Thank you for your great video. I have always lovedmythology and folklore and woeked with it for much of my adult life. I knew the Tor well, of course, but never considered the ridges on its slopes to be anything other than excellent examples of terraced farming. What a story they have to tell in themselves. Far more interesting than so-called ritual paths.
Great comment. TH-cam at its best. I like Paul's comment at the end of the video. He's more interested in the history than the myths. I'm a traveler. I'm guessing that every traveler gets to their third or fourth new culture, country, continent and hearing about yet another giant, the maiden, the this or that... we feel our eyes begin to roll and.... Time Team show me a muddy pottery shard and say, "It's 10th or 11th century, but I have no idea what it is." All that myths and legends stuff? Usually it's just the monks still conning the pilgirms.
Bizarre. At the exact time you posted this video we were on the recreated Sweet Track. It’s across the field after the gate. You just needed to keep going. We then went up the Tor. You basically made a video of our day out!
@@pwhitewickyep. Across a small field. Through another gate onto a track. Signpost points to the reconstructed sweet track to the right and it’s on the left.
Throughout the long drought during the summer of '76 the Glastonbury landscape was spectacular: the Tor and the surrounding hills were scorched brown whereas the levels shone bright emerald because of the moisture in the peat.
Wow….i’m born n bred on the Somerset Levels…. 76 was the year I got married…October 2024… 48 years of being married… my dear missus never signed up to all those years of hardship married to such a grumpy old git as I. But credit to her, she stayed and still stays. We both look back to our childhoods and growing up on the Levels… Oddly enough neither of us can ever remember the moors looking green during the 76 drought. We can remember the bulrushes looking stressed and suffering. We remember reeds …dry and frizzled. Having no goodness in them. The moor grass ….growing but frizzled and frazzled. A field used to giving hay grass to make 80 bales of hay, barely able to make 45 bales. We look back…. We remember 76… it has special memories for us. But looking back, we also remember just how badly our beloved moors suffered because of the drought. In my opinion….to think our Somerset Levels did not suffer because of the 76 drought……is just unbelievable and utter nonsense.
I live in Andalucia in the mountains. Many hills around me are terraced just like that. By the moors but also by earlier people. When I first saw the airiel footage of the tor I thought "Those look like Moorish terraces for winter wheat.
Fascinating theory I didn't know they changed hills to accommodate for wheat! They also look similar to sort of iron age fortresses with the mounded earth although usually there is only two rings, maybe three on a tall one
@@WolfWest-e8u, any crop that needs wet soil around its roots generally requires relatively flat ground to grow on; otherwise water in the soil drains away downhill. Terrace farming turns a hill into pieces of flat ground.
We have those terraces in the Palouse country of northern Washington state. My grandfather, who had a cattle ranch in the area, told me that the terraces were created by "snipes," which was a bird that had one leg much longer than the other, and they walked around the hills in circles. ;)
Yes, _Burrow_ Mump at Burrowbridge. It is an example of the same geology as the Tor. You can see one from the other on a clear day. It also has remains of a St. Michael's church on top, because St. Michael has the power to expel the evil spirits of earlier pagan worship (obviously both sites had pagan religious significance before the Christian era). Burrowbridge is at the junction of Tone and Parrett rivers. Historically, it was a bridge that allowed passage from Taunton/Quantock HIlls to Street/Glastonbury/Polden Hills, which was important for Alfred's mobile defence against the Vikings, who often raided to Burrowbridge and Langport (highest tidal point). Just west of Burrowbridge is the site of Athelney ( _ney_ meaning island) which is a legendary base for Alfred, and later a large monastery, which was destroyed by Henry VIII during the Reformation. Now it is just a shallow hill of grassy soil covering the rubble of the old ruins underground. There was a Roman road from the Fosse Way along the Polden Hills to a port on the Parrett at Bawdrip-Dunball. The Romans linked this road to Glastonbury over a causeway at _Street._ In England, it is a sure sign of a Roman road, when the town name contains 'Street', 'Strete', '...-le-Street' etc.
@@pwhitewick Burrow Mump also has terraces, albeit it less of them, but then it's not as high. It also has an abandoned church on top. Lots of similarities with Glastonbury Tor.
I love that the Sweet track was named after the quarryman who realised that he had found something interesting so it was brought to the attention of archaeologists.
I suspect he was a peat digger, not a quarryman. The peat is still extracted to this day. It is used as a nutrient-rich compost for gardening and intensive agriculture. In the past, it may also have been used as a fuel.
Being a Somerset lad I've been there numerous times. I'd always assumed the rings were crop terraces but had never found anything to confirm or deny. As for the "little canals", there must be thousands of Rhynes on the Somerset (and North Somerset) Levels.
Anyone reading Andrews comment above, although it's spelt Rhyne (singular, plural with an s) it's pronounced reen, (us Somerset lads know this of course) 👍
It looks incredible when there is a low ground mist - both from the top as it feels like you are on an island looking across the waters - With other islands around you across the landscape; and also from further afield looking across to see the island of the far across the most sea 😊❤🙏
Unfortunately I'm not entirely sure this is an accurate representation of what happened in two regards. The first minor point is that the monks of Glastonbury Abbey didn't need to find King Arthur to bring in money. They already had a vast income from their extensive land holdings which they had been accumulating since Saxon times. Land that would also have provided them access to crops to some degree. The bigger issue though is that I believe some test pits have been dug on the contours of the Tor, and they didn't find that the earthworks dated to medieval / tudor times, from memory they were found to be earlier. There is also plenty of dry, hilly land around Glastonbury which is used for arable farming to this day. Even within the town the Tor is only one of four major hills (Chalice, Windmill and Wearyall being the others). If you look at the Tor from over by Butleigh especially, you realise it is just the final peak of what is a very large hilly island in the marsh. Indeed, why would the monks go to all of the effort to landscape the Tor to grow a relatively small amount of crops on treacherous slopes, but then at the same time abandon a large amount of drier, higher ground that they owned over at what is now the Festival site to use as a deer park? If land for growing crops was in such short supply that they needed to landscape the Tor, then the deer park makes zero sense. I do suspect a more ceremonial purpose for the Tor and its landscaping, especially given the church's specific dedication to St Michael suggests an earlier pre-christian religious use of the site.
There was a reason that is theorised in a documentary that i watched, it escentially suggested that it was to help silence the Welsh by adopting it and claiming Arthur to be English by finding him buried in England to help reinforce that idea. That was from an extensive documentary I watched on the scenario there was even a round table made from the time the story was changed to reinforce the idea that he was English Now as to why silencing the welsh was important, squashing that historical figure that was a source of strength passion that of which helped reignite rebellion. Also prevented the English from establishing dominance over Wales at the time, was the claim made in the documentary I dont know if the time frame matches if Wales was rebelling or what at the time but yeah.
@@WolfWest-e8u I'm English and studied history with other English people back in the day. I have never heard, in over 50 years of an interest in the topic, anyone claim Arthur was English. Which period are you referring to? King of the Britons, certainly. Will rise to defend Britain, absolutely. English, never.
@sureshot8399 Ha Ha. Nice one. In that case, so was Jesus, with more claim. If he came here again with his uncle from Arimithea trading for tin, he'd get a house and citizenship upon landing. You can't say that about the ancestors of the Welsh now bach, isn't it. There's lovely for you.
You were so close to the Sweet Track. After turning right into the marsh off the old railway line, as you did, basically follow the path in the same direction the whole way, over the Meare Track reconstruction, over the hump in the middle of the wood where the path crosses, out to the far end where you come to a gate at a field (comes just into view in the top right of the drone shot a 6:02), go across the field on the path following the left hand fence to the other gate, turn right after the second gate, and it's on your right. When you one day find it, you'll kick yourself!
