Chapter 11

GLASTONBURY, a small market-town of some 4000 people in the centre of the county, 6 m. S. from Wells. It has a station on the S. & D. line from Evercreech to Bridgwater. The site of Glastonbury is almost as conspicuous in a Somerset landscape as its name is in Somerset history. Its huge conical tor, crowned by a tower, rises like a gigantic sugar-loaf from the surrounding plain, and is visible to half the county. The neighbourhood is a happy hunting-ground for the antiquary, and one of the "regulation" sights for the casual tourist. No one can be said to have "done" Somerset who has not seen Glastonbury. Its associations are romantic as well as historical. Though the modern town is commonplace enough, poetry and piety, fact and fiction, have conspired to make it famous. Here was the cradle of British Christianity. In this "deep meadowed island, fair with orchard lawns"--the fabled _Avalon_--blossomed the flower of British chivalry in the persons of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. It was when a Glastonbury monk that Dunstan made his vigorous onslaught on the powers of darkness. And it was this "parcel of ground," already consecrated by the bones of St Patrick, King Edgar, and St David, which became the favourite burying-place of mediaeval saints and heroes. The legend which accounted for its early pre-eminence is even in these sceptical days worth retelling, for from its popularity the future importance of the abbey sprang. Joseph of Arimathaea was despatched by St Philip along with eleven companions "to carry the tidings of the blessed Gospel" to the shores of remote Britain. Providential winds wafted them across the waters of the Severn Sea, and at length the wayworn travellers landed at Glastonbury, then an island. As their leader, like Jacob, leant in worship on the top of his staff on Wearyall Hill, the rod took root and became a thorn tree, which blossomed every year as surely as the Feast of the Nativity came round. The "Holy Grail" (the cup of blessing from the Last Supper), which Joseph brought with him, he buried at the foot of Glastonbury Tor, and from the place of its sepulchre gushed forth the Bloody Spring, which may be duly inspected to this day. The pilgrims made more friends than disciples, and the king, after a dilatory conversion, set apart for the maintenance of the newcomers "twelve hides of land." Here the evangelists possessed their souls in patience and built for worship a little shrine of wattle and daub, which was many generations afterwards found intact when fresh missionaries came to re-evangelise the islanders. Round this _vetusta ecclesia_ gathered the subsequent glories of the monastery. This long-cherished tradition enshrines sufficient fact to justify Glastonbury's claim to be "the only tie still abiding between the vanished Church of the Briton and the Church of the Englishman." Its authentic history begins with its foundation as a monastery by that ecclesiastically-minded layman, King Ina (688-726), who built a church here and dedicated it to St Peter and St Paul. Dunstan, himself a Glastonbury man, by the austerity of his conduct and the vigour of his administration, made the fame of this early religious house. With the coming of the Normans grander ideas prevailed. Abbots Thurstan (A.D. 1082) and Herlewinus (1101-20) both projected buildings of some pretensions, but Henry of Blois, brother of King Stephen, abbot in 1126, was the first great builder. Henry's church was a fabric of much magnificence, but it completely perished in a fire in 1184, and Henry II., in one of his occasional fits of piety, charged himself with its rebuilding, and entrusted the work to his chamberlain Ralph, who, upon the site of Joseph's legendary shrine, erected the present beautiful chapel of St Mary (_c._ 1186). With the death of the king the work languished, for no funds were forthcoming from the empty pockets of his "lion-hearted" successor; and it was not until 1303 that the great church whose ruins still survive was finally dedicated. Even then the fabric was not complete. It took two centuries to add the finishing touches. Abbot Sodbury (1322-35) vaulted the nave, and it was left for one of his successors, Walter Monington (1341-74), to fill in the vaulting of the choir. Not content with the already considerable dimensions of the church, Monington extended the chancel two bays eastwards; and Abbot Bere (1493-1524) added another chapel, and propped the tower by inverted arches. Characteristic traces of the respective periods may still be observed. Until the Reformation the abbey had a career of unrivalled influence and splendour. It yielded precedence only to St Albans, and the abbot was said never to travel abroad with a retinue of less than 100 retainers. Such wealth was not likely to elude the comprehensive grasp of Henry VIII. Glastonbury was involved in the general ruin of the monasteries. The fate of its last abbot, Richard Whiting, is one of the tragic stories of the time. Though a "weak man and ailing," he refused to surrender the property of his abbey. But Thomas Cromwell had a "short way" with passive resisters. In his private "remonstrances," amongst other jottings was found, "Item--The Abbot of Glaston to be tried at Glaston, and also executed there." In accordance with this pre-arranged programme Whiting was arraigned at Wells, November 14, 1538, on a quite unsupported charge of treason, and in the great hall of the palace sentenced to death. The next day he was drawn on a hurdle to the tor, and there hanged, and his head fixed on the abbey gateway. After this judicial murder the monastic property at once fell to the Crown.

