The plaque fitted to the wall inside the ruin of St Michael's Church atop Glastonbury Tor

Some Neolithic flint tools recovered from the top of the Tor show that the site has been visited, perhaps with a lasting occupation, since prehistory. The nearby remains of Glastonbury Lake Village were identified at the site in 1892, which confirmed that there was an Iron Age settlement in about 300–200 BC on what was an easily defended island in the fens.[1][2] There is no evidence of permanent occupation of the Tor, but finds, including Roman pottery, do suggest that it was visited on a regular basis.[3]

Excavations on Glastonbury Tor, undertaken by a team led by Philip Rahtz between 1964 and 1966,[4] revealed evidence of Dark Age occupation during the 5th to 7th centuries[5][6] around the later medieval church of St. Michael. Finds included postholes, two hearths including a metalworker's forge, two burials oriented north–south (thus unlikely to be Christian), fragments of 6th-century Mediterranean amphorae (vases for wine or cooking oil),[7] and a worn hollow bronze head which may have topped a Saxon staff.[8][9][10]

During the late Saxon and early medieval period, there were at least four buildings on the summit. The base of a stone cross demonstrates Christian use of the site during this period, and it may have been a hermitage.[11] The broken head of a wheel cross dated to the 10th or 11th century was found partway down the hill and may have been the head of the cross that stood on the summit.[12][13][14] The head of the cross is now in the Museum of Somerset in Taunton.[15]

The earliest timber church, dedicated to St Michael,[16] is believed to have been constructed in the 11th or 12th century; from which post holes have since been identified.[17][18] Associated monk cells have also been identified.[18]

In 1243 Henry III granted a charter for a six-day fair at the site.[19]

St Michael's Church was destroyed by an earthquake on 11 September 1275.[20] According to the British Geological Survey, the earthquake was felt in London, Canterbury and Wales,[21] and was reported to have destroyed many houses and churches in England. The intensity of shaking was greater than 7 MSK, with its epicentre in the area around Portsmouth or Chichester, South England.[20]

 

Ruins of the second St Michael's Church

A second church, also dedicated to St Michael, was built of local sandstone in the 14th century by the Abbot Adam of Sodbury, incorporating the foundations of the previous building. It included stained glass and decorated floor tiles. There was also a portable altar of Purbeck Marble;[22] it is likely that the Monastery of St Michael on the Tor was a daughter house of Glastonbury Abbey.[19]

St Michael's Church survived until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 when, except for the tower, it was demolished.[5] The Tor was the place of execution where Richard Whiting, the last Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, was hanged, drawn and quartered along with two of his monks, John Thorne and Roger James.[23] The three-storey tower of St Michael's Church survives. It has corner buttresses and perpendicular bell openings. There is a sculptured tablet with an image of an eagle below the parapet.[24]

 

Interior of St Michael's Tower

In 1786, Richard Colt Hoare of Stourhead bought the Tor and funded the repair of the tower in 1804, including the rebuilding of the north-east corner.[5][25] It was then passed on through several generations to the Reverend George Neville and included in the Butleigh Manor until the 20th century. It was then bought as a memorial to a former Dean of Wells, Thomas Jex-Blake, who died in 1915.[26]

The National Trust took control of the Tor in 1933, but repairs were delayed until after the Second World War.[25] During the 1960s, excavations identified cracks in the rock, suggesting the ground had moved in the past. This, combined with wind erosion, started to expose the footings of the tower, which were repaired with concrete. Erosion caused by the feet of the increasing number of visitors was also a problem and paths were laid to enable them to reach the summit without damaging the terraces. After 2000, enhancements to the access and repairs to the tower, including rebuilding of the parapet, were carried out. These included the replacement of some of the masonry damaged by earlier repairs with new stone from the Hadspen Quarry.[25]

A model vaguely based on Glastonbury Tor (albeit with a tree instead of the tower) was incorporated into the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. As the athletes entered the stadium, their flags were displayed on the terraces of the model.[27][28]