Glastonbury Tor - Pre-history and History

Pre-history and History

Some Neolithic flint tools recovered from the top of the Tor show that the site has been visited and perhaps occupied throughout human prehistory. Excavations on Glastonbury Tor, undertaken by a team led by Philip Rahtz between 1964 and 1966, revealed evidence of Dark Age occupation around the later medieval church of St. Michael: postholes, two hearths including a metalworker's forge, two burials oriented north-south (thus unlikely to be Christian), fragments of 6th century Mediterranean amphorae (vases for wine or cooking oil), and a worn hollow bronze head which may have topped a Saxon staff. The Celtic name of the Tor was "Ynys Wydryn", or sometimes "Ynys Gutrin", meaning "Isle of Glass". At this time the plain was flooded, the isle becoming a peninsula at low tide.

Remains of a 5th century fort have been found on the Tor. This was replaced by the medieval St. Michael's church that remained until 1275. According to the British Geological Survey, an earthquake was recorded on 11 September 1275, which was felt in London, Canterbury and Wales, and this quake destroyed the church. The quake was also reported to have destroyed many houses and churches in England, suggesting intensities greater than 7 MSK and an epicentre in the area around Portsmouth or Chichester, South England. It is possible that the shape of the tor led to a local amplification of the seismic waves where the church was situated.

A second church, built in the 1360s, survived until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 when the Tor was the place of execution where Richard Whiting, the last Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, was hanged, drawn and quartered along with two of his monks. The remains of St. Michael's Tower were restored in modern times. It is a grade I listed building and is managed by the National Trust.

The site of the fair held at the foot of the Tor is embodied in the traditional name of "Fair Field" given to an agricultural enclosure, the enclosures in the local landscape dating from the 18th century.