The entrance to the ruins is through a gateway opposite the George Hotel. The abbey cannot be seen from the street, but this obscure entry conducts the visitor to the porter's lodge (entrance 6d.). The most perfectly preserved portion of the buildings is the chapel of St Mary, commonly known as _St Joseph's Chapel_. It stands on the site of St Joseph's legendary shrine, and formed a kind of Galilee to the W. entrance of the church. It is rectangular in plan, with a square turret crowned by a pyramidal cap rising from each corner, only two of which now remain. It is one of the most beautiful specimens of Trans. work in England. The decoration is rich and abundant--"no possible ornament has been omitted." Note (1) fine N. doorway (which should be compared with the S. porch of Malmesbury), (2) arcading round interior face of wall, (3) triplet at W. end, (4) remains of vaulting, (5) shallow external buttresses. Beneath the now demolished flooring is a small crypt of 15th-cent. work. It was probably excavated to provide extra burial accommodation. Observe on S. side a well within a round-headed recess. The chapel originally stood apart from the great church, but was eventually joined up to the larger building by a continuation of the chapel walls. The extension is at once detected by the late character of the work. Note change of arcading from Norm. to E.E., and the E.E. entrance to the church. Of the latter very little now remains. There still stand the piers of the chancel arch, portions of the walls of the choir and nave aisles, and a little chapel which opened out of the N. transept. But these remains, slight though they are, are sufficient to indicate the general design of the church and its huge dimensions. Though there is an evident attempt to keep up the character of the ornamentation displayed in St Mary's chapel, the workmanship is much later; and a still later development is noticeable in the two easternmost bays of the choir, thrown out by Abbot Monington (1371-74). Note (1) lancets of nave, pointed externally, rounded internally, (2) pointed lancets of choir, (3) square abaci to pilasters of lancets (cp. Wells), (4) traces of Dec. work in vaulting ribs of nave, (5) absence of bench-table in Monington's additions, (6) fragment of Perp. panelling on E. side of chancel arch. The general plan of the church followed the arrangements of the great Benedictine abbeys, which were all designed with a view to a stately ritual and imposing processions. There was a lofty nave of ten bays, with corresponding aisles, a choir of three bays, also with processional aisles (Monington's extension was evidently intended to form a further path behind the high altar), and N. and S. transepts, each with a pair of E. chapels. A large central tower surmounted the whole, which, like that of Wells, is said to have been braced internally with inverted arches. The cloisters abutted on to the S. aisle of the church (note the higher sills of the windows), and beyond these again were the cloister garth, the refectory, dormitory, and domestic offices. The only remains of this part of the monastery is the _Abbot's Kitchen_, with a contiguous fragment of the almonry, and a portion of the great gateway of the monastery, now incorporated in the "Red Lion" inn. The flowering thorn tree--a descendant of Joseph's budding staff--should be noticed near the porter's lodge. The _Abbot's Kitchen_ may be inspected at an extra charge of 6d. (entrance in Magdalene Street, just below Museum). It is a handsome stone building, now standing by itself in the middle of a field, and not at all suggestive of culinary appointments. Externally it is square at the base, but is crowned with an octagonal superstructure carrying a pyramidal roof and lantern. Within, huge fireplaces, once surmounted externally by chimneys, are set across the four corners, making the interior altogether an octagon. On one face is the effigy of a mitred abbot. The vaulted roof is supported by stone ribs, and egress for the steam is cunningly contrived in the windows. Its date is 1435-40. Another surviving remnant of monastic property will be found in Bere Lane at the top of Chilk-wall Street. This is a very fine cruciform barn similar to those at Doulting and Pilton, but rather richer in detail. The windows are traceried, and have above them figures of the four Evangelists, and ecclesiastical effigies stand as finials on two of the gables.

