Glastonbury (redirected from Glastonbury, England)

Glastonbury, town, England

Glastonbury (glăs`tənbərē), town (1991 pop. 6,751), Somerset, SW England. It has a leather industry, but Glastonbury is famous for its religious associations and many legends. One legend tells that St. Joseph of Arimathea founded the first Christian church in England there. On Wearyall Hill he rested his staff, which rooted and became the Glastonbury thorn, blooming annually on Christmas Eve. Another story identifies Glastonbury as the Isle of Avalon of Arthurian legend. Glastonbury Abbey was a center of learning and an object of pilgrimages in the Middle Ages. Extensive remains of an Iron Age lake village have been found nearby.

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Glastonbury, town, United States

Glastonbury, town (1990 pop. 27,901), Hartford co., central Conn., a suburb of Hartford on the Connecticut River; inc. 1690. Located near a farming region, the town has industries that include dairying, fruit processing, poultry research and breeding, and light manufacturing. Several 17th-century houses still stand in Glastonbury, which was the birthplace of American politician Gideon Welles.

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Glastonbury

a town in SW England, in Somerset: remains of prehistoric lake villages; the reputed burial place of King Arthur; site of a ruined Benedictine abbey, probably the oldest in England. Pop.: 8429 (2001)

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Glastonbury 

a fortified settlement of Briton farmers and craftsmen in southwestern England (Somerset). Glaston-bury belonged to the La Tène culture and has been dated between the last few centuries B.C. and part of the first century A.D. Excavations were carried out during 1892-1907. The remains of 70 round (5-10 m in diameter) huts built on piles in a marsh area were discovered. The finds indicate the development of local copper and iron metallurgy. Iron bars were used for money. Bone artifacts, ornaments, and wooden objects (including richly decorated vessels) were also found. Earthenware was modeled and made on a wheel, with decorations in the form of spirals and meanders.

REFERENCE

Bulleid, A., and H. St. G. Gray. The Glastonbury Lake Village: A Full Description of the Excavations and the Relics Discovered, 1892-1907, vols. 1-2. London, 1911-17.

A. L. MONGAIT