St Magarets Chapel Chapel

As it is Easter I thought I would write on a place I visited but never posted about on The Church Explorer, probably because I forgot about the place but with Easter upon us I suddenly remembered this place. It's real name of the place is the Hospital of St Mary Magdalene Glastonbury and was built around 1310 you can read more about the place in the link. Now I have to admit Glastonbury is an odd place with a mix of very different people, some are of local Somerset origin others moved there for the peace of the place and the odd ones out who are  what I term as new age travellers who just seem to hang around. The shops there vary with many selling healing stones some occult items. I find it a very weird mix to be honest. But head along the road from the Abbey and you will come across the Almshouse.

You would easily walk past the entrance to the place which is along this passage

You then come out in this little garden with the almshouses lining one side

You can go in on of the dwellings as it has been restored, you will see a raised bed where the occupant would sleep

A fireplace where they would get heat and cook their meals. Not sure about the chairs you see I'd have thought they would be lucky to sit on anything when the place opened. One window for light though I see that has been blocked up.

 

If you look back along the garden you can see the St Margaret's Chapel in front of you

Go inside and this is what you will see, I stitched some photos together to get this panoramic, the photo was taken back in 2013 before I had an iPhone

The chapel is a single cell building with an altar at the East end and altar rail.

A simple cross and vases of flowers either side decorate the altar. The candle in the bowl is on the altar rail

This unadorned altar is simple and to the point. It was one of the very few places of worship that I have felt at peace and where I wanted to spend a little longer. What ever you believe I think you could find a moment peace in here.

If you find yourself in Glastonbury you will no doubt go to the Abbey and  I would say it is worth going to, you will find St Patrick's church there which is another very simple church to visit, the Abbey I find is a place I love to go and find it peaceful but the Almshouse chapel is worth it. Even the Main church in town though nice enough does not hold a candle to it.

Till Next time Have a good Easter and Say Safe

St Patrick Glastonbury Abbey

It never ceases to amaze me how we can always find something new and even in a place you have visited before. This was not the church /chapel I was going to feature this week but after Going to Glastonbury Abbey with my wife to reaffirm our vows I spotted this building I missed last time I was here. Well I had seen it but never realised what it was as at the time we were off on a tour with a guide and it was not on the agenda. After seeing an open door I went inside to investigate and was taken back with what I saw.

This is the outside of the chapel you walk past, not easy to miss you have to admit

Looking up at the bell on the west end and a couple of old plaques, one of the doors leading into the chapel

The east end of the chapel with the Glastonbury  Thorn

The east end with coat of arms by the window

 Inside is very simple with the walls covered with paintings

The stained glass window is quite beautiful

With a smaller one on the south wall that looks very old













One of the murals round the walls

This one one is on the west end wall

I wonder if this mural depicts Our Lady of Glastonbury, you can read about it on the board I photographed in the museum below

One of things in the chapel was book which was open and had four names in, they were people who had passed away and their ashes were scattered round the chapel grounds, one was scattered near this statue of Sigeric. I came our feeling very privileged to have been in such a beautiful little chapel

Glastonbury Abbey

Glastonbury Abbey first came into being around the 7th century then enlarged in the 10th it was destroyed in 1134 by fire and rebuilt again. By the 14th century it was one of the richest abbeys in the country. Face it the place had to be on the top of you list to make a pilgrimage to with King Arther's tomb there. Strange how the Monks just happened to dig in the right place to find it, even stranger how the plaque they found disappeared as well.  The Abbey closed in 1539 after the last abbot was hung, drawn & quartered on Glastonbury tor along with two monks who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. No doubt their mates decided that being a monk was not their vocation in life and made big strides away from the place.Today the Abbey is a ruin after centuries of neglect and the material being used to build other parts of the town.
I'll start off by showing you the abbey as it was before it was destroyed in its heyday

Ok I know it's a model of what it looked like but they never had cameras then

This can be seen in the Abbey Museum along with other finds round the site.

This is what the abbey looks like now. The building was 220 meters from one end to the other.

Here we look towards the Chancel Arch, if you look at the smaller one on the right you can see a person which gives an idea as to the height of the arch. Bare in mind it was a third again higher than this

 Looking across the cloisters to the chancel the guy in the right hand arch gives an idea as to hight








                                                                                                                               






One side of the chacel arch with a chaple over to the right

This monk (I don't think he really is) took us on a tour of the place and it was well worth it, takes half an hour  is very informative & amusing.

Our monk was telling us about the lady chapel

which was the crypt beneath the Abbey

 The entrance to the walkway across the chapel is through this door

Which if you look up we were told you can see the scenes from the nativity

This is the birth of Christ. Check you can see an angel, the marriage and birth. Mary is giving birth on a bed by the way not a manger 

Right now I'm at the far end of the Abbey just outside the chancel walls looking up at the widows. In reality I'm looking down the Abbey towards the Lady Chapel at the end of the nave. Long way you have to admit.

This is  King Aurthur's Tomb  where the monks buried him in front of the high altar which you can see in the distance. The fenced off section

On the right is the plaque over King Aurthur's Tomb

over on the left is a stone coffin where one of the abbots used to be 

The monks found King Aurthur's grave in this old Saxon graveyard nearby. No doubt finding a body that fitted the description of him and surprise surprise found his wife Guinevere beside him, she turned to dust as soon as the coffin was opened. Whats more they found a plaque with an inscription on saying it was King Aurthur. Wonder which monk carved that out.

Don't feel too sorry for the monks they has their own bedrooms 

and flushing toilets, wonder if the people sat there knew they had their feet in a loo

Not far away is this pond though if it was used for keeping fish in it was just for the Abbot

Who had his own personal Kitchen

Nice little setup don't you think

 Here is a stitched view of the kitchen which had four fireplaces in

The abbot had his own place next door with it's own great hall you can see the outline here.

He also got a nice view of Glastonbury Tor where the last abbot met his grisly end

The Glastonbury Thorn or one grown from the original on Wirrel Hill supposedly a staff planted by Joseph of Arimathea
which sprouted into a bush. He could well have visited as he was a lead merchant and they mined the stuff not far away. The original was badly damaged by some cider thugs a few years ago.

Sigeric who was a 10 century monk from the Abbey, it was monks like him who built the Abbey he became Archbishop of Canterbury













Here we look across the chaperhouse where all the serious work was done to find ways to make more money for the Abbey

If you get the chance to Visit Glastonbury then pay a visit to the Abbey, it is well worth your time and if it is a sunny day take a picnic and enjoy the peaceful surroundings.
Have a great Sunday.