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Glastonbury Abbey

Animedragon

Entry posted by Animedragon in General

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The story of Glastonbury Abbey story starts somewhere around 670AD when a Saxon church was built on the site, this was later replaced with a much larger Norman church, which was destroyed in a fire in 1184. 

The ruins we see today are all that is left of the Great Church which replaced the Norman church and work on it was started in 1189. You only have to look at what remains to get some idea of how huge and impressive it must have looked when it was finished.

In 1191 while excavating in the abbey cemetery the monks found, buried at a great depth, a wooden coffin which reportedly carried an inscription claiming it contained the bodies of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. The bones of King Arthur were re buried in the abbey in 1278 in a black marble tomb at a service attended by King Edward I. Some historians claim that the bones had nothing to do with King Arthur and that it was all just a publicity stunt to gain the abbey more funds for its rebuilding programme, but who now knows what the truth is. When you stand in front of the sign and look at the place where the tomb stood it's not easy to dismiss it and walk away, the legend of King Arthur is as strong today as it was then.

By the 14th Century the Abbey was one of the richest and most powerful monasteries in England and controlled huge tracts of the surrounding land. But things didn't go on forever, and the end came in 1539 as a result of the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII.

The Abbey today is a grade 1 listed building and scheduled ancient monument.

 

The view from the choir towards the Lady Chapel. The two huge pillars are all that is left of the supports of the tower and transepts. The railed off area is the site of the High Altar. (the sky colour was create with a filter)

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A view into the Lady Chapel. There was originally a floor going the full length of the chapel, the bridge walkway is a modern addition.

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Part of the outside wall of the Lady Chapel.

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This is, or was, the Abbot's kitchen and is the only complete building of the Abbey that remains.

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The sign marking the place where the tomb of King Arthur was sited.

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Thank you for reading this blog entry, I hope you found it interesting.

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Zeref

That was built such a long time ago so much history there very cool indeed. I never knew this about King Arthur and always thought he was considered mostly just a made up figure. I never knew bones of him were claimed to be found. He's also a very prominent figure in Runescape lore lol According to the Runescape lore King Arthur left the world of Earth and went to the land of Gielinor which is the Runescape world until the time Earth needed him again 😆 I always liked this part of lore in RS. The photos are interesting to look at here too you can tell how large it was from the photos you put. It's amazing to think they created structures that big with such good architecture so long ago. 

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Animedragon

The legend of King Arthur and the whole idea of him being "The Once and Future King" who will return when he is most needed is part of English folklore as is the whole legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Much of it is of course myth and legend based upon novels written many years ago, but while there is no solid evidence that he really existed there is a theory supported by some historians that the legends grew up around a local tribal warlord someone similar.

Looking at the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey does leave you with a feeling of awe that people could build such huge and impressive places so many centuries ago without all our modern construction machines, but not all such places were demolished. Wells Cathedral dates from the 1150s and is still intact and very much in use as a place of Christian worship, it's an amazing building and perhaps I'll feature it in a future blog.

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Sarada

That's so cool! I've wanted to go to that site but each time I've been back to the UK it's never worked out. It's on my list of places I want to visit. You took great pics of the place! 🫶 I like that filter on the sky in the first one. 

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Sakura

As my sister said I really always wanted to go check that out too ~ I've always loved anything to do with King Arthur

On 4/22/2025 at 7:04 PM, Zeref said:

 He's also a very prominent figure in Runescape lore lol According to the Runescape lore King Arthur left the world of Earth and went to the land of Gielinor which is the Runescape world until the time Earth needed him again 😆 I always liked this part of lore in RS. 

And in RS as Pessi mentioned there is a King Arthur who lives in Camelot xD Camelot is my absolute fave city on the game and the quests involving King Arthur and the knights of the round table were always some of my fave because I love the real history of him so much and found it so interesting. I like basically any movie or book with him in it too lol All the stuff about him is so fascinating *-* 

The pictures are great btw ~ I luvv that first one. The sky looks so idk.. straight out of a fantasy book about him lol The architecture here is still so well preserved for how old it is and I'm kinda an architecture fan lol I love all these old buildings and stuff like this. For it's age it all looks remarkably good. 

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Sasuke

Amazing photos. The history there is indeed very cool. I think just about everyone knows who King Arthur is he's such a prominent history figure so whether he was real or wasn't real he's become a household name. I personally like to think he was a real person :) 

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froggy

These pictures are really cool! I love the seeing the old architecture. I feel inspired to draw the second picture, I think I would use 2-point perspective if I end up drawing it. 

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Animedragon

@Sasuke I think a lot of English people like to think King Arthur was a real person, and I'm one of them 🙂. 

@froggy Feel free to use my photos as source material for your drawings, I'd like to see the results if you do.

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Animesku

Wow! It is so cool (^⁠‿^)

The buildings were so old. Did you photo this by yourself? 🤔 

Edited by Animesku
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Animedragon
3 hours ago, Animesku said:

Wow! It is so cool (^⁠‿^)

The buildings were so old. Did you photo this by yourself? 🤔 

Thank you.

Yes, I took all the photographs myself, I really enjoy visiting places and taking photos of them.

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