Glastonbury - Somerset, England
Chalice Hill is the third and gentlest of the
three hills which form the heart of Glastonbury's
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| The Well-head is
covered by a wooden lid with a fine wrought-iron sculpture. |
sacred landscape. It
stands between the town and the Tor,
effectively hiding the bulk of the taller hill from the town. It has
long been considered the most sacred of the hills, and it is believed
by many to have been the final resting place of the Grail. A spring,
rich in iron which turns the water red, rises here, and a peaceful
garden has grown up around it in the past decade, owned and looked
after by a local trust. Within the garden, which is surrounded by
medieval stonework and rises up the
lower slopes of the hill, there are a number
of sheltered spots in which
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| Water spills out
of this lion-headed fountain into a shallow bowl. |
the visitor may stop and meditate or dream of
the Grail and Arthur. The well-head is covered with an elaborate lid
with a fine wrought-iron sculpture of
the Vesica Pisces, a sign interpreted as representing the overlapping
of the inner and outer worlds. Lower down, the waters spill out of
a carved ornate fountain-head and fill a series of stepped bowls which
echo the shape of the well-cover design. The reddish tinge to the
water resulted in its once being called the Blood Spring; in modern
times, it has been mystically associated with the blood of Christ
caught in the Grail.
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