Page "Glastonbury" Paragraph 66

Glastonbury may have been a site of religious importance in pre-Christian times.

The abbey was founded by Britons, and dates to at least the early 7th century, although later medieval Christian legend claimed that the abbey was founded by Joseph of Arimathea in the 1st century.

This fanciful legend is intimately tied to Robert de Boron's version of the Holy Grail story and to Glastonbury's connection to King Arthur, which dates at least to the early 12th century.

Glastonbury fell into Saxon hands after the Battle of Peonnum in 658.

King Ine of Wessex enriched the endowment of the community of monks already established at Glastonbury.

He is said to have directed that a stone church be built in 712.

The Abbey Church was enlarged in the 10th century by the Abbot of Glastonbury, Saint Dunstan, the central figure in the 10th-century revival of English monastic life.

He instituted the Benedictine Rule at Glastonbury and built new cloisters.

Dunstan became Archbishop of Canterbury in 960.

In 1184, a great fire at Glastonbury destroyed the monastic buildings.

Reconstruction began almost immediately and the Lady Chapel, which includes the well, was consecrated in 1186.