Glastonbury History Timeline

By Tom Last updated Oct 17, 2024

This article presents a chronology of some notable events in the history of Glastonbury and the surrounding areas – some of them more significant than others! If you would like to visit the sites connected to where these events took place, locations are provided towards the end of the article.

Prehistory (Before 43 A.D.)

8500-4000 B.C. – Flints from this era found around Chalice Well
7^th millennium B.C. – The sea level rose and flooded the valleys and low-lying ground surrounding Glastonbury so the Mesolithic people occupied seasonal camps on the higher ground, indicated by scatters of flints
3806 B.C. – Sweet Track built along the route of an even earlier track, the Post Track, dating from 3838 B.C.
200-100 B.C. – Glastonbury Lake Village occupied

Romans (43 A.D. – c. 410 A.D.)

?60 A.D. – Joseph of Arimathea came to Glastonbury after the crucifixion and from this the legendary first Christian community was founded
166 A.D. – Missionaries sent by Pope Eleutherius built a church in the grounds where Glastonbury Abbey later stood

Early Medieval (c. 410 A.D. – 1066)

Late Saxon period (the Saxon period extended from 410 A.D. to 1066) – Small monastic settlement, with cells cut in the rock, and possibly a timber church on Glastonbury Tor
5^th Century – early 6^th Century – The oldest known monastery in the United Kingdom located at Bride’s Mound predating Iona Abbey in Scotland, founded in the late 6^th Century, and Glastonbury Abbey, which dates from the 7^th Century. The graveyard here stayed in use until the 9^th Century when Viking raids may have caused its end.
449 A.D. – St Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland visited Glastonbury
460 A.D. – St Benignus came to Glastonbury (settled in Meare). He was a disciple of St. Patrick and the third to succeed him in his Irish see.
488 A.D. – St Brigid of Kildare visited Glastonbury
6^th Century – The first certain occupation of Glastonbury Tor
7^th Century – St Collen came to Glastonbury; he quarrelled with the monks and left for the ‘mountain of Glastonbury’ and made a cell in a quiet spot near a rock and had a curious vision of the King of the Underworld (Gwyn app Nudd)
712 A.D. – King Ine of Wessex directed that a stone church be built in Glastonbury
10^th Century – Irish colony established in the Beckery area and was thus nicknamed ‘Little Ireland’. This area was known to the Irish as Glastimbir na n-Gaoidhil ‘Glastonbury of the Gaels’.
940 A.D. – Dunstan of Glastonbury summoned to King Edmund’s court at Cheddar and made a minister
943 A.D. – Dunstan takes Holy Orders in the presence of Ælfheah and returned to live the life of a hermit at Glastonbury. As the Abbot, Dunstan established a Benedictine monastery at Glastonbury Abbey and extends King Ine’s church.
944 A.D. – King Edmund I takes control of York and the surrounding area removing sacred relics from the remains of Whitby Abbey and moves them to Glastonbury Abbey
946 A.D. – King Edred comes to the throne and selects Dunstan, the Abbot of Glastonbury, to be his prime minister and Lord high treasurer
955 A.D. – King Edwy gives a vineyard to the monks of Glastonbury Abbey and many vines were grown in the area for making wine in the Middle Ages
967 A.D. – Remains of King Edmund I interred in Glastonbury Abbey
975 A.D. – King Edgar the Peaceful buried in Glastonbury Abbey (died 8th July 975)
983 A.D. – Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia buried in Glastonbury Abbey
1016 – Edmund Ironside’s coronation as King of England in Glastonbury Abbey
1030 – King Canute visits Glastonbury Abbey to grant the Abbey gifts and privileges

Medieval (1066 – 1485)

