this is

St Mary's Chapel, and this was put up immediately after the fire, so

we're looking at late Norman architecture, put up between 1184

and it's said, 1186. -- John Allan. So, very closely dated. It really

is a beautiful example of late norman architecture. If we look up,

can you see how beautifully the carvings. It actually comes away

from the wall. They're actually clinging on by some small strands

of masonry. It was expected of people that they would build a

church and the surrounding buildings in the grandest manner

that they could afford. So these carvings are the flat screen TVs of

their day, as it were. By the 14th century, the Abbey was the second

wealthiest in Britain, after Westminster. The Abbot of

Glastonbury lived in splendour. main surviving example of this

power and wealth is to be found here. The Abbot's kitchen. Hello.

Good afternoon. Good day, Sir. was hoping you might be able to

show me how this works, lend a hand. You do not have to pay me. Well you

have to put this on. You do not I used to work in a bakery. So you

will know that when you make this year to make sure that you get lots

a bit air into it. We're going to put this in the oven, a close their

eyes and say a prayer. Right. The kitchen was once attached to

the Abbot Hall where the very best that would be taken for at the

abbot and his guests to enjoy. You are not to laugh. I would not.

THEY prayed. SHE SINGS. You nearly laughed there. I would

not. Look at that! It did not have seen

Senate when we first put it then. The power of prayer sir. But it

seems to have been made at the ago. Talking about animals, we are

infested with mice here. The other thing is, sir, we are in the

process of making Judah wafers for the at that. We have just kicked it

and now you have dropped it in there. This is no laughing matter.

That is hotter than the Sun. If I put that down there. Yes, sir.

Shall I? Is it good? It is quite dry. You would pick fruit with it.

We g e is if you're on a diet? If he was off on holiday? Do I get the

job? Know. Put it in the net in. believe my hat there.

I thought my trip back to the 1500s was over but somebody else is

waiting for me. I felt like a medieval Bachman.

what? Nothing. This programme has come to tell me

how the abbey was destroyed when King Henry VIII became at their

head of the Church of England. can see you have read their

boundary walls are, I do not go through the walls it will give you

a headache. Go through the doors here. Shall I? Thank you. N15 39

Glastonbury Abbey is one of the last abbeys along with Reading to

be dissolved by be King's men. The abbot was executed, his head

place on a spike outside the abbey. They took the stone from its

buildings and the materials from the roof. When the Abbey is

dissolved how did the local people survive? The people work for the

Abbey. So society loses its heart? Yes, everything is gone. If it is

all changing their new no longer need to wear your pilgrims close.

My -- my bodice is loose so I am a loose woman. She might leasing be

straight across I would not be looking for a husband for I would

be straight laced. So I am looking for a gentleman. You're looking for

at? I am looking for a man. I just have to...

Probably time to move on. But you have to feel for her. An Abbey was

destroyed by it King Henry VIII. Henry was said to believe that he

was at descendent that of King Arthur. Historical records say that

the monks found Arthur's grave at the Abbey in the 1100s. But who was

he? Did he ever exist? One man thinks so.

At that time he would have been up there it chief military leader

because of the Saxons and the Barbarians. In 450 AD or

thereabouts. This man is one of the foremost

Arthurian historians in the UK. After the monks dug up the bones of

Arthur, the tick them and enshrined them. The pick them in this marbled

cold during at royal visit in the 13th century and said that the

dissolution of the monasteries when everything was vandalised was the

reason. But why we at King Henry VIII to strike they ate relics of

his ancestor? Did -- did they Standing majestically on their

skyline Glastonbury Tor is one of Great Britain's iconic landmarks.

It is also the site of their it brittle death of Richard Whiting,

Glastonbury's last abbot. At more than 500 ft. It is quite acclaim to

reach its summit. I am here to meet the town councillor John cousins

who has written extensively about Richard Whiting.

In in mind that my mum is watching, something pretty horrific happened

here. Tell me about that. We are a weird the last about Richard

Whiting was hung, drawn and quartered. Drawing means that they

cut your belly open and picture intestines on your chest. Then they

would have hacked him into four finally chopping of his head. It

was a very long and drawn-out gruesome death. Many believe that

Richard Whiting was killed for it refusing to acknowledge King Henry

VIII as the head of the Church. But others think that he did sign

allegiance with the king. Begging the question, why was he executed?

I think that there is something about Glastonbury Abbey that was

trying to be concealed. The bones disappear. The disappear at the

time of the destruction of the abbey and no one knows what happens.

When I was eight my pet rabbit went to a farm and then a year later I

find rabbit he bones in the garden. My mum denies all knowledge but

would not let me visit the rabbit at the farm. With bones you are

never quite sure. First of all was it my rabbit? Yes. Who do you think

these bones from Glastonbury might have been in the abbey. Some people

think it might be Joseph of Arimathea who came here in eight

the time of the burial. I like the mystery of it. There are so many

things you that do not make sense. Our modern world is all about

reason and rational thinking. We want to come up with answers.