@@CristiNeagu Sounds more like the directions that we always hand out to overseas tourists looking for directions to Ayre's Rock. Down that street past 3 sets of traffic lights, turn right and straight ahead. You can't miss it! If you get lost, ask the nearest kangaroo!
Ive never really looked at the Tor. I read somewhere about an ancient 'ritual ' path snaking up it and switched off. But seeing your video I recognised them as terraces. The Moors here in Spain had the same problem re arable land and terraced every bit of mountain and hillside possible. They are still visible where not hidden by forrest.
Fascinating content as always. Like you I have passed many and even stopped in Glastonbury a few times, but never climbed the Tor. Will have to add it to the list.
Thx Paul! Another fun excursion and informative ramble in the English countryside. What I really like about your work is the inclusion of when things don’t go to order. I’m so glad you didn’t edit out not finding the Sweet Trail. It makes us feel we are all along on a real adventure. If I came over from America and you were a guide and didn’t find it, it would have been great to just hit the pub and laugh and speculate over a pint!
The Sweet Trail reconstruction had to be removed. It didn't meet the mandatory requirements for disabled access. The local Druids were getting uppity about all the wheelchairs cluttering up their Bog Burial site! 🙄
At 23.45 on the 6/7/89 a mate climbed that tower using the lightning conductor strap. He shredded his hands on the way down. Every time I see the thing I see his blooded hands. It was a hell of a good night but one I remember for the craziest reason.
@@pwhitewick The Sun and the Serpent by Paul Broadhurst and Hamish Miller Well worth a read. I knew both of them. Hamish was a top dowser. A blacksmith who made his own iron rods. I dowse myself, and found water in one spot on a 4 acre field. A friend brought Hamish to the field, and challenged him to find water. He found precisely the same spot. That is about 144,000 to one. / I know the earth is full of energies, and that other beings exist. Because I experienced them. Of course, people who do not experience such things must ridicule that which appears to attack their belief system. "Normal" in this type of society. Mankind has a lot to learn! Or more accurately - unlearn! /
The rings around Glastonbury Tor are far too narrow to be strip lytchets. They are simply self organised tracks along which livestock moved. The idea is that an animal would find a short stretch of level ground to move along and graze. Over the years these would gradually extend because it is easiesy to gradually exend a level path. Each ring would provide access to a narrow strip of grass so parallel rings would be started up. It is the least energy expenditure way of grazing.
@rogerphelps9939 yes, I totally agree, it's just the similarity was worth the comment, although the strip lytchets are quite narrow, but this does depend on the severity of the slope. However, looking at the overall Glasonbury Tor plan, it looks more like a Labyrinth tha fields. It would seem that the 'path' seems to be moving towards the summit.
@@rogerphelps9939 Yes, you see that wherever sheep grazing is fenced on steep ground. The scale of these just indicates bigger beasts, grazing across a few hundred years.
@@mikebirkett010 Definitely not a labyrinth for any historian: The Classical and Roman Labyrinth types had designs characterised by algorithms of geometry, and the Medieval type by the same type of algorithm but with an undrawn cross incorporated to fit a cruciform schema. The Hopi type is classical but modified to fit the weave of a tray made from grass, which breaks the geometry without destroying the recognisability of the design (and it has comparable mythology with the other types). There is neither evidence of geometric measurement nor any of the specific design algorithms on Glastonbury Tor, nor any history of folklore consistent with such geoglyphs. BUT... There is a modern myth that the feature is a labyrinth, a belief of adherents to modern Earth Mysteries. From a Religious Studies viewpoint, that belief is an article of faith which has the same validity as any myth or legend from any other religion. And - as with the beliefs of the Pilgrims, Brothers and Monks of Glastonbury Abbey - it brings a living to some people, so the modern myth has an economic value which sustains its promotion... just as the story of King Arthur's grave still has currency. In 1967, Timothy Leary published "Start Your Own Religion". Many people have since followed his urging, and Glastonbury Tor is a focal point for a counter-cultural movement that emerged adjacent to Earth Mysteries.
Sauron returns! Really would enjoy seeing your companion as a smooth contrast to the excitement of your voice. Maybe to voice over your place markers or information excerpts.
Knocknarae Mountain in Sligo in Ireland was carved into terraces in the Neolithic, almost certainly for landscape reasons - its a very prominent feature in the landscape.
I must admit Paul, that I'd never seen the Tor in such close detail before. Just seen from a distance, but my first thought was "look like the terraces you see in India and Nepal" for cultivating crops. The later in video you mentioned the monks and their shrewd ways, to make a profit! just my penny's worth, for all that entails. Love your "quickie" videos. Any chance of something a bit longer?
We've really very little idea what life was like even a few hundred years ago. I remember being on a cliff top outside of Salcombe and reading a sign explaining the ripples on the hillside were neolithic farming terraces, quite similar to this. There was a time when even horse drawn ploughs were technological marvels. Imagine the economic pressure that made people terrace the tor like that? It must have been worth their while, but you can't help thinking the land between the levels and the tor would have had to have been pretty heavily exploited before expending all that effort.
Remember walking up there over a decade ago when staying with a friend living in Street (you could see the Tor from his flat). He went up the path like a gazelle - I was about 20 minutes behind 😂 Will go up again when they install a lift! 😁 Edit: Walking up there on a hot summer day didn't help, but the view was worth it 😊
I was thinking that the builders had used a series of concentric fence to hold the soil in place while constructing it. But terraces for farming is a tactic used around the world, and makes a lot of sense here.
My only problem with this theory is that if the draining of the marshes is in the historical record you think the terraces for farming would be too, unless the Monks obfuscated it to add to the legends.
Indeed, if you can drain miles and miles of marshes, it's unlikely you will focus on a small hillside for some extra. Where on the contrary you're stuck with wet marshes, the dry hill may be an interesting opportunity, the hill terraces may be just older
Monks living in uncertain times (ever present threat of weather causing crop failure and famine) would be boubd to use every inch of available land to farm. Surplus could be sold. This was part of the Benedictine rule of life that they lived under....prudent use of resources, nothing wasted.
Wow - would never have known or guessed that! Knew a little of the Somerset levels story and even roman mining around the mendips with having a place near Cheddar and been to Glastonbury more times that i can remember but this was so logical!
So nice to see a much loved spot. Love your decription about the shape of ''things'' Somerset is such a beautiful county,full of history and legend. Not that I'm biased about my home county or anything!
Very happy with that practical conclusion - makes sense. Quite hilarious that crop terraces end up as part of the mythology surrounding this place. The trackways were a great find and in use for such a long period of time. Cheers Paul.
The Sweet Track replica should still be there to see at Avalon Marshes, unless they've let the reeds grow up and cover it for a reason (maybe health and safety got too worried as people could walk on it and fall off as it leads off into reed beds and marshes itself). Otherwise, if you’ve found and seen the replica for the Meare Heath trackway, then you’ve gone past it and missed it. A good reason to go back and visit it again sometime in the future.
Ah thanks for this. So that's twice now I've walked past it. We even saw a couple of workers there doing a survey. We ask them and they said we were on it. (Clearly we were on the path, not the replica). Urgh
@@pwhitewickjust keep going. Across the field with a gate at either side. It’s a great reconstruction. About 20m long and a small platform at the end and a bell to ring. Very well maintained. Not overgrown. Get in touch if you want some recent pics (taken today).
Some time in the early 1980s a friend was convinced that this was a sacred labyrinth, based on a pamphlet he'd picked up in a woo-shop in town. I walked and was extremely sceptical. 40 years haven't changed my mind. The terraces are rather narrow for agriculture, so I'm still sceptical of that idea too. The orientation seems off for something like viticulture.
The terraces on the Tor are very similar to the terraces on Maori Pa (fortified settlements) in New Zealand. Terraces on Pa were used for dwellings, storage pits and garden cultivations, all surrounded by defensive palisade walls. Arable gardens on the Tor sounds plausible...