1070s – St Margaret’s Chapel built on Magdelene Street, originally as a hospital and later as almshouses for the poor
1077 – Abbot Thurstin dismissed after his soldiers kill monks by the High Altar in Glastonbury Abbey
1086 – At the time of the Domesday Book – Glastonbury Abbey was the richest monastery in the country and the Abbey estate consisted of 884 hides of fertile land. Among the many privileges granted to the Abbey was a mint for the coining of money.
1091 – The monks of Glastonbury took the relics of a holy man named Beon or Beonna by boat from Meare to be added to the collection at Glastonbury Abbey; at his last resting place, an oration was delivered, and, after a liberal offering, a church (St Benedict’s) was built on the site, being consecrated around 1100.
1126 – King Henry I brought his nephew, Henry of Blois, from Normandy to be Abbot of Glastonbury.
1127 – A charter for holding a fair was granted by Henry 1 to the Abbot and Monks of Glastonbury Abbey ‘to hold a fair at the monastery of St. Michael on the Tor in the island of Glastonbury’. It was to last for six days, five before the feast of St. Michael and on the feast day itself.
1129 – William of Malmesbury stays with the monks of the Abbey and documents the early history of the Abbey
1184 – A great fire at Glastonbury destroyed the monastic buildings including the old church, vetusta ecclesia. The Abbey’s connection with King Arthur and his Queen, Guinevere, was created by the monks. King Henry II puts his chancellor, Ralph Fitzstephen in charge of rebuilding.
1189 – First street market held in Glastonbury
1191 – The monks uncovered two skeletons that they claimed were those of King Arthur and his second queen, Guinevere at Glastonbury Abbey
1195 – Start of a 24 year feud between Glastonbury Abbey and the Bishop of Bath and Wells
mid-13^th Century – The earliest reference to the Tor is in the so-called ‘charter of St Patrick’ which names ‘two lay brothers’ on the Tor
1243 – A charter gives permission for the holding of a fair ‘at the monastery of St Michael on the Tor’
1275 – 11^th September – Earthquake destroyed St Michael’s Church on Glastonbury Tor
1278 – Easter – King Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Glastonbury Abbey and ordered that the tomb of King Arthur be opened for their inspection. In a ceremony the remains were taken to the high altar and then reburied.
14^th Century – Tithe Barn at the Somerset Rural Life Museum built to store wheat and rye
1322-1335 – The Abbot’s Fish House built by the Abbot of Glastonbury and is the only surviving monastic fishery building in England
?1334 – Nine-bayed aisled nave at Glastonbury Abbey completed
1334-1342 – The Abbot’s Kitchen built by Abbot John de Breynton as the kitchen for Glastonbury Abbey and is one of the world’s few surviving Medieval kitchens and has been described as one of the best-preserved medieval kitchens in Europe.
1366 – Great Street becomes known as High Street
1439 – First reference to ‘George ynne’ (The George Hotel and Pilgrims’ Inn built to accommodate visitors to Glastonbury Abbey)

Tudors (1485 – 1603)

15^th Century – Church of St John the Baptist built
15^th Century – The construction of the Edgar Chapel made Glastonbury Abbey the longest ecclesiastical building in England approximately 175 metres in length with an area greater than that of Canterbury Cathedral
1493 – Richard Beere installed as abbot of Glastonbury, the election of Thomas Wasyn having been quashed by the Bishop of Bath and Wells.
16^th Century – Arthurian legend expert John Leland identified Pomparles Bridge as the place where King Arthur’s sword Excalibur was cast into a lake after King Arthur’s burial on the Isle of Avalon
1500 – Glastonbury Abbey relegated to the second wealthiest abbey in Britain, after Westminster
1520 – Holy Thorn first mentioned in a pamphlet published by Richard Pynson called Here begynneth the lyfe of Joseph of Armathia
?1520 – The Church of St Benedict rebuilt by Abbot Richard Beere
1524 – Abbot Richard Beere buried in Glastonbury Abbey
1534 – Abbot Richard Whiting signs the Act of Supremacy granting King Henry VIII of England and subsequent monarchs Royal Supremacy, such that he was declared the Supreme Head of the Church of England
1539 – 15^th November – Richard Whiting, the last Abbot of Glastonbury, executed with two of his monks. Henry VIII closes and destroys much of Glastonbury Abbey.
1539 – The Mere (or Meare Pool) was 5 miles (8 km) in circuit and a mile and a half (2.5 km) across
1550 – Colony of Flemish weavers settled on the Abbey site
1587 – The last monk from Glastonbury Abbey died

Stuarts (1603 – 1714)

