Joseph supposedly leaned on his walking stick, which took root on Wirrall Hill and grew into a thorn tree, which bloomed every Christmas until Puritans chopped it down in the17th century. Lyrics to the hymn O Jerusalem, by William Blake, echo the story: “And did those feet in ancient time walk upon England’s pastures green…” It is also said that Joseph returned to Glastonbury with the Apostle Philip in 37 c.e.

A local policeman saw “eight egg-shaped objects … hovering in formation over the hill” and another observer reported “several green and mauve lights hovering around the tower.” Martin Gray says he slept in the tower one night, during which he saw “the interior of the tower radiantly aglow with a luminous white light.”Ī Christian legend says that, when he was a child, Jesus visited Glastonbury with his uncle, Joseph of Arimathea.

There have been several reports of mysterious lights seen above the Tor. Michael’s Tower all that remains of a church built in the 14th century and restored in 1804. Certainly it was sculpted by human hands - a labyrinth pattern was cut into the hillside during the Neolithic era. Some say it was man made, an engineering accomplishment to rival the great pyramid of Egypt. Glastonbury is also associated with Jesus, King Arthur and UFOs.ĭominating the skyline is Glastonbury Tor, a 170 meter (550 ft.) hill. Ancient Celtic religious leaders performed rituals here, and legends tell of tunnels leading into the realm of the elves and fairies. The place has been sacred long before the dawn of recorded history. Glastonbury, in Southwest England’s county of Somerset, was once known as the Isle of Avalon.

Tunnels under glastonbury tor