The other objects of interest in Glastonbury are (1) the _George Inn_ in High Street opposite the abbey entrance--a fine 15th-cent. structure (said to have been built by Abbot Selwood) which once served as the pilgrims' hostelry; (2) the _Tribunal_--a few doors higher up--probably the court-house where the abbey officials interviewed their clients (observe escutcheon above doorway); (3) the almhouses and chapel in Magdalene Street (entrance through Red Lion gateway, once part of the main entrance of the monastery), founded by Abbot Bere in 1512 (note founder's rebus above gateway of court); (4) Market Cross, a modern structure of good design standing on the site of an ancient hexagonal cross; (5) museum in Magdalene Street, containing several "finds" from the neighbouring lake village (see _Godney_); (6) the churches of St John and St Benignus. The latter, in St Benedict Street, has a well-designed tower, but is not otherwise noteworthy (observe stoups in porch and Abbot Bere's rebus on parapet above porch). A flood which in 1606 inundated the neighbourhood is said to have reached to the foot of the tower. St John's Church in High Street, built by Abbot Selwood in 1465, has, on the contrary, some pretensions to magnificence. The tower especially is worthy of observation, as it is considered by some to be amongst the finest in the county. This, however, is an extravagant opinion. The arrangement of the windows superficially resembles that at Chewton Mendip, those of the belfry being reproduced in the stage below; but the lower pair are not an exact repetition of the pair above. It will be noted that the string courses are carried round the buttresses. The elaborate cresting is rich but meretricious. The interior, Perp. throughout, is lofty and spacious, but the general effect is spoilt by the timber supports which are found necessary to shore up the chancel arch. Note externally (1) bell-cot above chancel (cp. Wrington), (2) groined S. porch with parvise above: internally (1) plain altar-tombs on either side of sanctuary, (2) groined vault to tower, (3) at S.W. end the tomb, with effigy, of one Camel, an abbey official (observe camels on panels below), (4) finely carved stone pulpit, (5) wooden roof of nave, (6) good E. window.

A climb should be taken to the top of the _Tor_--500 ft. above sea-level. The original chapel of St Michael was destroyed by a landslide in 1271. The Perp. tower subsequently erected still remains, though deprived of its upper storey. Note _bas-reliefs_ over doorway, and tablet with figured eagle below parapet. A spring, called the "Blood Spring," near the Tor is said to mark the spot where St Joseph buried the Holy Grail. _Wirrall_, or _Weary All Hill_, near the station, may also be scaled with advantage, if only for its traditional associations. It was here that St Joseph landed, and his staff, taking root, developed into the miraculous thorn tree. The tree, however, no longer exists, for it was hewn in pieces by a Puritan soldier, who is said to have cut off his leg in the process as a penalty for his profanity. An offshoot of the parent thorn grows in the Abbey grounds.

_Goathurst_ is a village lying at the foot of the S.E. spur of the Quantocks, 4-1/2 m. S.W. from Bridgwater. It has an old church, with a heavy battlemented tower. The N. chapel contains a large monument with the effigies of Sir Nicholas Halswell (d. 1633) and his wife, surrounded by the kneeling figures of their nine children. The S. chapel belongs to the Kemeys-Tyntes, and is decorated with numerous coats-of-arms round the cornice. Note the piscina in the chancel. Near the church is _Halswell House_ (C.T.H. Kemeys-Tynte), originally built in the Tudor period, containing some fine carving by Grinling Gibbons, and pictures by Salvator Rosa, Van Dyck, Ostade, Ruysdael, Reynolds, and others.

_Godney_ (1-1/2 m. N.E. of Meare, 2 m. N. of Glastonbury) is famous for the remains of a lake village which have been discovered here. The village consisted of a number of dwellings, each built on a substructure of timber and brushwood, resting upon the marsh which once occupied the site, and held in position by small piles. Upon this base was laid a floor of clay, in the centre of which was a circular stone hearth (about 4 ft. in diameter); whilst the walls of the huts were made of timber, wattles, and daub. As the floors and hearths gradually sank in the yielding marsh, they had to be renewed from time to time; so that several successive layers of them have been found, resting upon one another. Round the collective huts which formed the village ran a palisade of piles, the enclosure being irregular in shape. The articles found in the village (many of which are in the Glastonbury Museum) show that the inhabitants practised agriculture, spinning, and weaving, and were acquainted with iron weapons. They are supposed to have been Celts by race; and the period to which they are assigned falls between 300 B.C. and 100 A.D.