1607 – 30^th January – Tsunami hits Glastonbury covering 200 square miles with floodwater which reached the base of the Church of St Benedict
1685 – June – The Church of St John the Baptist used for shelter by Monmouth’s troops during the Monmouth Rebellion
1685 – July – Duke of Monmouth’s army pass through Glastonbury on their way to the Battle of Sedegmoor – 1300 troops were killed or wounded and 2700 were captured
1685 – 7^th July – In the aftermath of the Pitchfork Rebellion, several rebels hanged – from the sign of the White Hart Inn and elsewhere in the town
1705 – Glastonbury granted a Royal Charter by Queen Anne and first mayor (John Aplin) appointed replacing churchwardens who were once a corporate body owning considerable property in the town
?1707 – Henry Fielding English novelist and dramatist and founder of the Bow Street Runners, London’s first intermittently funded full-time police force baptised at the Church of St Benedict
1712 – Meare Pool covered in a network of rhynes draining the pool

Georgians (1714 – 1837)

1750 – October – Matthew Chancellor from nearby North Wootton had a dream and having taken water from Chaingate was cured of asthma and Glastonbury was briefly invaded by the sick and infirm in their search for a miraculous cure. On Sunday 5^th May 1751, 10,000 people came to drink the water from Chaingate.
1753 – 12^th August – A pump room and baths opened in Glastonbury
1780 – The pump room closes and converted into a shop
1792-1794 – The ground adjoining the Abbey ruins cleared, levelled, and converted into pasturage; many loads of stones were raised here, and employed in making a new turnpike road between Glastonbury and Wells. In 1793, during the clearing and levelling, a free-stone coffin was discovered containing a skeleton without the skull.
1806 – Glastonbury’s Market Cross demolished
1812 – Lilly, Brown & Co, the first private bank in Glastonbury established; it was also known as the Glastonbury & Shepton Mallet Bank.
1818 – Town hall built
1825 – Last fair held at the foot of Glastonbury Tor in Fair Field
1827 – The Glastonbury Canal authorised by Parliament

Victorians (1837 – 1901)

1833 – 15^th August – The Glastonbury Canal operated by The Glastonbury Navigation & Canal Company opens
184? – John Clark laid a stone on Wearyall Hill to mark the exact spot where the Holy Thorn once stood (give or take a few hundred metres as the earliest engraving of Glastonbury shows the Holy Thorn as located at the roadside of Roman Way). The stone was salvaged from the Abbey and the inscription read ‘I. A. Ann. D XXXI’ meaning I[oseph] A[rimathea] Anno Domini 31.
1844 – The house and shop that stood at 35 High Street was occupied by Peter Marquand, linen draper where John Lewis apprenticed before founding the John Lewis empire
1846 – Current Market Cross erected – replacing the cross demolished in 1806
1848 – St Michael’s Tower on Glastonbury Tor rebuilt
1854 – 1^st July – Canal closed as a through route
1854 – 17^th August – Railway opens
1854 – The first record of an organised procession in Glastonbury – eventually becoming the Glastonbury Chilkwell Carnival
1859 – Branch of railway from Glastonbury to Wells opened
1862 – Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway formed from an amalgamation of the Somerset Central Railway and Dorset Central Railway – the main line of which passed through Glastonbury
1863 – 10^th March – Glastonbury Thorn tree planted on Wearyall Hill – planted by John Austin, 12 year old son of James Austin the owner of the Abbey and Wearyall Hill, to celebrate the marriage of the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, to Princess Alexander of Denmark (‘The Prince’s Thorn’ had died by 1884).
1864 – The Glastonbury Assembly Rooms built on the site of the White Hart Inn’s old stables
1865 – The Town Council warned that Cholera might be expected in the town as
1867 – The first Somersetshire County Ball held at the Assembly Rooms. What was to become an annual event played host to dignatories from across the county.
1870 – John Morland bought a tannery in Glastonbury particularly attracted by the water (essential to the tanning process), which he described as being “of unusual purity”
1872 – Well house was constructed over the White Spring, to provide a reservoir. The clean water, which it provided for the town suffering with Cholera, was a great blessing.
1872 – May – As part of the Whit-Monday Fete, Charles Blondin French tightrope walker famous for crossing Niagara Gorge visited the Abbey making trips across a high rope with his footman on his back. Eight thousand people attended and the Fete included a race over six flights of hurdles into the Abbey pond and across it to the cup on the other side.
1873 – First of forty-five groups of prehistoric wooden trackways discovered, connecting the Somerset archipelago of islands
1877 – January – William Gladstone, four times Prime Minister, visited Glastonbury
1879 – Charles ‘Bungy’ Heal known as The King of Showmen born in Glastonbury in the building on the corner of Market Place and Benedict St, now home to Heaphy”s Cafe
1882 – Glastonbury Lake Village, the best-preserved Iron Age village ever found in Europe, discovered by Arthur Bulleid
1886 – July – Glastonbury railway station renamed Glastonbury and Street
1895 – 12^th September – The first religious pilgrimage for 356 years held in Glastonbury. Over 1500 Catholic pilgrims walked from the railway station through the town to Glastonbury Tor where a service was held in honour of the last Abbot of Glastonbury Richard Whiting.
1897 – 3^rd August – Anglican Pilgrimage, took place within the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey to celebrate the thirteen hundredth anniversary of the coming of St Augustine to this country. Over 100 Bishops, 6 Archbishops and around 1000 dignitaries and clergy from the Anglican Church took part in a procession from St John’s Church to the Abbey.

