In 1837 they were
finally obliged to leave, and for the next three years they lived at
High Beach, Epping Forest.
[Illustration: SOMERSBY RECTORY.
Where Alfred Tennyson was born in 1809.]
GLASTONBURY ABBEY
=How to get there.=--Train from Waterloo. South-Western Railway.
=Nearest Station.=--Glastonbury and Street.
=Distance from London.=--132-1/4 miles.
=Average Time.=--Varies from 3-1/2 to 5 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 21s. 0d. ... 10s. 6d.
Return 36s. 9d. ... 21s. 0d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"George Hotel," "Red Lion Hotel,"
"Crown Hotel," etc.
=Alternative Route.=--Train from Paddington. Great Western Rly.
In the early days of Christianity in Britain this celebrated abbey,
according to tradition, was established in A.D. 63. Joseph of Arimathea
was supposed to be the founder, and the "miraculous thorn," which
flowered on Christmas Day, was believed to be holy by the common people
even up to the time of the Puritans. During the wars between Charles I.
and his Parliament the thorn was destroyed, but sturdy trees grown from
cuttings of the original still flourish in some of the neighbouring
gardens. This thorn was believed by the people to be the staff used by
Joseph in his journey to Britain from the Holy Land. At one time
Glastonbury Abbey covered 60 acres, and was the lengthiest
ecclesiastical building in England, but as many of the houses in
Glastonbury, and also a causeway across Sedgemoor (where the unhappy
Duke of Monmouth was defeated) were constructed of the materials, the
ruins are of necessity much diminished.
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