Monks ploughing up terraces for crop production is plausible but doesn't rule out their possible use as a defensive structure in pre-history, as found in many other neolithic hill forts.
@@kdeuler, during the Medieval Warm Period, wine grapes did well in southern England. Indeed, medieval accounts of this were among the clues that led scientists to identify and characterize the MWP.
The hill is magnificent and the tower makes the whole feature more impressive. I find it extremely odd that you would call such a much loved landmark “bizarre”! Well done promoting the terrace idea.
Made a couple of visits to Glastonbury- saw the Tor (climbed up the steep slope from a friend’s garden) and visited the Abbey more recently- great couple of days out. Somerset levels are magical and beautiful…. Great video ❤
Thanks Paul for another informative and well produced Video. I've always been really drawn to Glastonbury Tor and the surrounding Landscape and I know you like to keep things fact based {like I do most of the time}, the Town and Tor are on the famous Michael and Mary Earth Energy Serpent Current re-discovered by Hamish Miller back in the 80's. I do need to go back to Glastonbury and do some Videos as last therein 2010.
inside the Tor's tower the floor is not quite original as there used to be a large concrete plug in the middle of the space which according to local lore was used to seal off a chamber or basement, for safety reasons, which led to a tunnel or labyrinth below, the reason being 2 children had entered and gotten lost, though were found. This labyrinth supposedly was used as a ceremonial space for "druid" ritual and there was supposedly an exit some distance from the Tor. Similarly the outside maze on the Tor was a ritual processional route. I don't know any archeological proof for that was found but it's possible they never studied it. Solifluction is seen by some as the reason for the terraces but locals believed it was the sheep walking around it for centuries. Go back on a nice day Paul, if you have never been before and this was a first time you are missing a lot.
I’ve never heard what myth and legend say about the terraces. Off to look it up. Often thought it could have been terraced to grow food myself. Thanks for the upload 👍🏼
Hi Paul, excellent video, very thought provoking. As others have already mentioned in the comments the hills in Andalucia near me in Granada are often terraced but I think wider than at Glastonbury which also looks very very steep and perhaps there isn't much soil there? Maybe it was an elaborate water collection system? They would need water for brewing!! Bad luck not finding the Sweet track, a great excuse to go back!! All the best!!
I have climbed Glastonbury Tor on two occasions - once in the late '80s, and again in the mid 1990's. On both occasions, there were (different) people, how shall I say this, 'horizontal dancing' in the tower. 🤔🤔🤔😆😆😆. Those terraces, which I had always put down to severe solifluction, do look like the terracing created in the far east for plantations, or rice paddies, since you mention it. The last Abbot of Glastonbury was sent a really polite but threatening letter by Henry VIII, asking him to cough up a ridiculously large sum of cash, or be hanged within a few days. Hubris found the Abbot dangling from a noose not many weeks afterwards.
Since we have the area pollen work to show historical tree cover, did they find anything in pollen or soil work ups that might suggest agriculture on any of the tor or surrounding hillsides?
If you pop into the Tribunal in Glastonbury which is now the museum you can see an ancient dug out canoe found in the levels and more information on the Glastonbury lake village excavation
Thank you, Paul, for all your hard work to make this professional documentary. The Sweet Track and Glastonbury Tor have fascinated me since I was a kid. I feel as though I now understand current human behaviour a bit more when we explore history. Those clever monks...
I apologise for fading into another Thoery. Best answer is from Philip Rahtz who assumes theory we offer from excavations which are not completely conclusive. Historic England suggest it remains a mystery. I'll take a shovel next time.
@@pwhitewick No need for any digging , the solution is there Paul - Just like a MENSA question there are two main clues to the eventual answer . I will provide the solution when we eventually meet face to face -If you have not worked it out before ?
4:08 That is a very polite, respectful and explanatory "No Dogs" sign. Sadly in the south of Wicklow, Ireland, where I live, there are a couple of ignorant signs that just say "Dogs will be shot on sight".
I do believe you are right, those are likely terraces for growing things. It is something the Incas did a lot too and it looks pretty similar besides the Incas adding some stonework to combat erosion on their slightly higher mountains compared to this large hill.. The monks are certainly the likeliest candidates for doing it but I wouldn't completely rule out that it was started already in Saxon times. The Saxons were also there with more then a few people and also needed food so I don't think we can rule out the possibility entirely. I doubt the Romans or earlier people did it.
Channels like this are gold. A regard for logic and facts! Acknowledgement that things not being fully understood does not mean that myths and fictions are true instead. Back in the 1980s, middle-aged people in the West Country would tell you that Joseph of Aramathea visited there (some even elaborated that it was a side-trip from Cornish tin-purchasing). They would tell you this completely matter-of-fact, as if pointing out somewhere that Oliver Cromwell or Queen Victoria had turned up. They wouldn’t push “Arthur” that hard - but they were adamant that it was a pilgrimage place because Joseph brought the boy Jesus with him. Those monks did a VERY effective marketing campaign! It is a place that looks anomalous, and as purposeful-looking above its landscape as a giant Neolithic barrow. It would not surprise me if Neolithic people saw it as a giant tomb.
You managed to evulva good theory there. Geoffrey wasn't taken entirely seriously even in his own time, btw. See William of Malmesbury for more sceptical take on Arthur.
Sadly, much murk in the atmosphere on the day you visited … visibility too poor to see my house from the summit!! Your theory on the terracing is in line with my own … though I pondered the slightly more exotic possibility of vineyards on the better drained sides of the tor, rather than humble turnips and leeks. There are a number of reasonably successful vineyards in the area, though more on the lower slopes of the Mendips to the east of Wells … and I always understood the planting of grapes in the area goes back to Roman times .. in keeping with the industrial activities on the Mendips, associated sea ports to the Bristol Channel and the high status village estates to the south in the Petherton area connecting via the Fosse. It appears we also had Roman activity in the Kingweston/Keinton Mandeville area of the Poldens in the quarrying of the Blue Lias for roofing slate (those that remember the Time Team Big Roman Dig may recall their findings) … the last quarry only closing a few years ago 😢. This historical continuity in the landscape has always made the place rather magical to me. Considering the gloopy nature of the landscape on the levels at the time, evidence of occupation from the Neolithic through to the Iron Age is surprisingly strong. If you take a line from the tor view the Hood Monument on the ridge of the Polden hills, this projects directly over an Iron Age hill fort (beside the Monument) to The Bronze Age hill fort of Dundon Hill (one of my favourite sites in the spring) … from which you look straight over to the next hill which is established as a Neolithic settlement. Kinda obvious really, that when the marshes are at peak gloop, you’re going to want to live on the islands of dry land and probably only venture out into the marshes when things become more accessible. It is not without reason that Somerset derives its name from “the land of the summer people”. Not far off this line is one of the old pilgrim routes to Glastonbury .. there is the remains of an old pilgrim cross (now part of a local war memorial) on the hill near Kingweston. I believe this route cuts across southwards towards Shaves Cross near the south coast (near Bridport). Like you … I’ve never managed to find the demonstration piece of Sweet Track either … though wandering the paths as you did is a wonderfully magical thing still to do .. complete with occasional vistas of the surrounding landscape across the flooded peat diggings. They used to have a short demo length of the different trackway styles at the old visitor centre, along with a demo wattle and daub roundhouse, before the centre relocated and went more “upmarket” .. I think they now sell coffee and cake. Talking of cake, perhaps we can now look forward to a future fillum on Burrow Mump (beware that the Mump is NT land and drone flying could be problematic) and the nearby site of Athelney (associated with Alfred and his culinary efforts)?
Brilliant explanation! I love how this down to earth reasoning "destroys" a lot of believes some people still hold until today, regarding ancient procession routes and spirals and what else, when it was just for agriculture. And not even as old as some people want to believe. Great video as per usual Paul!