20^th Century (1901 – 2000)

1908 – The Abbey ruins purchased by the Church of England and Frederick Bligh Bond appointed as director of excavations. In 1919 Bond published The Gates of Remembrance, which revealed that he had employed psychical methods to guide his excavation of the Glastonbury ruins and as a consequence of these revelations he was sacked in 1921.
1909 – Knights of Glastonbury, the oldest fish and chip restaurant in the UK established
1909 – 22^nd June – Prince and Princess of Wales visited Glastonbury to mark the restoration of the abbey to the Church of England
1912 – Alice Buckton bought the Chalice Well and opened a hostel there which drew pilgrims from around the world
1914 – 5^th August 1914 – The first Glastonbury Festival began in the Assembly Rooms
1921 – November – Glastonbury holds it’s first Remembrance Day memorial service to honour armed forces members who died in the line of duty – following a tradition inaugurated by King George V in 1919.
1924 – A pilgrimage to the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey was held by a few local churches – becoming the annual Glastonbury Pilgrimage
1929 – Christmas – Tradition of sending sprig of the Glastonbury Thorn to the monarchy revived. In 1950 the new vicar tried to end the tradition until the Town Clerk received a letter from Queen Mary asking why the thorn had not been sent.
1933 – National Trust acquired Tor field with St Michael’s Tower
1935 – Katherine Maltwood announced her discovery of the Glastonbury Zodiac
1937 – Draper of Glastonbury, the oldest sheepskin footwear manufacturer in the UK founded
1937 – 14^th October 1937 – 27 acres of land on the top of the Tor including the tower sold for £2500 to the National Trust
1948 – Restoration works on St Michael’s Tower
1951 – 1^st July – Glastonbury Thorn tree planted on Wearyall Hill – planted by Mayor Harry Scott Stokes as the centrepiece of Glastonbury’s celebration of the Festival of Britain, the tree was grafted from the one in the churchyard of the Church of St John the Baptist and the ceremony was attended by nearly 2000 people (the tree died and had to be replaced within months).
1952 – 17^th December – Glastonbury telephone exchange on Archers Parade came into service (built in 1938 and now the Royal Mail delivery office)
1953 – Sir Edmund Hillary took Morland’s boots on his successful Mount Everest expedition
1953 – Charlie Chaplin visited Glastonbury (stopped briefly in the George & Pilgrims)
1954 – The last recorded occupants left the Royal Magdalene Almshouses
1957 – Cutting of a sprig of the Glastonbury Thorn to send to the monarchy at Christmas first televised
1959 – Chalice Well Trust founded by Wellesley Tudor Pole
1966 – 5^th March – The last train leaves Glastonbury and Street railway station heading for Highbridge
1966 – 7^th March – Railway line closes
1966 – 2^nd June – Queen Elizabeth II visited
1970 – 19^th September – Pop Folk & Blues festival held in Pilton – eventually becoming the Glastonbury Festival
1970 – Ray Sweet discovers what became known as The Sweet Track
1974 – 1^st April – The Local Government Act 1972 reorganises local government ending Glastonbury’s status as a borough with the creation of Mendip District Council
1975 – 0700 4^th June – Glastonbury telephone exchange on Archers Parade in service since 1952 ceased operation and replaced by the current exchange
1978 – Somerset Rural Life Museum opens
1982 – 11^th October – Morlands tannery – Glastonbury’s largest employer appoints a receiver
1982 – Glastonbury F.C. moved from within the walls of the Abbey to Abbey Moor Stadium
1984 – 3^rd April – Princess Diana visited Glastonbury
1986 – Christmas – Glastonbury Thorn featured on British Christmas postage stamps
1986 – Closure of Chalice Hill to public access
1988 – 1^st May – The Glastonbury Order of Druids formed
1989 – March – Glastonbury cattle market closed – the last calf sold belonged to Henry Tinney of Cradlebridge Farm
1994 – Fisons gave their old workings to what is now Natural England, who passed the management of the 260 hectares (640 acres) Ham Wall section to the RSPB
1995 – November – Friends of Bride’s Mound formed to preserve, protect and enhance Bride’s Mound
1999 – The Glastonbury Farmers’ Market first held and was the first of the Somerset Farmers’ Markets.

