St. Joseph’s Chapel, Glastonbury
The entrance to the ruins is through a gateway opposite the George Hotel. The abbey cannot be seen from the street, but this obscure entry conducts the visitor to the porter’s lodge (entrance 6d.). The most perfectly preserved portion of the buildings is the chapel of St Mary, commonly known as St Joseph’s Chapel. It stands on the site of St Joseph’s legendary shrine, and formed a kind of Galilee to the W. entrance of the church. It is rectangular in plan, with a square turret crowned by a pyramidal cap rising from each corner, only two of which now remain. It is one of the most beautiful specimens of Trans. work in England. The decoration is rich and abundant—“no possible ornament has been omitted.” Note (1) fine N. doorway (which should be compared with the S. porch of Malmesbury), (2) arcading round interior face of wall, (3) triplet at W. end, (4) remains of vaulting, (5) shallow external buttresses. Beneath the now demolished flooring is a small crypt of 15th-cent. work. It was probably excavated to provide extra burial accommodation. Observe on S. side a well within a round-headed recess. The chapel originally stood apart from the great church, but was eventually joined up to the larger building by a continuation of the chapel walls. The extension is at once detected by the late character of the work. Note change of arcading from Norm. to E.E., and the E.E. entrance to the church. Of the latter very little now remains. There still stand the piers of the chancel arch, portions of the walls of the choir and nave aisles, and a little chapel which opened out of the N. transept. But these remains, slight though they are, are sufficient to indicate the general design of the church and its huge dimensions. Though there is an evident attempt to keep up the character of the ornamentation displayed in St Mary’s chapel, the workmanship is much later; and a still later development is noticeable in the two easternmost bays of the choir, thrown out by Abbot Monington (1371-74). Note (1) lancets of nave, pointed externally, rounded internally, (2) pointed lancets of choir, (3) square abaci to pilasters of lancets (cp. Wells), (4) traces of Dec. work in vaulting ribs of nave, (5) absence of bench-table in Monington’s additions, (6) fragment of Perp. panelling on E. side of chancel arch. The general plan of the church followed the arrangements of the great Benedictine abbeys, which were all designed with a view to a stately ritual and imposing processions. There was a lofty nave of ten bays, with corresponding aisles, a choir of three bays, also with processional aisles (Monington’s extension was evidently intended to form a further path behind the high altar), and N. and S. transepts, each with a pair of E. chapels. A large central tower surmounted the whole, which, like that of Wells, is said to have been braced internally with inverted arches. The cloisters abutted on to the S. aisle of the church (note the higher sills of the windows), and beyond these again were the cloister garth, the refectory, dormitory, and domestic offices. The only remains of this part of the monastery is the Abbot’s Kitchen, with a contiguous fragment of the almonry, and a portion of the great gateway of the monastery, now incorporated in the “Red Lion” inn. The flowering thorn tree—a descendant of Joseph’s budding staff—should be noticed near the porter’s lodge. The Abbot’s Kitchen may be inspected at an extra charge of 6d. (entrance in Magdalene Street, just below Museum). It is a handsome stone building, now standing by itself in the middle of a field, and not at all suggestive of culinary appointments. Externally it is square at the base, but is crowned with an octagonal superstructure carrying a pyramidal roof and lantern. Within, huge fireplaces, once surmounted externally by chimneys, are set across the four corners, making the interior altogether an octagon. On one face is the effigy of a mitred abbot. The vaulted roof is supported by stone ribs, and egress for the steam is cunningly contrived in the windows. Its date is 1435-40. Another surviving remnant of monastic property will be found in Bere Lane at the top of Chilk-wall Street. This is a very fine cruciform barn similar to those at Doulting and Pilton, but rather richer in detail. The windows are traceried, and have above them figures of the four Evangelists, and ecclesiastical effigies stand as finials on two of the gables.
The other objects of interest in Glastonbury are (1) the George Inn in High Street opposite the abbey entrance—a fine 15th-cent. structure (said to have been built by Abbot Selwood) which once served as the pilgrims’ hostelry; (2) the Tribunal—a few doors higher up—probably the court-house where the abbey officials interviewed their clients (observe escutcheon above doorway); (3) the almhouses and chapel in Magdalene Street (entrance through Red Lion gateway, once part of the main entrance of the monastery), founded by Abbot Bere in 1512 (note founder’s rebus above gateway of court); (4) Market Cross, a modern structure of good design standing on the site of an ancient hexagonal cross; (5) museum in Magdalene Street, containing several “finds” from the neighbouring lake village (see Godney); (6) the churches of St John and St Benignus. The latter, in St Benedict Street, has a well-designed tower, but is not otherwise noteworthy (observe stoups in porch and Abbot Bere’s rebus on parapet above porch). A flood which in 1606 inundated the neighbourhood is said to have reached to the foot of the tower. St John’s Church in High Street, built by Abbot Selwood in 1465, has, on the contrary, some pretensions to magnificence. The tower especially is worthy of observation, as it is considered by some to be amongst the finest in the county. This, however, is an extravagant opinion. The arrangement of the windows superficially resembles that at Chewton Mendip, those of the belfry being reproduced in the stage below; but the lower pair are not an exact repetition of the pair above. It will be noted that the string courses are carried round the buttresses. The elaborate cresting is rich but meretricious. The interior, Perp. throughout, is lofty and spacious, but the general effect is spoilt by the timber supports which are found necessary to shore up the chancel arch. Note externally (1) bell-cot above chancel (cp. Wrington), (2) groined S. porch with parvise above: internally (1) plain altar-tombs on either side of sanctuary, (2) groined vault to tower, (3) at S.W. end the tomb, with effigy, of one Camel, an abbey official (observe camels on panels below), (4) finely carved stone pulpit, (5) wooden roof of nave, (6) good E. window.