Britain is famous for its myths and legends. Most people have heard about Stonehenge and King Arthur and the ghosts in the old castles. But if you ask “Do you know about Glastonbury?” many people – even English people – will say “Glastonbury? Where is that?”
Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, in the South-west of England, about 45 km from Bristol. It has 6,500 inhabitants, and it lies between three hills. 1,500 years ago the whole area was covered by water. It was a huge lake, and the locals lived in villages on the high ground round Glastonbury.
This small, sleepy country town, which is nowadays the home of an enormous ruined abbey, contains more myths and legends than any other place in Britain.
We know that Glastonbury was a Christian settlement as early as 63 AD. It was probably the earliest Christian settlement outside the Roman Empire. Some Christians who were running away from the Romans arrived here, and probably bought some land from the local chief. Later, the abbey was built on this spot.
And these early Christians were probably led by Joseph of Arimathaea, the man who took Jesus's uncle, and that he was a tin trader, who actually brought Christ here when he was a child. Anyway, the legend says, Joseph and his followers came to Glastonbury in 63 AD, or earlier, and lived there, safe from the Romans.
He brought with him a stick, which had helped him on his long journey. He pushed his stick into the ground. This stick took root, and survived for many hundreds of years.
Finally, a cutting was taken from the old tree and put into the abbey gardens. You can still see this tree today. It's called the Glastonbury Thorn. Most thorns flower in the summer. This one flowers at Christmas-time.
He also brought with him two cups – the cups that were used to catch Jesus's blood as he hung on the Cross.
In the middle ages, a local man found Joseph's tomb. You can see it now in Glastonbury Church. The legends do not stop there, however.
King Arthur is perhaps the most famous legendary figure in Britain. The legend is almost certainly based in truth. There was an Arthur – an Anglo-Roman chief in the 5th century who, after the fall of the Roman Empire, had some success in battles against the invading Saxons.
The legend says that, after his final battle, the dying Arthur was put into a boat, and
he sailed to the island of Avalon, where he remains, under the ground, waiting to
rise again when Britain is in trouble.
There is good archaeological evidence that Arthur's final battle took place a few
kilometres south of Glastonbury.
In 1184 the old abbey was destroyed by fire. Six years later some monks were digging in the ruins and they found a tomb. In the tomb were a king and queen. They were sure that they had found the tomb of Arthur and his Queen, Guinevere. You can still see the site of the tomb.
There is much more to be said – for instance, how Glastonbury is the home of Gwyn ap
Nudd, the Celtic king of the Fairies. And how Glastonbury is part of an enormous Zodiac,
20 km wide, drawn on the earth.
If you get the chance, go to Glastonbury. Look at the extraordinary Tor, and you will know
that you are in a strange place. Maybe even a magic one.
Stonehenge...
About 4,600 years ago – or maybe more – the Stone Age inhabitants of Britain started building an enormous stone structure. This structure is now called Stonehenge, and it is near Salisbury, in the South of England, about two hours west of London by car.
The largest of the Stonehenge stones weighs 50 tons, and the smallest weighs 5 tons. The people who started Stonehenge were very primitive indeed. They used no metal, and their tools weremade only of stone, bone and wood. They lived in simple huts, and they had not yet invented the wheel.
They started to build Stonehenge in about 2,600 B.C., and probably finished it 600 years later. Thousands of men and women were involved in the work.
The builders of Stonehenge could not read or write, so they have left us no records of the work. Therefore we do not know exactly how Stonehenge was built.
We know that Stonehenge was built in three stages.
Stonehenge 1 was a rectangle, surrounded by a circular ditch. Outside the rectangle stood an enormous stone – now called the Heel Stone.
Stonehenge 2 was started about 200 years later. The builders brought about 80 stones – called Bluestones – and put them into a horseshoe shape in the middle of the rectangle. These Bluestones weighed about 5 tons each.
Stonehenge 3 is the Stonehenge that we can see today.
There have been many theories about Stonehenge.
Some people have said that it was built by travellers from Outer Space. Others have said that Stonehenge is built at the centre of enormous electrical energy – that it was a primitive “power house”. But there is no evidence to support these theories.
There is one fact, however, that no one argues about. If you stand in the centre of Stonehenge on the morning of Midsummer's Day, you will see the sun rising above the Heel Stone. It was very important for primitive people to know about Midsummer's Day.
At Stonehenge you can discover Midsummer's Day with the help of the Heel Stone. So Stonehenge was probably built as a primitive calendar, to tell the farmers the time of the year.
There may have been another reason as well. In 1963, an astronomer called Gerald Hawkins asked the question: “Why did they dig 56 holes round Stonehenge?” And his answer to this question is very exciting. The number 56 is very important in the prediction of eclipses. If you want to predict eclipses, you have to understand the movement of the moon, which moves every year, and which returns to its original position every 18,61 years.
Now 18,61 is a difficult number – but 18,61*3=55,83=(nearly)56 is an easier number for primitive people. The Babylonians discovered this number 56 in about 500 B.C. – and they were always thought to be the first people to be able to predict eclipses.
But Hawkins thinks that the builders of Stonehenge – 2,000 years before the Babylonians – also knew about this, and he has shown that Stonehenge can be used as a primitive computer, to predict the year and the day of eclipses of the sun and moon. Maybe Hawkins is right – maybe he is wrong. But one thing is certain: these primitive people, living 4,600 years ago, possessed building abilities and knowledge that we, in 2013, do not yet fully understand.