21st Century

2001 – Chalice Well became a World Peace Garden
2003 – The Glastonbury Goddess Temple registered as a Place of Worship and is believed to be the first such place in the UK to be officially recognised for 1500 years
2007 – The Glastonbury Tercentennial Labyrinth built to celebrate 300 years since Queen Ann gave Glastonbury the Town Charter in 1705
2010 – night of 8^th December – The Glastonbury Thorn tree on Wearyhall Hill badly damaged
2011 – Glastonbury Tor featured on a 1^st class postage stamp
2015 – Glastonbury Abbey BioBlitz recorded 450 observations
2015 – 28^th June – Dalai Lama visited Glastonbury
2016 – 1400 on Tuesday 5^th April 2016 – The Lloyds Bank branch at 3 High Street closed ending 204 years of Glastonbury banking history
2019 – May – The Glastonbury Thorn tree on Wearyhall Hill, badly damaged in 2010, removed by the landowner
2022 – 19^th May – Formation of the Somerset Wetlands National Nature Reserve (NNR) – extending from the edge of Glastonbury to Bridgwater Bay it became the third largest NNR in England and home to a third of the UK’s bittern population
2022 – September – Glastonbury awarded £23.6m from the government’s Towns Fund scheme – spread across 11 projects ‘bringing existing assets back into community use and working with local communities to deliver the spaces and resources that they want and need’

Locations

Abbot’s Fish House query.valley.certainly
Assembly Rooms releasing.knocking.navy
Bride’s Mound mural.paler.owned
Chaingate Shoot motoring.wriggle.shallower
Chalice Well sparks.dusters.parked
Church of St Benedict stood.player.atomic
Church of St John the Baptist nerd.household.paths
Church of St John the Baptist – Glastonbury Tercentennial Labyrinth save.mammals.manly
Draper of Glastonbury canine.compacts.clerics
Glastonbury Abbey forgives.doubts.remake
Glastonbury Abbey – Abbot’s Kitchen woven.shopping.occur
Glastonbury Canal (approximate site of canal basin) chimp.conspired.bulk
Glastonbury Cattle Market (site of) bleach.scrapped.hazy
Glastonbury Football Club (approximate site of centre of former pitch within Glastonbury Abbey) collides.stars.enchanted
Glastonbury Football Club (approximate site of centre of current pitch within Abbey Moor Stadium) silks.milk.hothouse
Glastonbury Goddess Temple spellings.replying.driveways
Glastonbury Lake Village (corner of site nearest to Glastonbury town centre) destroyer.albums.everyone
Glastonbury Railway Station (gates at entrance) hairstyle.speeded.vocal
Glastonbury Tor – Fair Field fish.energy.plausible
Glastonbury Tor – St Michael’s Tower liquid.invoices.trumpet
Glastonbury Town Hall reframe.templates.forge
Glastonbury & Shepton Mallet Bank (site of) hampers.motive.hidden
Knights of Glastonbury balancing.dollar.bleat
Market Cross slurs.rebel.download
Pomparles Bridge wager.defends.crisps
Pump Room & Baths producers.whites.developer
Somerset Rural Life Museum – grin.jaundice.speeded
Somerset Rural Life Museum – Tithe Barn contracting.trembles.rivers
St Margaret’s Chapel and Royal Magdalene Almshouses cycles.speak.employers
The George & Pilgrims took.goofy.curtail
The Red Brick Building (once part of Morlands tannery) upper.hits.proclaims
Sweet Track (site of) speedy.chefs.plantings
Wearyhall Hill (location of last Glastonbury Thorn on hill) gladiator.organic.averts
White Hart Inn (site of) beads.cases.select
White Spring charm.objective.paths