The ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, with figures and livestock in the foreground, and Glastonbury Tor beyond

This view of Glastonbury Abbey caters to the contemporary fascination with the picturesque. The Abbey traces its history back to a stone church erected by Ine, King of Wessex, in the seventh century, and at the time of the Domesday Book it was the wealthiest religious foundation in the country. Throughout the medieval period it continued to be a centre of spiritual and temporal power. Pilgrims were drawn by associations with a number of sacred and secular legends. The Glastonbury Thorn, near the foot of the Tor, is said to have grown from Joseph of Arimathea's staff; and in the thirteenth century the monks claimed to have discovered the tombs of Arthur and Guinevere. However, the abbey fell victim to Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries: the buildings and estates were sold and the Abbey church fell into disrepair. The Tor, visible beyond the Abbey, has an even longer history. A natural hill which lies in the midst of the Somerset Levels, it may have been a site for prehistoric ritual. Earthworks on the sides of the Tor could date to the same period as Stonehenge, and for many years myth has identified the hill with the isle of Avalon.