Tbf I can't say I would have been surprised either way it's not exactly out of the ordinary for these people to do things for spiritual or religous reasons they They did things that were so out of pocket realistically like bringing stones weighing Tons from Scotland to the south of England to put in a big ring lmao And if anyone says it was for cattle which could be a reason BUT that still doesn't explain why they couldn't use local stone for all of it which some of it was in fact from a forest near by stone henge i forget the name Some was even from Wales so why? BECAUSE it probably had some form of spiritual meaning to them it's not logical for survival, but for spiritual reasons it very much is logical in there minds I think one both sides logical people can't accept they did do things that were not just for survival as religion has mostly existed for every people that has agriculture, and spiritual people always think it's some religious reason, truth is both can exist an often times its sometimes abit of both.
... except there's no evidence the circles were using for growing crops nor that they date from the medieval period. Baseless speculation vs. beliefs based on forgotten foundations.
Yes, I don't believe any of the earth magic nonsense. However, all I saw was a hypothesis of farming - which does sound very possible. But unless I missed it , no actual evidence. The argument that "farmed terraces in India and Machu Pichu look the same" is dodgy ground, because it is the same argument the "Missing Ancient Global Civilisation" people use. Has there been any actual archaelogical evidence of farming there? There are plenty of definite farmed terraces marked on OS maps. I'd be curious as to how they marked all those others but missed this one out. Reason and rationality are not what you believe, but how you arrived at that belief. And speculation with no evidence can only be a "belief", not knowledge. It's not any more scientific than saying "it looks like a mystical labyrinth so must have been build by magicians to connect with alien UFOS who found the flat top a perfect landing site". Cley Hill near Warminster has similar terracing and is a prime location for UFO sightings 🙂
Back in the 60s and early 70s i used to stay with family friends in Glastonbury for two or three weeks during the school holidays. Their house backed onto the abbey so I used to get chucked over the wall and spent hours exploring the abbey. Andy and evril Bond was their name. Andy had a couple of chemist shops in Glastonbury. Great times
Thanks Paul. Great video. If pollen studies tell us that the Tor was wooded at a certain time, have any further studies found evidence to confirm that crops were grown across the terraces ? (Apologies if you mentioned that and I missed it.) Sending love from Australia 🌏
@@pwhitewick The growing terraces use has always been a feasibility, but with an avoidance of trying to find any records, or proof, it's just conjecture, and with no evidence, the claim of a conclusion indicates a psychological issue, not evidence.
The lynchets on the tor, it's important to say, were probably not dug out, but formed like the more impressive ones a few miles north, on the slope of the Mendips. In the medieval period each man ploughs a strip. On the slope, he picks up all the stones which are revealed by the plough, and puts them on the downward side of the strip. Over time, the strip becomes more level, and the soil less stony. They are, even after centuries of erosion, dramatic features of medieval farming.
The reason behind a number of very Dutch sounding place names and the popularity of the Dutch style roofing pantile (Apple autocorrect wanted to make these “roofing panties” 😂😂😂 .. I despair 😵💫). I understand the water management of the levels started with the Romans … and was pretty much continuous through history culminating in the Dutch being brought in to try and finish the job. The complex system of drains and various managed leats proved highly successful through until responsibility was handed to the Environment Agency and they seemed to decide they could reduce costs by not being quite so rigorous in maintenance … just a personal opinion .. hence I use the word “seemed”. We’re now wondering what the future of the levels will be with rising sea levels … according to the projections, the M5 between Clevedon and Bridgwater will be lost to the sea in 25 to 30 years time … and I should have a beachfront home on the Poldens … and rumour has it that the effort required to protect the levels from this scenario is not economically viable compared to the needs of protecting homes in the southeast .. Never mind castles, what every Englishman will need soon will be a hill !!
Me and a mate dragged a truck battery and halogen sealed beam headlight up the Tor one evening (quite the feat of endurance up one of the steeper sides) and beamed the headlight straight up, out the hollow tower, lights in the village could be seen to be coming on and many curtains twitching. Much mirth was had with out little secret in the Riflemans Arms the following evening with all the talk about 'weird things going on up the Tor' from everyone. Of course our lips were sealed!
Thank you for your great video. I have always lovedmythology and folklore and woeked with it for much of my adult life. I knew the Tor well, of course, but never considered the ridges on its slopes to be anything other than excellent examples of terraced farming. What a story they have to tell in themselves. Far more interesting than so-called ritual paths.
Another good one. Well conceived. Well filmed. Well edited. This is what the internet was invented for.
Great comment. TH-cam at its best. I like Paul's comment at the end of the video. He's more interested in the history than the myths. I'm a traveler. I'm guessing that every traveler gets to their third or fourth new culture, country, continent and hearing about yet another giant, the maiden, the this or that... we feel our eyes begin to roll and.... Time Team show me a muddy pottery shard and say, "It's 10th or 11th century, but I have no idea what it is." All that myths and legends stuff? Usually it's just the monks still conning the pilgirms.
Paul's videos put mainstream producers to shame.
Bizarre. At the exact time you posted this video we were on the recreated Sweet Track. It’s across the field after the gate. You just needed to keep going. We then went up the Tor. You basically made a video of our day out!
Oh brilliant. So we got to the gate... we should have just carried on?
@@pwhitewickyep. Across a small field. Through another gate onto a track. Signpost points to the reconstructed sweet track to the right and it’s on the left.
Throughout the long drought during the summer of '76 the Glastonbury landscape was spectacular: the Tor and the surrounding hills were scorched brown whereas the levels shone bright emerald because of the moisture in the peat.
and if you look close, you can see the Holy Grail
Wow….i’m born n bred on the Somerset Levels…. 76 was the year I got married…October 2024… 48 years of being married… my dear missus never signed up to all those years of hardship married to such a grumpy old git as I. But credit to her, she stayed and still stays. We both look back to our childhoods and growing up on the Levels… Oddly enough neither of us can ever remember the moors looking green during the 76 drought. We can remember the bulrushes looking stressed and suffering. We remember reeds …dry and frizzled. Having no goodness in them. The moor grass ….growing but frizzled and frazzled. A field used to giving hay grass to make 80 bales of hay, barely able to make 45 bales. We look back…. We remember 76… it has special memories for us. But looking back, we also remember just how badly our beloved moors suffered because of the drought. In my opinion….to think our Somerset Levels did not suffer because of the 76 drought……is just unbelievable and utter nonsense.
@@OsoronnophrisClosely...
I don’t recall the brown grass, but I do recall grass areas having clear cracks in the ground in ‘76...
I live in Andalucia in the mountains. Many hills around me are terraced just like that. By the moors but also by earlier people. When I first saw the airiel footage of the tor I thought "Those look like Moorish terraces for winter wheat.
Fascinating theory I didn't know they changed hills to accommodate for wheat!
They also look similar to sort of iron age fortresses with the mounded earth although usually there is only two rings, maybe three on a tall one
@@WolfWest-e8u, any crop that needs wet soil around its roots generally requires relatively flat ground to grow on; otherwise water in the soil drains away downhill. Terrace farming turns a hill into pieces of flat ground.
@@isomeme Not only water, once you plow the cover soil washes downhill
Thank you very much for the amazing tour and keeping our history alive. You do a wonderful job.
Our pleasure!
@@pwhitewick You are very good storyteller and I'm glad you steer towards science while accepting mythology as a pointer
We have those terraces in the Palouse country of northern Washington state. My grandfather, who had a cattle ranch in the area, told me that the terraces were created by "snipes," which was a bird that had one leg much longer than the other, and they walked around the hills in circles. ;)
Snipe subspecies have all kinds of interesting regional behaviors. 🙃
The Haggis does a similar thing in Scotland.
