Glastonbury Abbey - History

History

Suggestions that Glastonbury may have been a site of religious importance in Celtic or pre-Celtic times are referred to as dubious by the historian Ronald Hutton. In 1955 Ralegh Radford's excavations uncovered Romano-British pottery at the west end of the nave. The abbey itself was founded by Britons, and it dates at least to the early 7th century. Later medieval Christian legend claimed that the abbey was founded by Joseph of Arimathea in the 1st century. This fanciful legend is intimately tied to Robert de Boron's version of the Holy Grail story and to Glastonbury's connection to King Arthur, which dates at least to the early 12th century.

Glastonbury fell into Saxon hands after the Battle of Peonnum in 658. The Saxons under Cenwalh of Wessex conquered Somerset as far west as the River Parrett, perhaps with the intention of gaining control of the valuable abbey. However, Cenwalh allowed the British abbot, Bregored, to stay in power, a move perhaps intended as a show of good faith to the defeated Britons. After Bregored's death in 669, he was replaced by the Anglo-Saxon Berhtwald, but British monks remained for many years.