Glastonbury

Glastonbury
A view of Glastonbury from the Tor
Glastonbury Location within Somerset
Population	8,932 [1]
OS grid reference	ST501390
Civil parish	Glastonbury [2]
Unitary authority	Somerset Council
Ceremonial county	Somerset
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Glastonbury
Postcode district	BA6
Dialling code	01458
Police	Avon and Somerset
Fire	Devon and Somerset
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Wells
List of places UK England Somerset 51°08′55″N 2°42′50″W / 51.1485°N 2.7140°W / 51.1485; -2.7140

Glastonbury (/ˈɡlæstənbəri/ GLAST-ən-bər-ee, UK also /ˈɡlɑːs-/ GLAHST-)^[3][4] is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, 23 miles (37 km) south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census.^[1] Glastonbury is less than 1 mile (2 km) across the River Brue from Street, which is now larger than Glastonbury.

Evidence from timber trackways such as the Sweet Track show that the town has been inhabited since Neolithic times. Glastonbury Lake Village was an Iron Age village, close to the old course of the River Brue and Sharpham Park approximately 2 miles (3 km) west of Glastonbury, that dates back to the Bronze Age. Centwine was the first Saxon patron of Glastonbury Abbey, which dominated the town for the next 700 years. One of the most important abbeys in England, it was the site of Edmund Ironside's coronation as King of England in 1016. Many of the oldest surviving buildings in the town, including the Tribunal, George Hotel and Pilgrims' Inn and the Somerset Rural Life Museum, which is based at the site of a 14th-century abbey manor barn,^[5] often referred to as a tithe barn, are associated with the abbey. The Church of St John the Baptist dates from the 15th century.

The town became a centre for commerce, which led to the construction of the market cross, Glastonbury Canal and the Glastonbury and Street railway station, the largest station on the original Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. The Brue Valley Living Landscape is a conservation project managed by the Somerset Wildlife Trust and nearby is the Ham Wall National Nature Reserve.

Glastonbury has been described as having a New Age community,^[6] and possibly being where New Age beliefs originated at the turn of the twentieth century.^[7] It is notable for myths and legends often related to Glastonbury Tor, concerning Joseph of Arimathea, the Holy Grail and King Arthur. Joseph is said to have arrived in Glastonbury and stuck his staff into the ground, when it flowered miraculously into the Glastonbury Thorn. The presence of a landscape zodiac around the town has been suggested but no evidence has been discovered. The Glastonbury Festival, held in the nearby village of Pilton, takes its name from the town.