If you'd like to climb up a "mini" Glastonbury Tor then visit Barrow Mump, also in Somerset. 😀👍
Only just learnt of this!
Yes, _Burrow_ Mump at Burrowbridge.
It is an example of the same geology as the Tor.
You can see one from the other on a clear day.
It also has remains of a St. Michael's church on top,
because St. Michael has the power to expel the evil spirits of earlier pagan worship
(obviously both sites had pagan religious significance before the Christian era).
Burrowbridge is at the junction of Tone and Parrett rivers.
Historically, it was a bridge that allowed passage from Taunton/Quantock HIlls
to Street/Glastonbury/Polden Hills, which was important for Alfred's mobile defence against the Vikings,
who often raided to Burrowbridge and Langport (highest tidal point).
Just west of Burrowbridge is the site of Athelney ( _ney_ meaning island)
which is a legendary base for Alfred, and later a large monastery,
which was destroyed by Henry VIII during the Reformation.
Now it is just a shallow hill of grassy soil covering the rubble of the old ruins underground.
There was a Roman road from the Fosse Way along the Polden Hills to a port on the Parrett at Bawdrip-Dunball.
The Romans linked this road to Glastonbury over a causeway at _Street._
In England, it is a sure sign of a Roman road, when the town name contains 'Street', 'Strete', '...-le-Street' etc.
@@pwhitewick Burrow Mump also has terraces, albeit it less of them, but then it's not as high.
It also has an abandoned church on top. Lots of similarities with Glastonbury Tor.
Randomly recommended this video and discovered your treasure trove of videos!
Enjoy the binge!
Welcome!
I love that the Sweet track was named after the quarryman who realised that he had found something interesting so it was brought to the attention of archaeologists.
I suspect he was a peat digger, not a quarryman.
The peat is still extracted to this day.
It is used as a nutrient-rich compost for gardening and intensive agriculture.
In the past, it may also have been used as a fuel.
I love the Avalon and Arthur myths but I live archaeology and history top and these are all here ! Fascinating as always. Thank you SO MUCH. 😊😊😊
Being a Somerset lad I've been there numerous times. I'd always assumed the rings were crop terraces but had never found anything to confirm or deny. As for the "little canals", there must be thousands of Rhynes on the Somerset (and North Somerset) Levels.
Anyone reading Andrews comment above, although it's spelt Rhyne (singular, plural with an s) it's pronounced reen, (us Somerset lads know this of course) 👍
It looks incredible when there is a low ground mist - both from the top as it feels like you are on an island looking across the waters - With other islands around you across the landscape; and also from further afield looking across to see the island of the far across the most sea 😊❤🙏
I don`t get out of Lincolnshire very often but I have been up the Tor. Was loads of hippies playing music. Was Great.
It would be cool to see Paul go to Lincolnshire and elsewhere for his videos/studies. Especially for this Yellowbelly in Spain
Unfortunately I'm not entirely sure this is an accurate representation of what happened in two regards. The first minor point is that the monks of Glastonbury Abbey didn't need to find King Arthur to bring in money. They already had a vast income from their extensive land holdings which they had been accumulating since Saxon times. Land that would also have provided them access to crops to some degree. The bigger issue though is that I believe some test pits have been dug on the contours of the Tor, and they didn't find that the earthworks dated to medieval / tudor times, from memory they were found to be earlier. There is also plenty of dry, hilly land around Glastonbury which is used for arable farming to this day. Even within the town the Tor is only one of four major hills (Chalice, Windmill and Wearyall being the others). If you look at the Tor from over by Butleigh especially, you realise it is just the final peak of what is a very large hilly island in the marsh. Indeed, why would the monks go to all of the effort to landscape the Tor to grow a relatively small amount of crops on treacherous slopes, but then at the same time abandon a large amount of drier, higher ground that they owned over at what is now the Festival site to use as a deer park? If land for growing crops was in such short supply that they needed to landscape the Tor, then the deer park makes zero sense. I do suspect a more ceremonial purpose for the Tor and its landscaping, especially given the church's specific dedication to St Michael suggests an earlier pre-christian religious use of the site.
Much of his material is of a similar vein. I come here for the mistakes.
There was a reason that is theorised in a documentary that i watched, it escentially suggested that it was to help silence the Welsh by adopting it and claiming Arthur to be English by finding him buried in England to help reinforce that idea.
That was from an extensive documentary I watched on the scenario there was even a round table made from the time the story was changed to reinforce the idea that he was English
Now as to why silencing the welsh was important, squashing that historical figure that was a source of strength passion that of which helped reignite rebellion. Also prevented the English from establishing dominance over Wales at the time, was the claim made in the documentary I dont know if the time frame matches if Wales was rebelling or what at the time but yeah.
@@WolfWest-e8u I'm English and studied history with other English people back in the day. I have never heard, in over 50 years of an interest in the topic, anyone claim Arthur was English. Which period are you referring to?
King of the Britons, certainly. Will rise to defend Britain, absolutely. English, never.
@@Excession-h6e Arthur was English. 🙂
@sureshot8399 Ha Ha. Nice one.
In that case, so was Jesus, with more claim. If he came here again with his uncle from Arimithea trading for tin, he'd get a house and citizenship upon landing. You can't say that about the ancestors of the Welsh now bach, isn't it. There's lovely for you.
Your presentations are always more than worth my time. Thank your for your clear and thought provoking material.
You were so close to the Sweet Track. After turning right into the marsh off the old railway line, as you did, basically follow the path in the same direction the whole way, over the Meare Track reconstruction, over the hump in the middle of the wood where the path crosses, out to the far end where you come to a gate at a field (comes just into view in the top right of the drone shot a 6:02), go across the field on the path following the left hand fence to the other gate, turn right after the second gate, and it's on your right.
When you one day find it, you'll kick yourself!
That really doesn't sound like "so close" 😂
@@CristiNeagu Sounds more like the directions that we always hand out to overseas tourists looking for directions to Ayre's Rock.
Down that street past 3 sets of traffic lights, turn right and straight ahead. You can't miss it! If you get lost, ask the nearest kangaroo!
@@CristiNeagu He'd gone most of the way, probably only 100-200m away from that small field
Ive never really looked at the Tor. I read somewhere about an ancient 'ritual ' path snaking up it and switched off. But seeing your video I recognised them as terraces. The Moors here in Spain had the same problem re arable land and terraced every bit of mountain and hillside possible. They are still visible where not hidden by forrest.
That’s the trouble, everyone always thinks things are ritual or defence. Yet it can be something more simple and practicable 👍👍
My theory is the Tor was the very first hillclimb track, abandoned after someone pointed out motor vehicles were some time in the far future.
Haha... fair
Fascinating content as always. Like you I have passed many and even stopped in Glastonbury a few times, but never climbed the Tor. Will have to add it to the list.
It's definitely worth it.
Thx Paul! Another fun excursion and informative ramble in the English countryside. What I really like about your work is the inclusion of when things don’t go to order. I’m so glad you didn’t edit out not finding the Sweet Trail. It makes us feel we are all along on a real adventure. If I came over from America and you were a guide and didn’t find it, it would have been great to just hit the pub and laugh and speculate over a pint!
I agree! These videos feel like going on a hike with a knowledgeable friend. Thank you for inviting us along on your explorations.
The Sweet Trail reconstruction had to be removed. It didn't meet the mandatory requirements for disabled access. The local Druids were getting uppity about all the wheelchairs cluttering up their Bog Burial site! 🙄
We sooo enjoyed this video visit!!!😊
We were saying to each other . Been there, been there,!
1978 to be precise!
Thank you!
At 23.45 on the 6/7/89 a mate climbed that tower using the lightning conductor strap. He shredded his hands on the way down.
Every time I see the thing I see his blooded hands.
It was a hell of a good night but one I remember for the craziest reason.
