Wearyall Hill

When visiting Glastonbury, if you seek to have an overview of the island, its surrounding Moors, and all of Glastonbury's holy hills, then visit Wearyall Hill. This is where guided tours around Glastonbury tend to start.

This isn't the highest hill in Glastonbury, yet it affords fine views of Avalon and its surrounds.

Joseph of Arimathæa

Legend has it that Joseph landed here, rested on his staff, and it sprouted branches and leaves. This old shamanistic tradition indicates that 'this is the place'. The chances are that Glastonbury was well known at the time, and that he had either been invited here or knew it could be a refuge, amongst people who would understand the early Christians' plight. Tradition has it that he was a rich metals trader who traded with Britain for tin from Cornwall and lead from the Mendip Hills just north of Glastonbury.

Panorama over Avalon

From Wearyall Hill you can see over the town and the Abbey. You can see the other holy hills of Glastonbury too: from the right, the Tor, Chalice Hill and St Edmund's Hill (nowadays called Windmill Hill). You can see the extent of the Isle of Avalon and its surrounding, once-marshy Levels, which made it an island in ancient times.

Sailing to Glastonbury

People could approach Glastonbury from the sea by boat up to late medieval times. The old River Brue (it has now been re-routed along a more direct route to the sea) flowed close in to Wearyall Hill on its south side, then swung round its western end to meander past Bride's Mound, then the Glastonbury Lake Village, Godney, Panborough Hill, Martinsey, Nyland, Brent Knoll and finally Brean Down – a two-day journey by boat to the sea. (More about these places in the Sacred Sites section on this site).

The Somerset Levels

Since about 900 CE sea levels have been sinking, and between the 1600s and the mid-1900s the Levels were incrementally drained to favour farming and peat-digging. In three directions around Wearyall Hill, you can see the flat 'Moors', which once were water and marshes. With likely 21st Century sea-level rises, the Moors might again become flooded. In winter, after prolonged rain downpours, the Levels flood again for a while.

To the west you can see the marshy woodlands of the Levels. If you get hold of a bicycle, you can ride down an excellent bike-track west of Glastonbury into the Levels and what are now an impressive series of wetland nature reserves, with thousands of birds in residence. Click here to see the bike ride on the Levels.

Next stop on this Pilgrim's Trail is Glastonbury Abbey...