ABBEY
Glastonbury Abbey is 'identified with the earliest days of
monasticism' in England, (fn. 1) closely associated with the
West Saxon royal house and with the monastic reform of
the 10th century, and at the Conquest was probably the
richest ecclesiastical community in the realm. Three
kings, Edmund I (d. 946), Edgar I (d. 975), and Edmund
II Ironside (d. 1016) were buried within its walls, and in
the later 12th century the discovery of bones identified as
those of King Arthur added a fourth royal connection.
To an exhaustive collection of relics was also added the
claim to the body of St. Dunstan and, at the beginning of
the 15th century, the confident promise to discover the
grave of St. Joseph of Arimathea, whose cult was popular
in the early 16th century. The community numbered
just over 80 in the earlier 14th century and from the later
years of that century until the Dissolution numbered
consistently over 50 and was still recruiting in the later
1530s when with Westminster it shared the distinction
of being one of the two richest houses in the country. (fn. 2)
Physically, the abbey lies at the heart of the modern
town, and its medieval predecessor was defined by the
abbey precinct, in relation to which the principal streets
lay north, north-west, and west. To the south-east, also
just beyond the precinct, were the farm buildings of
Glastonbury manor, including a barn which still
survives. (fn. 3) The buildings around the abbey church and
convent are assumed to have included storage places for
food, fuel, and materials either brought from the abbey's
distant estates or bought in from elsewhere; and probably the sites of workshops.
BUILDINGS
Before 1184
Excavations on the site between 1904 and the 1990s and
documentary sources including the written traditions of
the abbey (fn. 4) postulate a British religious foundation
before 650 centred on a church, traditionally built of
wattles and later known as the Old Church, and a cemetery, the whole surrounded by a ditch. Further buildings
were added over the next three centuries. To the east of
the first church, probably reconstructed in timber, King
Ine (d. 726) built a stone church of Kentish type dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul which was extended
eastwards and later, probably by 760, was joined to the
first church by means of an atrium. The first cloister, on
the model of St. Gallen, was probably begun by St.
Dunstan (abbot 940–57+). Dunstan further extended
the abbey church by adding porticus and building a
tower over its east end as well as an aisled eastern arm.
His church was described as a basilica. (fn. 5) Also during the
10th century a chapel or shrine, later called St. Dunstan's
chapel, was established west of the Old Church. (fn. 6)
Thurstan (abbot c. 1077/8–1096+) evidently began
building a new cruciform church, starting at the east
end, but Herluin (abbot 1100–18) embarked on a
rebuilding of the whole monastery except the Old
Church which he retained. His work was continued by
Henry of Blois (abbot 1126–71) and a building laid out
on the lines of St. Albans abbey church was completed c.
1140. All the monastic buildings were destroyed by fire
in 1184 with the exception of a chamber and its chapel
built by Robert of Winchester (abbot 1171–8) and the
bell-tower built by Henry of Blois, which may have
survived into the 14th century. (fn. 7)
Post-Fire Church
The formal development of the abbey church was
influenced by the veneration of its relics and by the
monastic community's efforts to cultivate their abbey
as a major pilgrimage site. (fn. 8) The early cemetery
contained timber oratories and two hypogea, one of
which was incorporated into the east end of the first
stone church. The relics of Patrick and Indracht, the
latter probably an Irish abbot, (fn. 9) were translated to the
Lady chapel in 1186 from where they had lain between
two 'pyramids', probably 10th-century cross shafts
bearing the names of the abbey's early patrons. (fn. 10) The
bones of St. Dunstan were claimed to have been
re-discovered after the fire and were housed in a
feretory embellished or remade in the 14th century; its
location in the church is unknown and it may have
been portable. (fn. 11) The reputed bones of King Arthur and
his queen, exhumed c. 1191 from the south side of the
Lady chapel, were reburied before the high altar in the
sanctuary of the church in 1278, flanked by the tombs
of Edmund I and Edmund Ironside. In the mid 14th
century St. Joseph of Arimathea was established as one
of the founders, and a chapel in the cemetery was dedicated to him in 1382. His cult had become a major
draw by 1500, and the Lady chapel was later known as
St. Joseph's chapel. (fn. 12) In the late 15th or early 16th
century the remains of King Edgar were reburied in an
almost detached eastern chapel beyond the choir. (fn. 13)
The Lady chapel was the first part of the abbey to be
rebuilt after the fire in 1184 and was dedicated in 1186.