Debunking hippie myths 😎 Just love it👍
Always
The myths predate the hippies by more than seven centuries, lol
@@Everywhere2, the hippies have always been with us. 🙂
@@pwhitewick
The Sun and the Serpent
by Paul Broadhurst and Hamish Miller
Well worth a read.
I knew both of them.
Hamish was a top dowser.
A blacksmith
who made his own iron rods.
I dowse myself,
and found water in one spot
on a 4 acre field.
A friend brought Hamish to the field,
and challenged him to find water.
He found precisely the same spot.
That is about 144,000 to one.
/
I know
the earth is full of energies,
and that other beings exist.
Because I experienced them.
Of course,
people who do not experience such things
must ridicule
that which appears to attack their belief system.
"Normal"
in this type of society.
Mankind has a lot to learn!
Or more accurately -
unlearn!
/
Shame, no sign of the watery ladies dealing in swords. Nonetheless an excellent introduction to Somerset history. Much appreciated.
The entire area is of immense interest, thank you kindly 🤝
Well done
Thank you
We have the same type of things in Purbeck called 'Strip Lytchets'. Each one is a 'furrow long' or a furlong. Dated well back to the mid hundreds.
The rings around Glastonbury Tor are far too narrow to be strip lytchets. They are simply self organised tracks along which livestock moved. The idea is that an animal would find a short stretch of level ground to move along and graze. Over the years these would gradually extend because it is easiesy to gradually exend a level path. Each ring would provide access to a narrow strip of grass so parallel rings would be started up. It is the least energy expenditure way of grazing.
@rogerphelps9939 yes, I totally agree, it's just the similarity was worth the comment, although the strip lytchets are quite narrow, but this does depend on the severity of the slope. However, looking at the overall Glasonbury Tor plan, it looks more like a Labyrinth tha fields. It would seem that the 'path' seems to be moving towards the summit.
@@rogerphelps9939 Yes, you see that wherever sheep grazing is fenced on steep ground. The scale of these just indicates bigger beasts, grazing across a few hundred years.
@@mikebirkett010 Definitely not a labyrinth for any historian:
The Classical and Roman Labyrinth types had designs characterised by algorithms of geometry, and the Medieval type by the same type of algorithm but with an undrawn cross incorporated to fit a cruciform schema. The Hopi type is classical but modified to fit the weave of a tray made from grass, which breaks the geometry without destroying the recognisability of the design (and it has comparable mythology with the other types).
There is neither evidence of geometric measurement nor any of the specific design algorithms on Glastonbury Tor, nor any history of folklore consistent with such geoglyphs.
BUT...
There is a modern myth that the feature is a labyrinth, a belief of adherents to modern Earth Mysteries. From a Religious Studies viewpoint, that belief is an article of faith which has the same validity as any myth or legend from any other religion. And - as with the beliefs of the Pilgrims, Brothers and Monks of Glastonbury Abbey - it brings a living to some people, so the modern myth has an economic value which sustains its promotion... just as the story of King Arthur's grave still has currency.
In 1967, Timothy Leary published "Start Your Own Religion". Many people have since followed his urging, and Glastonbury Tor is a focal point for a counter-cultural movement that emerged adjacent to Earth Mysteries.
Possibly the monks were using the hill as a quarry to build roads and such for their marsh draining operation.
Sauron returns! Really would enjoy seeing your companion as a smooth contrast to the excitement of your voice. Maybe to voice over your place markers or information excerpts.
Knocknarae Mountain in Sligo in Ireland was carved into terraces in the Neolithic, almost certainly for landscape reasons - its a very prominent feature in the landscape.
it's amazing what a liberal supply of Poitín will cause an Irishman to accomplish!
Glastonbury looks like a totally interesting place for sure
Well worth a visit.
I must admit Paul, that I'd never seen the Tor in such close detail before. Just seen from a distance, but my first thought was "look like the terraces you see in India and Nepal" for cultivating crops. The later in video you mentioned the monks and their shrewd ways, to make a profit! just my penny's worth, for all that entails. Love your "quickie" videos. Any chance of something a bit longer?
I think the length works for youtube for the time. But we are working on a project that will be around 25 mins in the coming weeks.
We've really very little idea what life was like even a few hundred years ago.
I remember being on a cliff top outside of Salcombe and reading a sign explaining the ripples on the hillside were neolithic farming terraces, quite similar to this.
There was a time when even horse drawn ploughs were technological marvels.
Imagine the economic pressure that made people terrace the tor like that?
It must have been worth their while, but you can't help thinking the land between the levels and the tor would have had to have been pretty heavily exploited before expending all that effort.
Remember walking up there over a decade ago when staying with a friend living in Street (you could see the Tor from his flat). He went up the path like a gazelle - I was about 20 minutes behind 😂 Will go up again when they install a lift! 😁 Edit: Walking up there on a hot summer day didn't help, but the view was worth it 😊
I was thinking that the builders had used a series of concentric fence to hold the soil in place while constructing it. But terraces for farming is a tactic used around the world, and makes a lot of sense here.
Very interesting!
And the drone shot at 8:10 is incredible!
There were some tasty ones in there!! Cheers
My only problem with this theory is that if the draining of the marshes is in the historical record you think the terraces for farming would be too, unless the Monks obfuscated it to add to the legends.
Indeed, if you can drain miles and miles of marshes, it's unlikely you will focus on a small hillside for some extra. Where on the contrary you're stuck with wet marshes, the dry hill may be an interesting opportunity, the hill terraces may be just older
Monks living in uncertain times (ever present threat of weather causing crop failure and famine) would be boubd to use every inch of available land to farm. Surplus could be sold. This was part of the Benedictine rule of life that they lived under....prudent use of resources, nothing wasted.
Wow - would never have known or guessed that! Knew a little of the Somerset levels story and even roman mining around the mendips with having a place near Cheddar and been to Glastonbury more times that i can remember but this was so logical!
So nice to see a much loved spot. Love your decription about the shape of ''things'' Somerset is such a beautiful county,full of history and legend. Not that I'm biased about my home county or anything!
Very happy with that practical conclusion - makes sense. Quite hilarious that crop terraces end up as part of the mythology surrounding this place. The trackways were a great find and in use for such a long period of time. Cheers Paul.
What a breathtakingly beautiful landscape...
The Sweet Track replica should still be there to see at Avalon Marshes, unless they've let the reeds grow up and cover it for a reason (maybe health and safety got too worried as people could walk on it and fall off as it leads off into reed beds and marshes itself).
Otherwise, if you’ve found and seen the replica for the Meare Heath trackway, then you’ve gone past it and missed it.
A good reason to go back and visit it again sometime in the future.
Ah thanks for this. So that's twice now I've walked past it. We even saw a couple of workers there doing a survey. We ask them and they said we were on it. (Clearly we were on the path, not the replica). Urgh
@@pwhitewick Its probably not much longer than 20ft long. You were close. Its near "decoy" bird hide for future reference.
@@pwhitewickjust keep going. Across the field with a gate at either side. It’s a great reconstruction. About 20m long and a small platform at the end and a bell to ring. Very well maintained. Not overgrown. Get in touch if you want some recent pics (taken today).
Medieval Warm Period 900AD to 1300AD was warmer than today. Did the monks grow vines the south facing slopes?
That was exactly my tought!
There are still vineyards not far from the tor today
Crossed my mind too, could be the case
My thought too. Glastonbury Abbey had vineyards at Panborough, Pilton, and Meare.
Some time in the early 1980s a friend was convinced that this was a sacred labyrinth, based on a pamphlet he'd picked up in a woo-shop in town. I walked and was extremely sceptical. 40 years haven't changed my mind. The terraces are rather narrow for agriculture, so I'm still sceptical of that idea too. The orientation seems off for something like viticulture.
