Glastonbury

The Somerset Rural Life Museum is situated in Glastonbury, Somerset, UK. It is a museum of the social and agricultural history of Somerset, housed in buildings surrounding a 14th-century barn once belonging to Glastonbury Abbey. It was used for the storage of arable produce, particularly wheat and rye, from the abbey's home farm of approximately 524 acres (2.12 km2). It is not believed to have stored produce offered as tithe payments and is therefore referred to as an abbey barn rather than a tithe barn. Threshing and winnowing would also have been carried out in the barn. The barn which was built from local 'shelly' limestone, with thick timbers supporting the stone tiling of the roof. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building, and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. In 2011 the 14 feet (4.3 m) high doors of the barn were replaced by local craftsmen using materials and traditional techniques and materials to a design based on The Bishop's Eye in Wells.After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 the barn was given to the Duke of Somerset. By the early 20th century it was being used as a farm store by the Mapstone family. In 1974 they donated it to Somerset County Council and between 1976 and 1978 underwent restoration. It was also used as the location for the pistol duel in Stanley Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon", released in 1975.The barn and courtyard contain displays of farm machinery from the Victorian or early 20th Century period. Other exhibits show local crafts, including willow coppicing, mud horse fishing on the flats of Bridgwater Bay, peat digging on the Somerset Levels, and the production of milk, cheese, and cider. In reconstructed rooms detailing domestic life in the nearby village of Butleigh, the story of one farm worker, John Hodges, is told from cradle to grave. Outside, there is a beehive and rare breeds of poultry and sheep, in the cider apple orchard. Regular craft demonstrations and talks on farming are held, as are activities for children and families. There is a shop, tea room, car park and disabled access. The shop is run by the Friends of the Somerset Rural Life Museum.

Beckery (also Little Ireland) is an area within Glastonbury. It was once the main industrial area of the town. The area is said to have been visited by Saint Brigid of Kildare in the 4th or 5th century.

The Glastonbury thorn is a form of common hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna 'Biflora' (sometimes incorrectly called Crataegus oxyacantha var. praecox), found in and around Glastonbury, Somerset, England. Unlike ordinary hawthorn trees, it flowers twice a year (hence the name "biflora"), the first time in winter and the second time in spring. The trees in the Glastonbury area have been propagated by grafting since ancient times. The tree is also widely called the holy thorn, though this term strictly speaking refers to the original (legendary) tree.It is associated with legends about Joseph of Arimathea and the arrival of Christianity in Britain, and has appeared in written texts since the medieval period. A flowering sprig is sent to the British Monarch every Christmas. The original tree has been propagated several times, with one tree growing at Glastonbury Abbey and another in the churchyard of the Church of St John. The "original" Glastonbury thorn was cut down and burned as a relic of superstition during the English Civil War, and one planted on Wearyall Hill in 1951 to replace it had its branches cut off in 2010.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Glastonbury is a former bishopric and present Latin titular (arch)bishopric in England.

Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. Its ruins, a grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument, are open as a visitor attraction. The abbey was founded in the 8th century and enlarged in the 10th. It was destroyed by a major fire in 1184, but subsequently rebuilt and by the 14th century was one of the richest and most powerful monasteries in England. The abbey controlled large tracts of the surrounding land and was instrumental in major drainage projects on the Somerset Levels. The abbey was suppressed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII of England. The last abbot, Richard Whiting (Whyting), was hanged, drawn and quartered as a traitor on Glastonbury Tor in 1539. From at least the 12th century the Glastonbury area has been associated with the legend of King Arthur, a connection promoted by medieval monks who asserted that Glastonbury was Avalon. Christian legends have claimed that the abbey was founded by Joseph of Arimathea in the 1st century.

St. Patrick's Chapel in Glastonbury, Somerset, England, is housed within the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey, and was completed in 1517. It is a site of pilgrimage and dedicated to Saint Patrick due to it being close to a possible site of his burial. It sits within the scheduled Ancient Monument area and is a Grade II listed building. The Stained Glass and wall painting are the results of a renovation. Saint Patrick is depicted twice within the chapel, once within the stained glass behind the altar which shows him in his traditional green robe standing above a snake and another on the wall which depicts him with a wolfhound. Weekly services are still held within the Chapel and it 'has been witness to 500 years of Christian worship.'