_Greinton_, a small parish on the S.W. flank of the Poldens (nearest stat. Shapwick, 4 m.). The church has an embattled tower with pyramidal top. The interesting features within are(1) carved bench-ends, dated 1621 (note lily on one); (2) two good wooden doors, N. and S.; (3) piscina on sill of S. window in chancel.

_Hallatrow_, a hamlet in the parish of High Littleton, 11 m. S. from Bristol, with a station on the Frome branch.

_Halse_, a pleasant village, 2 m. N.W. of Milverton. It has a small but very interesting church, standing in a beautifully kept churchyard, which commands a fine view of the Quantocks. Its choicest possession is a very fine rood-screen: note the old beam above, and window. Other features deserving attention are (1) glass in E. window, (2) curious font, probably early Norm., (3) medallions in spandrels of arcade, (4) piscina on window-sill of sanctuary, (5) painted mural device on S. wall of nave, (6) fragments of carving in porch, (7) squint. The large windows in the porch are somewhat unusual.

_Ham, High_, a village occupying a fine breezy situation on the top of High Ham Hill, 4 m. N. from Langport. The church in its centre is a handsome building, typically and consistently Perp. It contains a fair roof, some panelled bench-ends, and a curious lectern, but its principal ornament is a fine Perp. chancel-screen. Note (1) stoup in porch, (2) the vigorously executed gargoyles, especially the pair over the porch, a mediaeval presentation of Darby and Joan.

_Ham, Low_, a village 2 m. N. of Langport. The church, which stands in the middle of a field, is something of a curiosity (call for keys at farm opposite). It is an excellent example of 17th-cent. imitative Gothic. Its builder was Sir R. Hext, whose political sentiments may be inferred from the motto with which he has adorned the chancel-screen, "My son, fear the Lord, and meddle not with them that are given to change." At the end of the N. aisle are effigies of the founder and his wife, and at the corresponding end of the S. aisle is a marble tablet to the memory of Lord Stawell, who has, however, left his own memorial outside. The perplexing series of terraces overlooking the church are all that remains of a fantastic scheme of his to build a mansion which, like his wife and horse, should be the most beautiful thing of its kind in the world. But _L'homme propose_...; Lord Stawell never got any further than these embankments.

_Hambridge_, a village equidistant from Langport and Ilminster (5 m.). The church is modern.

_Hamdon Hill_. See _Stoke, East_.

_Hardington_, a hamlet 5 m. N.W. of Frome. The church is a small building with a W. tower. In the neighbourhood is Hardington Park.

_Hardington-Mandeville_, a village 4-1/2 m. S.W. of Yeovil. The church was rebuilt in 1864, but retains some ancient features, including a good Norm. arch and font, and a Jacobean pulpit.

_Harptree, East_, a village on a spur of the Mendips, 6 m. N. from Wells. It possesses the attractions of a castle, a cavern, and a combe. The last is a thickly wooded glen near the top end of the village. On an inaccessible tongue of land at the far end of the gorge are the remains of _Richmont Castle_, one of those lawless strongholds which in the days of Stephen were a terror to the country side. In 1138 it was strongly garrisoned by its owner, William de Harptree, on behalf of the Empress Matilda, but was taken by Stephen by the ruse of a feigned repulse. Now, only a fragment of the keep overlooks the glen. Half a mile beyond is a remarkable cavern, the _Lamb's Lair_, entered by a vertical shaft of some 70 fathoms. The chamber is of very considerable dimensions, and is said by those who have seen it to be quite the finest cave in the Mendips. The church is not particularly noteworthy except for the odd device of avoiding a squint by an extension of the arcading. The walls, font, and S. doorway are Norm. The S. porch is of unusual size and contains a monument which must be a standing reproach to a declining birthrate. Under a large Elizabethan canopy is an effigy of Sir J. Newton (1568), attended by twenty children. At the other end of the village are two mansions, _Harptree Court_ and _Eastwood_.

