Legends of Glastonbury Tor

Print description

Morning mist wraps this landscape in enchanted light. On top of Glastonbury Tor stand the mystic remains of St Michael’s Tower defying time and watching over the Somerset countryside.

Glastonbury Tor is a hill near Salisbury in the English county of Somerset, at the top is located the roofless St Michael’s Tower. The Tor is mentioned in Celtic mythology, particularly in myths linked to King Arthur, and has several other enduring mythological and spiritual associations.

Print details

I create each print out of my own hand drawn ink drawings that I colour digitally. I print my design using fine art paper and archival inks, and release each print as part of a limited edition of 100 for the standard sizes 0,A1, A2, A3 or A4. Each print has my signature and edition number.

Glastonbury Tor

The conical hill of clay and Blue Lias rises from the Somerset Levels. It was formed when surrounding softer deposits were eroded, leaving the hard cap of sandstone exposed. The slopes of the hill are terraced, but it is unknown the method by which they were formed.

Archaeological excavations during the 20th century unearthed artefacts from human visitation, dating from the Iron Age to Roman eras. Several buildings were constructed on the summit during the Saxon and early medieval periods; possibly as an early church and monks’ hermitage. The head of a wheel cross dating from the 10th or 11th century has been recovered. An earthquake in 1275 destroyed the original wooden church, and the stone Church of St Michael was built on the site in the 14th century. Its tower remains, although it has been restored and partially rebuilt several times.

Legends of the Tor

Legends of the Tor tells that beneath the hill, there is a hidden cave through which you can pass into the fairy realm of Annwn. There dwells the lord of the Celtic underworld Gwyn ab Nudd with the Cauldron of Rebirth. There is a later tradition that says that here lies the Holy Grail brought here by Jesus’s uncle, Joseph of Arimathea. The Cauldron and the Grail were both the object of quests for King Arthur and his knights.