In the English county of Somerset, Glastonbury Tor is a tor that is close to Glastonbury and is topped by the Grade I-listed, roofless St. Michaels Tower. The location is administered by the National Trust and is a scheduled monument. The Tor has a number of other enduring mythological and spiritual links. It is mentioned in Celtic mythology, particularly in narratives involving King Arthur. The Somerset Levels give way to a conical mound of clay and Blue Lias. It developed as a result of the erosion of nearby softer layers, which revealed the hard sandstone cap. The slopes of the hills are terraced, but the process by which they were created is still a mystery. Neolithic flint tools found at the summit of the Tor indicate that the area has been occupied since prehistory, maybe for an extended period of time. When the nearby ruins of Glastonbury Lake Village were discovered there in 1892, it was established that an Iron Age settlement had existed there between 300 and 200 BC on an easily guarded island in the fens. Although there is no proof that the Tor was inhabited permanently, discoveries like Roman pottery do indicate that it was frequented. The history of the monument and church was attempted to be clarified through archaeological digs during the 20th century, although some details of this history are still unknown. Iron Age to Roman-era artifacts from human visitation have been discovered. On the peak, there were a number of structures built during the Saxon and early medieval eras that have been identified as an early church and hermitage of monks. An ancient head of wheel cross from the tenth or eleventh century has been found. The stone Church of St. Michael was erected on the site in the fourteenth century after the earlier wooden church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1275. Although it has been repaired and partially rebuilt numerous times, the tower still stands
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Heritage and Geographical Sites