It was a detached building on the site of the Old Church,
designed with its tall angle turrets and highly decorated
and, originally, painted surfaces not only to evoke the
previous timber church but also the character of contemporary metalwork reliquaries. Romanesque forms
and rich chevron ornament of the type used by Henry of
Blois in St. Cross, Winchester, and so possibly elsewhere
in the abbey, appear prolifically amongst otherwise
progressive French-influenced motifs. Notable are the
pointed rib-vaults, blue lias wall-shafts, crocket capitals
and naturalistic carvings on the portals, where the Life of
the Virgin appears on the north side and the Creation to
the Fall on the south. The design, perhaps deliberately
anachronistic to emphasise the chapel's direct descent
from the Old Church, influenced other shrines and the
Lady chapels of other monastic churches. (fn. 14)
FIG. 8. Ground Plan of Glastonbury Abbey
Rebuilding work on the rest of the abbey church
began at the east end and proceeded westward reaching
the crossing and central tower and the eastern part of the
nave by c. 1320. The nine-bayed aisled nave was
completed in or before 1334. The main elements of the
Lady chapel, foliage capitals, chevron archivolts, and
pointed vault arches, were repeated but the proportion
of Gothic features is greater, with Decorated elements
introduced in the nave. (fn. 15) In the mid 13th century the
chapel west of the Lady chapel (the so-called St.
Dunstan's chapel) appears to have been rebuilt. (fn. 16) After
1342 the east end was remodelled by Abbot Monington.
He added an eastern aisle or retrochoir with five eastern
chapels, refaced the whole of the triforium and clerestory of the choir with tiers of panelling, and revaulted
the choir. The east end had a large window, and
buttresses and a strainer arch were added to support the
destabilized east wall. (fn. 17) Monington also provided a link
between church and Lady chapel in the form of a galilee
which opened into the nave by means of a tall shafted
arch. Its construction brought all the major relics into a
continuous space with the sanctuary of the Lady chapel,
which itself lay close to the main public entrance
through the north porch and was probably enclosed only
by a screen. About 1500 an undercroft was created
under the Lady chapel and galilee, apparently to create a
circulatory route associated with the cult of St. Joseph
past a well that may have predated the Old Church and
which had been enclosed by an arch of 12th-century
fragments. The crypt was later used as a burial vault. (fn. 18) At
about the same time the Edgar chapel and a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Loretto were built.
FIG. 9. Glastonbury abbey
nave, the earlier churches
exposed, 1928
Remains of Church
The church stands close to the northern boundary of the
precinct and was originally approached from the north.
Most intact are the roofless Lady chapel of c. 1184–6, the
14th-century galilee, and the undercroft beneath them
both. Of the rest, only three bays of the south wall of the
south nave aisle, the eastern side of the crossing, part of
the eastern sides of the transepts, one bay of the north
wall of the west end of the choir, and four and a half bays
of the south wall stand to almost full height. The foundations of the rest are exposed in the turf, including those
of the Edgar chapel and the large northern porch and, to
the west, St. Dunstan's chapel. From the 14th century
the approach to the Lady chapel and later to the undercroft was from the west gatehouse.
Post-Fire Conventual Buildings
FIG. 10. North doorway, Glastonbury abbey
Lady chapel, 1993
The completion of the chapter house, and the rebuilding
of the cloister, dormitory, and refectory are all ascribed
to Abbot John Chinnock (1376–1420). (fn. 19) The cloister was
laid out on a conventional Benedictine plan with the
chapter house, the dormitory, and the three vaulted
rooms of its undercroft on the east, and the refectory and
its service undercroft on the south. The reredorter lay
south of the dormitory and the detached monks' kitchen
west of the refectory. The abbot's kitchen formed part of
the abbot's quarters which extended west of the south
cloister range. The footings of the conventual buildings
are exposed but the only standing fragments are the base
of the reredorter and remains of buildings associated
with the abbot's household. The site of the abbot's
lodging is marked by a cobbled surface that belonged to
the house into which it was converted after the Dissolution. One corner of the abbot's hall, which was still in
the mid 17th century 80 ft. high, (fn. 20) survives and to its
south the abbot's kitchen, the only complete monastic
building on the site, probably of the later 14th century.
The kitchen was formerly attached to the hall, which was
built on the same site after the fire of 1184. (fn. 21) The kitchen
is square externally, but corner fireplaces make its interior octagonal beneath a stone pyramidal roof and tiered
lantern. Conventual buildings, probably west of the
cloister by the Dissolution, provided lodgings, offices,
and chapels for monastic officials and named visitors
including the king, the bishop, and the abbey steward,
and included the almonry, an armoury, and stables. (fn. 22) A
lodging by the great chamber, called the King's Lodging
in the Gallery, was the work of Abbot Richard Bere
(1493–1525). (fn. 23) By the 1330s there was an orchard, vineyard, herb garden, and pasture. (fn. 24)
Post-Dissolution Developments
A three-storeyed house, which in 1712 had a long range
between cross wings, and an additional two-storeyed
northern bay ending in a crenellated hexagonal tower,
occupied the site of the abbot's lodging. Its walled
garden was linked to the town by a formal avenue of
trees which crossed the site of the nave. To judge from
its storeyed form and mullioned windows of 3 to 7
arched lights it appears to have been built in the earlier
16th century and may have been converted from the
abbot's lodging; its gabled ends were decorated with
coats of arms or badges resembling those at Sharpham.