Always look forward to Your videos on Sunday evening . Thank you
My first thought was agricultural but a little different as it reminded me of the cattle paths on the hillside of the dairy farm kid family ran
Always interesting and informed as well as informative... Beeb documentary division could learn a thing or three.
The terraces on the Tor are very similar to the terraces on Maori Pa (fortified settlements) in New Zealand. Terraces on Pa were used for dwellings, storage pits and garden cultivations, all surrounded by defensive palisade walls. Arable gardens on the Tor sounds plausible...
"We aren't here for any of that." Excellent nod to The Tim Traveller. 😃
I try!
I just love all your videos. Thank you for all your work.
Thank you. A pleasure
Monks ploughing up terraces for crop production is plausible but doesn't rule out their possible use as a defensive structure in pre-history, as found in many other neolithic hill forts.
First thing that popped into my head: rice paddies!
Mine too. Tho when he mentioned “monks”, i thought of grape vines. (But, grape vines in England?!🧐)
@@kdeuler, during the Medieval Warm Period, wine grapes did well in southern England. Indeed, medieval accounts of this were among the clues that led scientists to identify and characterize the MWP.
I'm reminded of Maccu Piccu (sp?) and grain silos.
A beautiful place with so much history. Thank you for taking me there as I would never manage the climb. Great video as always.
Many thanks!
The hill is magnificent and the tower makes the whole feature more impressive. I find it extremely odd that you would call such a much loved landmark “bizarre”! Well done promoting the terrace idea.
My wife is bizarre.... and I love her. 🤪
Made a couple of visits to Glastonbury- saw the Tor (climbed up the steep slope from a friend’s garden) and visited the Abbey more recently- great couple of days out. Somerset levels are magical and beautiful…. Great video ❤
The nearest fotres in my hometown in Holland is fort Wierickeschans. Very interesting aswel.😊❤
Thank you Paul for another great video, always makes my Sunday.
Home turf for me nowadays 😁
Terraced gardens: makes perfect sense!
Thanks Paul for another informative and well produced Video. I've always been really drawn to Glastonbury Tor and the surrounding Landscape and I know you like to keep things fact based {like I do most of the time}, the Town and Tor are on the famous Michael and Mary Earth Energy Serpent Current re-discovered by Hamish Miller back in the 80's. I do need to go back to Glastonbury and do some Videos as last therein 2010.
inside the Tor's tower the floor is not quite original as there used to be a large concrete plug in the middle of the space which according to local lore was used to seal off a chamber or basement, for safety reasons, which led to a tunnel or labyrinth below, the reason being 2 children had entered and gotten lost, though were found. This labyrinth supposedly was used as a ceremonial space for "druid" ritual and there was supposedly an exit some distance from the Tor. Similarly the outside maze on the Tor was a ritual processional route. I don't know any archeological proof for that was found but it's possible they never studied it. Solifluction is seen by some as the reason for the terraces but locals believed it was the sheep walking around it for centuries.
Go back on a nice day Paul, if you have never been before and this was a first time you are missing a lot.
I really do feel we were robbed of the view!!
I’ve never heard what myth and legend say about the terraces. Off to look it up. Often thought it could have been terraced to grow food myself. Thanks for the upload 👍🏼
hello again Paul, very interesting as always, some great views from the Tor, thank you 😊
Heers Davie
Hi Paul, excellent video, very thought provoking.
As others have already mentioned in the comments the hills in Andalucia near me in Granada are often terraced but I think wider than at Glastonbury which also looks very very steep and perhaps there isn't much soil there?
Maybe it was an elaborate water collection system? They would need water for brewing!!
Bad luck not finding the Sweet track, a great excuse to go back!!
All the best!!
The Sweet track is now becoming a personal mission I feel!
Great film of one of my favourite places, thank you. Was really hoping for a sneaky shot of the old railway line!!😊
I have climbed Glastonbury Tor on two occasions - once in the late '80s, and again in the mid 1990's. On both occasions, there were (different) people, how shall I say this, 'horizontal dancing' in the tower. 🤔🤔🤔😆😆😆.
Those terraces, which I had always put down to severe solifluction, do look like the terracing created in the far east for plantations, or rice paddies, since you mention it.
The last Abbot of Glastonbury was sent a really polite but threatening letter by Henry VIII, asking him to cough up a ridiculously large sum of cash, or be hanged within a few days.
Hubris found the Abbot dangling from a noose not many weeks afterwards.
I couldn't conceive of a better place to conceive.
It just struck me that if you squint at Pen Dinas fort in Aberystwyth looks like a cheap 19thC pastiche.
Loved that thanks, love my history lessons. Thanks for share. Please take care
Since we have the area pollen work to show historical tree cover, did they find anything in pollen or soil work ups that might suggest agriculture on any of the tor or surrounding hillsides?
Unfortunately I'm not sure. I think the agricultural usage was the best guess.
If you pop into the Tribunal in Glastonbury which is now the museum you can see an ancient dug out canoe found in the levels and more information on the Glastonbury lake village excavation
Super stuff. I did wonder about Glastonbury Tor's wrinkles.
Cheers
Thank you, Paul, for all your hard work to make this professional documentary. The Sweet Track and Glastonbury Tor have fascinated me since I was a kid. I feel as though I now understand current human behaviour a bit more when we explore history. Those clever monks...
Thanks for another fascinating presentation. Luv to Rebecca too.
The solution to the terrace construction ? I was waiting for the answer which faded into another theory ? Interesting Paul -Thank you
I apologise for fading into another Thoery. Best answer is from Philip Rahtz who assumes theory we offer from excavations which are not completely conclusive. Historic England suggest it remains a mystery. I'll take a shovel next time.
@@pwhitewick No need for any digging , the solution is there Paul - Just like a MENSA question there are two main clues to the eventual answer . I will provide the solution when we eventually meet face to face -If you have not worked it out before ?
Being local - i was always told they were paths worn by sheep.
Yep. They watch just 1 TH-cam channel video and those damned sheep will always follow the same track! 😱😵💫
4:08 That is a very polite, respectful and explanatory "No Dogs" sign. Sadly in the south of Wicklow, Ireland, where I live, there are a couple of ignorant signs that just say "Dogs will be shot on sight".
Empathy has been lacking of late
I do believe you are right, those are likely terraces for growing things. It is something the Incas did a lot too and it looks pretty similar besides the Incas adding some stonework to combat erosion on their slightly higher mountains compared to this large hill..
The monks are certainly the likeliest candidates for doing it but I wouldn't completely rule out that it was started already in Saxon times. The Saxons were also there with more then a few people and also needed food so I don't think we can rule out the possibility entirely.
I doubt the Romans or earlier people did it.
I walked up it on my 45th birthday, nearly 20 years ago, and came away with a deeper appreciation of the region.
Yup. Absolutely agree
Loved visiting Glastonbury tor
Channels like this are gold. A regard for logic and facts! Acknowledgement that things not being fully understood does not mean that myths and fictions are true instead.
Back in the 1980s, middle-aged people in the West Country would tell you that Joseph of Aramathea visited there (some even elaborated that it was a side-trip from Cornish tin-purchasing). They would tell you this completely matter-of-fact, as if pointing out somewhere that Oliver Cromwell or Queen Victoria had turned up. They wouldn’t push “Arthur” that hard - but they were adamant that it was a pilgrimage place because Joseph brought the boy Jesus with him. Those monks did a VERY effective marketing campaign!
It is a place that looks anomalous, and as purposeful-looking above its landscape as a giant Neolithic barrow. It would not surprise me if Neolithic people saw it as a giant tomb.
Thank you. Appreciate that
cool, great film, you never cease to enlighten me about my local area 😃
Thank you for another interesting video.
if the monks used the tor as you described, wouldn't there be evidence in the soil strata?
