SaintFamous
The Holy Thorn
It blooms at Christmas, as it has for a thousand winters.
See it clearly
- What's there
- Flowering thorn tree in churchyard
- Legend from
- Medieval tradition
- Best time
- Mid-December, and spring blossom
- Tone
- Curious
A walking staff, thrust into a hill, and a thorn tree that still flowers at Christmas.
Legend says Joseph of Arimathea came to Glastonbury after the Crucifixion and, resting on Wearyall Hill, pushed his staff into the ground. It took root as a thorn tree that flowers twice a year, in spring and around Christmas. The original was said to have been cut down by a Puritan soldier, but cuttings survived in the town. Each December a sprig is cut from the thorn in St John's churchyard by the oldest pupil of St John's school and sent to the monarch for the Christmas table, a custom running since 1929.