_Harptree, West_, about 1 m. N. of East Harptree. The church has a Norman tower with an ugly slated spire. The rest of the building has been reconstructed, but contains a Norman chancel arch, a large Norman font, and a good piscina. In the churchyard are seven large conical yew trees. Opposite the church is _Gournay Manor_, a fine Jacobean house, and near it is _Tilley Manor_, a 17th-cent. building, deprived of its top storey. They are now farmhouses.

_Haselbury Plucknett_, a village 2-1/2 m. N.E. of Crewkerne. It has a Perp. church with an E.E. N. chapel, which is associated with the memory of St Wulfric, who, born at Compton Martin, resided here, and died in 1154. The body of the Church has an old font. A priory of Austin canons, dating from the 12th cent., once existed here.

_Hatch Beauchamp_, 6 m. S.E. from Taunton, is a village (with station) situated in very picturesque surroundings. The church (best reached through the deer park) has a good tower, crowned with numerous pinnacles. Note (1) the foliaged bands round the pillars of the arcade; (2) the excellent bench-ends; (3) the fragments of old glass in the windows of the N. aisle; (4) the large picture, a "Descent from the Cross," by Perriss; (5) the window in the chancel to the memory of Colonel J.R.M. Chard, of Rorke's Drift fame, with a wreath preserved beneath it sent by Queen Victoria. The obelisk near the S. door is said to have once been the churchyard cross.

_Hatch, West_, a village 1-1/2 m. W. of Hatch Beauchamp. The church has been entirely rebuilt (1861).

_Hawkridge_, a parish 5 m. N.W. of Dulverton Station, consisting merely of a cluster of cottages and a tiny church. It is perched on the top of a ridge of high ground separating the Barle from its tributary stream the Danes Brook. The valleys on either side are beautifully wooded, and exhibit some of the most romantic scenery in Somerset. The church has a plain Norm. doorway.

_Heathfield_, a parish 2-1/2 m. E. of Milverton. Its church is small, and the only objects of interest which it contains are (1) a mural monument on the N. of the chancel, with kneeling figures, of the 16th cent.; (2) a carved oak pulpit (said to be reconstructed from ancient materials). There is the shaft of an ancient cross in the graveyard, with a mutilated figure.

_Hemington_, a village lying at the end of a wide vale, 3 m. E.S.E. from Radstock. The church has a few features in common with the neighbouring church of Buckland Denham, viz., (1) peculiar arrangement of windows in tower, (2) clerestory to nave, though the building possesses only one aisle. The interior shows (_a_) some good Dec. work in windows, some of which have foliated rear arches, with detached shaft; (_b_) plain Norm. chancel arch. Observe also (1) piscina on the respond of the chancel arcade, (2) the central pier of the arcade (it is surrounded by four detached shafts). On the hill above the village, standing by the side of the Trowbridge road, is a square tower of as much beauty as utility, locally known as "Turner's Folly." The "green" of the neighbouring hamlet of Falkland retains its ancient stocks.

_Henstridge_, a large village 7 m. S. of Wincanton, with a station on the S. & D.J.R. The church has been rebuilt (except the tower and part of the N. and W. walls), but contains some ancient features. There is a 15th-cent. altar-tomb in the chancel under a carved and coloured canopy, with two effigies. These represent William Carent (who inherited the property of two wealthy families, the Carents and the Toomers), and his wife Margaret (_née_ Stourton). The arms that adorn the tomb are those of Carent and Stourton. The rhyming inscription round the arch of the canopy is, _Sis testis Xte quod non tumulus iacet iste corpus ut ornetur, sed spiritus ut memoretur_. There is also an elaborately carved niche or tabernacle in the N.E. angle of the N. (or Toomer) aisle. Note, too, (1) decorated piscina, (2) remains of figures over the entrance to the N. chapel. The "Virginia Inn" at the cross-road is said to be the spot where Sir Walter Raleigh's servant emptied a stoup of beer over his master, who was smoking, in the belief that he was on fire. At Yeaston, a hamlet between Henstridge and Templecombe, there once existed a Benedictine priory, attached to an abbey of that Order at Coutances (Normandy). A field is still said to bear the name of the Priory Plot.