You managed to evulva good theory there. Geoffrey wasn't taken entirely seriously even in his own time, btw. See William of Malmesbury for more sceptical take on Arthur.
Sadly, much murk in the atmosphere on the day you visited … visibility too poor to see my house from the summit!!
Your theory on the terracing is in line with my own … though I pondered the slightly more exotic possibility of vineyards on the better drained sides of the tor, rather than humble turnips and leeks. There are a number of reasonably successful vineyards in the area, though more on the lower slopes of the Mendips to the east of Wells … and I always understood the planting of grapes in the area goes back to Roman times .. in keeping with the industrial activities on the Mendips, associated sea ports to the Bristol Channel and the high status village estates to the south in the Petherton area connecting via the Fosse. It appears we also had Roman activity in the Kingweston/Keinton Mandeville area of the Poldens in the quarrying of the Blue Lias for roofing slate (those that remember the Time Team Big Roman Dig may recall their findings) … the last quarry only closing a few years ago 😢. This historical continuity in the landscape has always made the place rather magical to me.
Considering the gloopy nature of the landscape on the levels at the time, evidence of occupation from the Neolithic through to the Iron Age is surprisingly strong. If you take a line from the tor view the Hood Monument on the ridge of the Polden hills, this projects directly over an Iron Age hill fort (beside the Monument) to The Bronze Age hill fort of Dundon Hill (one of my favourite sites in the spring) … from which you look straight over to the next hill which is established as a Neolithic settlement. Kinda obvious really, that when the marshes are at peak gloop, you’re going to want to live on the islands of dry land and probably only venture out into the marshes when things become more accessible. It is not without reason that Somerset derives its name from “the land of the summer people”.
Not far off this line is one of the old pilgrim routes to Glastonbury .. there is the remains of an old pilgrim cross (now part of a local war memorial) on the hill near Kingweston. I believe this route cuts across southwards towards Shaves Cross near the south coast (near Bridport).
Like you … I’ve never managed to find the demonstration piece of Sweet Track either … though wandering the paths as you did is a wonderfully magical thing still to do .. complete with occasional vistas of the surrounding landscape across the flooded peat diggings. They used to have a short demo length of the different trackway styles at the old visitor centre, along with a demo wattle and daub roundhouse, before the centre relocated and went more “upmarket” .. I think they now sell coffee and cake.
Talking of cake, perhaps we can now look forward to a future fillum on Burrow Mump (beware that the Mump is NT land and drone flying could be problematic) and the nearby site of Athelney (associated with Alfred and his culinary efforts)?
Brilliant explanation! I love how this down to earth reasoning "destroys" a lot of believes some people still hold until today, regarding ancient procession routes and spirals and what else, when it was just for agriculture. And not even as old as some people want to believe. Great video as per usual Paul!
So we are really quite mundane as a species then after all.
Tbf I can't say I would have been surprised either way it's not exactly out of the ordinary for these people to do things for spiritual or religous reasons they
They did things that were so out of pocket realistically like bringing stones weighing Tons from Scotland to the south of England to put in a big ring lmao
And if anyone says it was for cattle which could be a reason BUT that still doesn't explain why they couldn't use local stone for all of it which some of it was in fact from a forest near by stone henge i forget the name
Some was even from Wales so why? BECAUSE it probably had some form of spiritual meaning to them it's not logical for survival, but for spiritual reasons it very much is logical in there minds
I think one both sides logical people can't accept they did do things that were not just for survival as religion has mostly existed for every people that has agriculture, and spiritual people always think it's some religious reason, truth is both can exist an often times its sometimes abit of both.
... except there's no evidence the circles were using for growing crops nor that they date from the medieval period. Baseless speculation vs. beliefs based on forgotten foundations.
Yes, I don't believe any of the earth magic nonsense. However, all I saw was a hypothesis of farming - which does sound very possible. But unless I missed it , no actual evidence. The argument that "farmed terraces in India and Machu Pichu look the same" is dodgy ground, because it is the same argument the "Missing Ancient Global Civilisation" people use.
Has there been any actual archaelogical evidence of farming there? There are plenty of definite farmed terraces marked on OS maps. I'd be curious as to how they marked all those others but missed this one out.
Reason and rationality are not what you believe, but how you arrived at that belief. And speculation with no evidence can only be a "belief", not knowledge. It's not any more scientific than saying "it looks like a mystical labyrinth so must have been build by magicians to connect with alien UFOS who found the flat top a perfect landing site". Cley Hill near Warminster has similar terracing and is a prime location for UFO sightings 🙂
Back in the 60s and early 70s i used to stay with family friends in Glastonbury for two or three weeks during the school holidays. Their house backed onto the abbey so I used to get chucked over the wall and spent hours exploring the abbey. Andy and evril Bond was their name. Andy had a couple of chemist shops in Glastonbury. Great times
Thanks Paul. Great video. If pollen studies tell us that the Tor was wooded at a certain time, have any further studies found evidence to confirm that crops were grown across the terraces ?
(Apologies if you mentioned that and I missed it.)
Sending love from Australia 🌏
Fantastic drone footage
Many thanks
its interesting how many churches built on hills are dedicated either to saint Michael or Saint George, both who fought dragons,
So monks used it as an allotment?
Essentially.
@@pwhitewick
The growing terraces use has always been a feasibility, but with an avoidance of trying to find any records, or proof, it's just conjecture, and with no evidence, the claim of a conclusion indicates a psychological issue, not evidence.
@@paulberen Not so if there are more locations where such terraces exist. I know there are, but I’m not sure if they are all late medieval.
You were very nearly at the Sweet Track! So close.
Ahhh seriously.... where did I go wrong!?
@pwhitewick ah, bit hard for me to tell due to the cuts, but I think you should have just kept going. You were certainly on the path that leads to it.
The lynchets on the tor, it's important to say, were probably not dug out, but formed like the more impressive ones a few miles north, on the slope of the Mendips. In the medieval period each man ploughs a strip. On the slope, he picks up all the stones which are revealed by the plough, and puts them on the downward side of the strip. Over time, the strip becomes more level, and the soil less stony.
They are, even after centuries of erosion, dramatic features of medieval farming.
8:53 - Nice bit of Rossini there...
Great video really enjoyed the history.
Thanks 👍
Thank you. Always great content.
Dutch engineers finished the draining in the 1600s
Ah yes. I did read that. Would like to know ow a little more!
Apparently the work was led by a Cornelius Vermuyden, but got interrupted by the Civil War and finished later.
The reason behind a number of very Dutch sounding place names and the popularity of the Dutch style roofing pantile (Apple autocorrect wanted to make these “roofing panties” 😂😂😂 .. I despair 😵💫).
I understand the water management of the levels started with the Romans … and was pretty much continuous through history culminating in the Dutch being brought in to try and finish the job. The complex system of drains and various managed leats proved highly successful through until responsibility was handed to the Environment Agency and they seemed to decide they could reduce costs by not being quite so rigorous in maintenance … just a personal opinion .. hence I use the word “seemed”.
We’re now wondering what the future of the levels will be with rising sea levels … according to the projections, the M5 between Clevedon and Bridgwater will be lost to the sea in 25 to 30 years time … and I should have a beachfront home on the Poldens … and rumour has it that the effort required to protect the levels from this scenario is not economically viable compared to the needs of protecting homes in the southeast .. Never mind castles, what every Englishman will need soon will be a hill !!
I came to the same conclusion as you as soon as I saw the terraces.
Me and a mate dragged a truck battery and halogen sealed beam headlight up the Tor one evening (quite the feat of endurance up one of the steeper sides) and beamed the headlight straight up, out the hollow tower, lights in the village could be seen to be coming on and many curtains twitching. Much mirth was had with out little secret in the Riflemans Arms the following evening with all the talk about 'weird things going on up the Tor' from everyone. Of course our lips were sealed!