Happy Winter Solstice! 

I’m participating in a special blog hop, Casting Light Upon the Darkness, organized by author Helen Hollick. The theme is throwing light upon something – a mystery or something little known. Thirty authors are participating, so check out the whole lineup. 

Without further ado, here’s my mystery for you:

Many people are familiar with the mystery of King Arthur’s grave at Glastonbury Abbey. (Was it really him or was it all a hoax?) But when I was there in June, I learned that’s not the only one. In fact, there’s one lurking right under your feet as you traverse the grounds.

The abbey has a series of tunnels leading from various points inside to places in the village or surrounding area. No one knows for sure what they were used for. The respectable answer is that they were a way for the monks to travel from place to place in inclement weather or a passageway for noble guests who didn’t want to deal with the crowds at the abbey gates. But knowing human nature, there’s a good possibility they had nefarious purposes as well.

A few of the tunnels have been verified as real and some people even still get to see them today. (Sadly, I did not.) Others are merely rumor kept alive by tradition. Here’s a list of where they are and what I and others believe they may have been used for:

1. From the south side of the Lady Chapel to the Great Hall within the Abbey (verified) – Makes sense that this was probably a passage for the monks.
2. Leading from the Abbey to the River Brue (some say verified, some say rumored) – Could have been used to ferry supplies, but also could have been part of a black market. This one is also thought to have been a place where monks could have met their lovers or others they wished kept out of the public eye.
3. Leading from the Abbey to the George and Pilgrim Inn (verified) – This tunnel can still be seen the cellar of the inn. The two buildings are just across the road from one another, so it’s possible that it was used by the monks who worked in the inn to for easy access back and forth to facilitate work and prayer schedules or for easy access by pilgrims. It’s also possible that there were some clandestine dealings involved.
4. Leading from the Abbot’s chambers to a room in the George and Pilgrim Inn (rumored) – This passage way, according to one source, led to a room that was always on reserve for the abbot, who used it for “the purging of his loins.” I’ll let you decide what that means.
5. Leading from the Abbey to Glastonbury Tor (rumored) – This one is hotly debated. As there was a cathedral on top of the Tor during the abbey’s heyday, it’s not out of the realm of reason that the abbot could need an easy way to pass between the two. However, there is a good amount of distance separating the locations, so the reality of being able to travel that far underground is questionable at best.

Even if we never know their true purpose, they add to the mystery of an already enchanting location. There are even ghost stories associated with some of them, but that’s a topic for another day.

Sources:
Personal conversations with Jamie George and Geoffrey Ashe at Glastonbury Abbey, June 2013
King Arthur’s Avalon by Geoffrey Ash
Glastonbury: Maker of Myths by Frances Howard-Gordon
British History Online: A History of the County Seat of Somerset, Vol 9: Glastonbury and Street
The Tunnels of Glastonbury

Have you heard of these mysterious tunnels? Have you seen them yourself? What do you think of them: fact or fiction? What do you think they may have been used for?

Please visit the pages of my fellow blog hop participants. You never know what surprises (or free prizes!) you might find. And, if you want to share on Twitter, please use #21DecBlogHop.

1. Helen Hollick : A little light relief concerning those dark reviews! Plus a Giveaway Prize
2. Prue Batten : Casting Light….
3. Alison Morton ‎ Shedding light on the Roman dusk! Plus a Giveaway Prize
4. Anna Belfrage  Let there be light!
5. Beth Elliott : Steering by the Stars. Stratford Canning in Constantinople, 1810/12
6. Melanie Spiller : Lux Aeterna, the chant of eternal light
7. Janet Reedman   The Winter Solstice Monuments
8. Petrea Burchard  : Darkness – how did people of the past cope with the dark? Plus a Giveaway Prize
9. Richard Denning : The Darkest Years of the Dark Ages: what do we really know? Plus a Giveaway Prize! 
10. Pauline Barclay  : Shedding Light on a Traditional Pie
11. David Ebsworth : Propaganda in the Spanish Civil War
12. David Pilling  :  Greek Fire! Plus a Giveaway Prize
13. Debbie Young : Fear of the Dark
14. Derek Birks  : Lies, Damned Lies and … Chronicles
15. Mark Patton : Casting Light on Saturnalia
16. Tim Hodkinson : Soltice@Newgrange
17. Wendy Percival  : Ancestors in the Spotlight
18. Judy Ridgley : Santa and his elves  Plus a Giveaway Prize
19. Suzanne McLeod  :  The Dark of the Moon
20. Katherine Bone   : Admiral Nelson, A Light in Dark Times
21. Christina Courtenay : The Darkest Night of the Year
22. Edward James  : The secret life of Christopher Columbus; Which Way to Paradise?
23. Janis Pegrum Smith  : Into The Light – A Short Story
24. Julian Stockwin  : Ghost Ships – Plus a Giveaway Present
25. Manda Scott : Dark into Light – Mithras, and the older gods
26. Pat Bracewell Anglo-Saxon Art: Splendor in the Dark
27. Lucienne Boyce : We will have a fire – 18th Century protests against enclosure
28. Nicole Evelina What Lurks Beneath Glastonbury Abbey? 
29. Sky Purington  :  How the Celts Cast Light on Current American Christmas Traditions
30. Stuart MacAllister (Sir Read A Lot) : The Darkness of Depression