4 Aug 2023 Glastonbury Abbey, St. Mary Magdalene Church, and Farleigh Hungerford Castle

I had another great weather day, and got a lot in as I started making my way back to London for my flight back to the States on Sunday. The first stop was Glastonbury Abbey.











Glastonbury Abbey was a magnificent structure back before Henry the VIII destroyed it. The Dissolution of the monasteries really took out a lot of wonderful cathedrals and abbeys, just as the English Civil War and Oliver Cromwell took out many beautiful castles. Glastonbury abbey was founded sometime in the 7th Century by the Saxon Kings. It is also the burial place of King Arthur and Guinivere. I have two Anglo-Saxon King ancestors that were buried here as well, Edgar the Peaceful King of Wessex, and Edmund Ironside, King of England. Another ancestor, Alice Bassett, was buried in Glastonbury, very possibly in the local parish church, but it wasn’t open when I snapped a few pictures of it, so I may never know.



After the visit to the Abbey, I sought out St. Mary Magdalene’s Church in Chewton Mendip. This ancient church has a couple of my relatives buried inside the church, and it also sports one of the best Bell Towers in the county. I tried to look around for a couple of find-a-grave photo requests, but didn’t have the time. It is amazing to me that many of the old churches are still very active in their parishes, and they all contain a wealth of genealogy information. This church was founded in 560 A.D., and is the final resting place of my ancestor sir Henry Fitz-Roger, and his wife, Elizabeth de Holland.














Lastly, I traveled to Farleigh Hungerford Castle. This is the ancestral home of the Hungerford Family, and although the castle is now in ruins, it would have been pretty impressive to see back in the day. The castle was built between 1377 and 1383, and has it’s share of intrigue, just like most castles. One of the Hungerfords had his wife locked up in a tower to starve, but unbeknownst to him, the servants of the castle fed her every night, so that she wouldn’t die of starvation or poisoning. The castle is now held by the English Heritage Trust, and was a nice place for a picnic today, as well as a place to contain about twenty screaming kids enjoying their Summer Holiday. Ancestors buried here include Lady Joanna Whitton of Holbrooke, Lady Joan Hussey, and Thomas Hungerford. The crypt underneath the church also has 5 lead sealed coffins of Hungerford family members. Kind of creepy, the very interesting.


















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