;THE DESTRUCTION OF GLASTONBURY; 15th NOVEMBER
‘IN ACT THY BED-VOW BROKE” THE DESTRUCTION OF GLASTONBURY 15th NOVEMBER I have taken today’s commemoration from the Reformation executions at Glastonbury Tor, as related by Claire Asquith in her book, “Shadowplay, the hidden beliefs and coded politics of William Shakespeare”*: “On 15 November 1539, a procession would its way up Glastonbury Tor, a steep, conical hill overlooking the peatlands of Somerset in the south-west of England. The journey over the windy ridges was arduous, for the crowds struggled to drag with them three men tied to sledge-like wooden frames. On the top of the hill stood a newly constructed gallows; nearby was a fire, knives and a cauldron. Though some of the spectators would have been jeering, many would have been aghast, not only at the barbarity, but at the sacrilege of what they were witnessing. Glastonbury was the most ancient and sacred Christian site in Britain. Long ago, when it was still surrounded by sea, it was called Yniswitren, the Island of G...