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Arthur's Grave
Here lies the famous King Arthur, said the cross.
See it clearly
- What's there
- Abbey ruins with marked tomb site
- Legend from
- Gerald of Wales, c.1193
- Tone
- Curious
Sixteen feet down, an oak coffin, and a lead cross with a king's name on it.
In 1191, after a fire had ruined Glastonbury Abbey and pilgrims were dwindling, the monks announced they had found King Arthur. Gerald of Wales, writing soon after, said they dug sixteen feet down between two pyramids in the cemetery and found a hollowed oak trunk holding two skeletons. Above it lay a lead cross reading that here lay the famous King Arthur in the Isle of Avalon. Some scholars think the find was meant to raise money and serve royal politics. The tomb was lost after the Dissolution, but a sign marks its site.