The tower was apparently added after c. 1600 (fn. 25) and the
earl of Devonshire's lessee, Thomas Brooke, was living
there in 1635. (fn. 26) The house was demolished c. 1720 by
Thomas Prew, a 'rank presbyterian', and its materials
were used to build a house in Magdalene Street. (fn. 27) Other
remains were destroyed when the abbey site was
levelled for pasturage in the 1720s and again in
1792–4. (fn. 28) In 1799 the 'vast quantity of stone in the ruin'
was specifically offered for sale. (fn. 29) Vegetation continued
to damage the fabric in the 19th century but interest
was shown in the remains of the Lady chapel from
1825, earth was cleared from the undercroft and the
structure was reinforced in 1826, (fn. 30) and access for visitors was regular by the later 19th century. Consolidation and interpretation of the standing remains was
undertaken from 1909 onwards. (fn. 31) From 1993 the
abbey trustees catered for pilgrims and other visitors by
building a visitors' centre designed by R. J. Chambers of
Beech, Tyldesley and Partners. (fn. 32)
FIG. 11. West entrance to Glastonbury abbey
looking west through the Galilee to the Lady
chapel, 1993
The Tudor-style stone house to the east of the abbey
ruins was designed by John Buckler for J. F. Reeves in
1825. Known as The Abbey and later as Abbey House, it
has an E-plan main range of five bays and two storeys
with attics above cellars with an asymmetrical garden
front overlooking the abbey, a symmetrical east entrance
front, and a north service wing and stable court. Fragments of medieval carvings are to be found in the cellars
and in the precinct wall which forms its east boundary.
The gateway, contemporary with the house, contains
medieval carved panels. The house was occupied by
Reeves' son Thomas Porch Porch until 1852. (fn. 33) From
1930 it has been used for religious retreats and conferences, its role in 2000. (fn. 34)
FIG. 12. Glastonbury abbey ruins from the south, 1723
ABBEY PRECINCT
In the 7th century the limit of the precinct was defined
by a bank and ditch, and parts of its eastern and northern
lines are known. It appears to have had an entrance at its
north-eastern corner near the western end of the present
Silver Street. (fn. 35) The northern boundary was modified
partly when the whole precinct, later formed with a
stone wall, was extended eastwards along the line of
Silver Street. At the western end, the wall probably
marked the southern boundary of the market place. The
wall was originally c. 10 ft. high and contains a considerable amount of medieval masonry along its northern
parts as well as evidence of lean-to buildings.
Entry into the precinct by the 13th century was
through a 'great gate' mentioned c. 1255 (fn. 36) and described
as in High Street. (fn. 37) By 1322 there were two gates, known
as the outer and the lower. (fn. 38) The gate in High Street,
known in 1448 and 1530 as Ivysgate and in the 1580s as
Yve gate, had a chamber over and a tenement on its
north side, (fn. 39) suggesting that it stood near the present
Assembly Rooms where an entrance survives. There had
been a west gate long before 1313; (fn. 40) a new gate was built,
perhaps the lower gate mentioned in 1322, (fn. 41) and in 1517
was the main gate, (fn. 42) in the 18th century known as the
Magdalene gate. (fn. 43) Now the principal entrance to the
abbey, it comprises a large stone arch, with a smaller
entry for pedestrians on its north side, dating from the
14th century with 16th-century alterations. By the later
18th century the main gateway had become one of the
principal rooms of the Red Lion inn; its crenellated and
turretted top was taken down in 1810. (fn. 44) To the north of
the pedestrian entrance is a one-bay range, perhaps
representing a porter's house and in 1640 held of the
abbey lessee by a Mr. Winterhay, (fn. 45) which has a 10-light
splayed bay window dated 1639 with the initials T.B. and
rising through two storeys. Inside is a moulded plaster
ceiling of the late 16th century. Chaingate, mentioned in
1656, (fn. 46) was built over the road at the southern end of
Magdalene Street; it still stood in 1723 and comprised a
'great gate' and a 'lesser portal' beside it. (fn. 47)