Glastonbury Extravaganza (also known as Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza and previously as Glastonbury Classical Extravaganza) is an annual music event held in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey in Glastonbury, England since 1996. The event is held as a thank you to local people from Glastonbury Festival organiser Michael Eavis.The event started life as a classical music concert – expanding out to three days and moving into a mix of classical, pop and rock music. Since 2013 it has returned to a single Saturday night format, but retained a popular music theme. The current format of the event is that the grounds open at 16:30, a local choir opens the proceedings at around 17:00 followed by a number of acts leading up to the headliner, followed by a firework display to close the evening at around 22:00. People bring their own food and drink to set up picnics, or fetch take-away food from Glastonbury high street, a short walk away. Extravaganza is one of three events organised by Eavis each year. The other events are the major Glastonbury Festival and the small-scale Pilton Party, held in Pilton.

The Tribunal in Glastonbury, Somerset, England, was built in the 15th century as a merchant's house. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.The history of the building is not well documented, although the majority of the present stone house was constructed in the 15th century on the site of a 12th-century wooden building. The current front wall, made of medieval stonework, was added at a later date. It has been used as a merchant's house, a shop, school and a convent. It was thought that it was the venue for court proceedings, hence the title Tribunal, however there is no evidence this ever occurred. One of the ground floor rooms still has the window and ceiling panels from the Elizabethan era. The front room upstairs has an arched braced, wooden, truss roof. The building is currently in the guardianship of English Heritage. It contains the museum of the Glastonbury Antiquarian Society which houses artefacts from both the town and the Glastonbury Lake Village including the "Glastonbury Bowl". The museum opened in May 2022 and is entirely run by volunteers. It is usually open 10.00am - 4.00pm Saturdays and Sundays. Members of English Heritage and members of the Glastonbury Antiquarian Society enter for free. All other adults £2.00, children under 18 free.

The Abbot's Kitchen is a mediaeval octagonal building that served as the kitchen at Glastonbury Abbey in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. It is a Grade I listed building. The abbot's kitchen has been described as "one of the best preserved medieval kitchens in Europe". The stone-built construction dates from the 14th century and is one of a very few surviving mediaeval kitchens in the world.Historically, the Abbot of Glastonbury lived well, as demonstrated by the abbot's kitchen, with four large fireplaces at its corners. The kitchen was part of the opulent abbot's house, begun under Abbot John de Breynton (1334–1342). It is one of the best preserved medieval kitchens in Europe and the only substantial monastic building surviving at Glastonbury Abbey. The abbot's kitchen has been the only building at Glastonbury Abbey to survive intact. Later it was used as a Quaker meeting house.The building is supported by curved buttresses on each side leading up to a cornice with grotesque gargoyles. Inside are four large arched fireplaces with smoke outlets above them, with another outlet in the centre of the pyramidal roof. The building is designed so that hot air from the cooking fires would have risen up to the top of the building and escaped, whilst cooler air came from openings lower down and sunk into the kitchen, cooling it.The kitchen was attached to the 80 feet (24 m) high abbot's hall, although only one small section of its wall remains. The architect Augustus Pugin surveyed and recorded the building in the 1830s. The Abbot's Kitchen was again surveyed and conserved in 2013, reopening in 2014.

Glastonbury Town Hall is a municipal building in Magdalene Street, Glastonbury, Somerset, England. The structure, which is the meeting place of Glastonbury Town Council, is a Grade II* listed building.

St Dunstan's School is a secondary school in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. The school is for students between the ages of 11 and 16 years. It is named after St. Dunstan, an abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, who went on to become Archbishop of Canterbury in 960AD. The school was a 'new-build' in 1958 with major building work, at a cost of £1.2 million, in 1998, adding the science block and the sports hall. It was designated as a specialist Arts College in 2004 and the £800,000 spent at this time paid for the Performing Arts studio and facilities to support pupils with special educational needs. In 2011, the school became an academy. On 1 June 2016, St Dunstans joined the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership. under head, Mr K Howard. Since St Dunstans joined the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership it has undergone significant refurbishment as part of an ongoing programme to ensure the school has an inspiring environment, with modern facilities to support high quality learning. Teaching is enhanced through collaborative working to share best practise, allowing students to access new activities and events across the MAT partnership. In July 2018 for the first time in the history of St Dunstans school, Ofsted inspectors graded the school 'good' in all categories. Inspectors said ‘The headteacher, trust and senior leaders have transformed St Dunstan’s; it provides a good quality of education and students are safe.’ They are ‘highly ambitious for the school, each pupil and the community.’ This report comes two years after the school was put into Special Measures.

Glastonbury Market Cross is a market cross in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. Erected in 1846, it was designed by the English architect Benjamin Ferrey and has been a Grade II listed structure since 1950.