Glastonbury does not work like that. It seems to me that Glastonbury and

its tour at hold many secrets and mysteries some of which we might

never understand. -- Tor. When people talk about Glastonbury and

Avalon there are talking about the landscape, but Tor and then they're

talking about the town. People come to visit the Tor more than anything

else. But. -- the building including St Michael's is one of

many that stretches across Britain. This is no accident much like

another distinguishing characteristic of their Tor. I

think I know you well enough to do this now. It is like you back and

repealed best. How does this relate to that? This is the labyrinth that

is very famous on Glastonbury Tor. Many thousands of years ago there

let his work cut into this natural held but they actually cut it in

the shape of this labyrinth. As in his initiation path for druids. The

Druids used to what end at a ceremony through it. Once you get

inside the labyrinth, the top of the hell was the centre of the

labyrinth, you'd have this feeling that you were at being taken up

into the heavens or down into the underworld because the Tor is also

connected to the underworld. The king of the fees lives underneath

the Tor. So they would travel to these different dimensions as they

walked into the centre of the labyrinth. So it has long been at

place of spiritual significance? Very much so. It is hard to ignore

it when you see it. I just feel my heart expand when I see it.

Paganism in Glastonbury goes back way before it that arrival of

Christianity in Britain. One of the face from that time centres around

the honouring of a goddess. This is still alive in the town today.

Can I ask about the central tenants of this? What day-to-day it means

to be goddess? It is about taking responsibility for the self. We do

not have a structure within the religion so our main laws as they

are where any is that no harm to others and no hands to the self.

That should cover at all. It is how you live your life 24 - seven and

are you interact with other people and all living things. This woman

is a Peter it -- priestess at the Goddess Temple in Glastonbury.

is the first temple in northern Europe for a 1,500 years and it is

opened as an official registered place of worship. But it is here

for the Divine feminine. There are many temples in ruins throughout

the world that are in ruins for the Divine feminine. Are you finding

more people being drawn across? have without any exaggeration of

thousands of people who come here during the summer. Where would be

drawn from? From all over the world. Having experienced the Spring

Equinox at the Chalice Well and keen to take part in the Goddess

SHOUTING, DRUMMING. The ad is starting to wake up with

all the beautiful blossoms and daffodils and the plants are

certain to grow. We're feeling much more alive, aren't we? Yes!

Do you feel that paganism is often misunderstood and that there is a

fear and lack of understanding around it? I totally agree. People

fear what they do not understand. Years ago, hundreds of years ago,

we thought the world was flat. Education today, we're far more

educated and understand how things work. Consequently, people are now

looking for it things in a more open manner. They're looking for a

spirituality that is not demanding of them are telling them what they

should or should not do. Another event which has one foot in

ancient paganism is the world these Miss Glastonbury Festival. --

famous. It is ideal. It is euphoric down here at and away from their

awful realities of life. Is busy with all the mystique surrounding

this area. It has been going for more than 40

years. The most famous artists get to perform on the main Pyramid

Stage. It is in this position it because of John Mitchell who

specialised in sacred geometry and earth mysteries. Michael Eavis told

me how he's friend found the correct place where the stage.

came here with the divine out to choose a site for bed and a mad. It

had to be near the spring. The state has to be here. So that stage

there was there because of John Mitchell's divining sticks.

haven't used that for the other stages? Now only the main Pyramid

Stage. Please do twisted round about so that we got the best

audience. I get 100,000 people out there. All facing the main stage.

If I wait here for two years I will peak at the front. That is right.

This is one of the down years, what does that mean for you? IMI dairy

farmer so it is a key get the cows and sheep out. They cannot go and

greys. It is a year off. It is that... Fallow. Yes! You get the

job! His a fallow. It is truly a fallow year. But the fallow year is

such a beautiful idea. It is so calm and peaceful. It is good for

everyone, it is good for the soil because it gets so compacted.

Might end in Glastonbury is coming to an end. Just a bumpy ride in a

car to go. Nicol has but actually said it that

I might be headlining next year it, so it was in his eyes, you could

tell. Thanks to the festival, Glastonbury is known worldwide. But

it has always drawn visitors from across the globe no matter what

obstacles have fallen in its path. It is a phoenix out of the Ashes.

That is the story of Glastonbury. There was a fire in the abbey and

then there is as if you use it to the abbey was destroyed and then it

came alive again. One of the last months is supposed to have given

proper say that Glastonbury would rise again. And in modern times it

has risen again. It has an extraordinary power of its --

attraction. Who knows what we might seem Glastonbury next, I cannot

possibly imagine. That is the end of my time here in

Glastonbury. A more thought for a man many would ask what I had

learned. I learnt that I would not cut it in a medieval kitchen, that

may cleavers has incredibly knobbly knees and that Glastonbury is the

play's rich with history. It is also a place that draws people in

and divides them in each will -- equal measure. Spiritually I have