The town of Glastonbury is surrounded by three hills: Glastonbury Tor,
Wearyall Hill and Chalice Hill. There is likewise a tradition of three different
wells, only two of which are still manifest: the red well of Chalice Well
Gardens, the blue well in the Chapel of St Joseph in the Abbey Grounds,
and the green well of St Brigit, now lost under an industrial estate. The
three hills and wells each have different energies and we should be aware
of them when we visit this place, for they colour our experience of pilgrimage.
The most prominent feature of Glastonbury is the Tor which is strangely
visible from a distance, but almost not at all from the town itself; though
it may be discerned like some watchful cat as one turns up a side street.
The Tor is a place of striving and spiritual aspiration. It corresponds
to the difficult achievement of the Grail itself.
At its foot lie the Chalice Well Gardens. In that place the iron-red waters
rise under the well-cover and irrigate the gardens. Here one may feel the
peace of the Grail. At the house, Little St Michael, the headquarters of
the Chalice Well Trust established by Wellesley Tudor-Pole, which stands
in the garden enclosure, a blue glass dish dating from the time of Christ
was until recently housed and venerated there in token of the Grail.
Chalice Hill is a round, friendly, mothering kind of hill at whose foot
are orchards of apples. To walk over this hill is to step into an enchanted
countryside and experience the nurture of the earth. There are animals grazing
in the fields on its slopes, a reminder of the homecoming which is experienced
at the conclusion of the Grail quest.
Wearyall Hill has growing upon it a scion of Joseph of Arimathea's staff,
on which legend said he rested. From its eminence one may best see the Tor
in its full glory. It corresponds to the Grail quest itself - a place of
self-clarification and assessment before resuming the spiritual challenge
once more. On the southward side, Wearyall Hill overlooks Beckary, so called
from the monastery which St Brigit of Kildare is said to have founded there.
Unfortunately, most of what was once Beckary is under an industrial estate,
but one can still feel the warm presence of Brigit near the bridge. The
ruined Abbey, despoiled at the Reformation, its abbot hanged upon the summit
of the Tor, was in the care of Benedictines; but before they came, it was
the Celtic monks who served the holy ground. For, although Canterbury claims
to be the mother-church of England, it is really Glastonbury which should
hold that title since St Joseph of Arimathea is said to have founded the
first church of wattles, dedicated to the Virgin. The abbey suffered a fire
in the late twelfth century and the remains of this first church were lost.
It is possible that in the aftermath of this disaster the monks began to
plan the 'discovery' of the bodies of Arthur and Guinevere in 1190. Certainly,
the fame of this heretical excavation (for Arthur is not dead, but rests
in Avalon according to Celtic tradition!) brought monied pilgrims to assist
the rebuilding work. As it says in the bardic Stanzas of the Graves:
'Not wise the thought, a grave for Arthur! '
However, you will still see the marked-off site of the tomb which stands
before the high altar.