St Benedict's church - Glastonbury, Somerset - UK Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

An information board at the entrance to St Benedict's churchyard, Glastonbury. The board gives a little history of the location.

Some excerpts from the board:
"Benedict Street, in which you are now standing, was originally called Madelode, which is ancient English for a route across a river to meadow land. This area is where most of the town's workers and their families lived. The Abbey required a large workforce to sustain it. In the nineteenth century, well after the dissolution of the Abbey, many workers were involved in the local leather and sheepskin industry. Victorian historians once described this area as a 'less salubrious part of the town'.

On 30 January 1607 there was a sudden wave and flood of water from the Bristol channel that reached miles inland. Coastal defences were broken and low-lying places in Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire and South Wales were flooded. There are reports that the water reached the base of this church's tower. Experts believe it was caused by a tsunami rather than a storm surge or high tides and it is estimated 200 square miles (520 sq km) of land were covered by water.

This church of St Benedict lies on the same east-west axis as Glastonbury Abbey and was originally a chapel dedicated to St Benigus or St Bennings. In 1091 the monks of Glastonbury took the relics of a holy man named Beon or Beonna from Meare to be added to the collection at Glastonbury Abbey. The church was built at this spot, where they rested overnight before completing the short final part of their journey and was consecrated around 1100. Unfortunately, the monks confused Beon the hermit of Meare with Benigus the successor of St Patrick, and the dedication was to St Benigus rather than St Beon. Around 1500 the Norman chapel was completely rebuilt by Abbot Richard Bere (1493 - 1524). Bere's monogram can be seen over the north porch, which also contains a little window used by lepers to receive the holy sacrament."

Type of Historic Marker: Information board Give your Rating: Historical Marker Issuing Authority: Not listed Age/Event Date: Not listed Related Website: Not listed

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