Pilgrim Ways

“There enters Avalon a party of twelve men; Joseph, the flower of Arimathea, is chief of them; Josophes, Joseph‟s son, accompanies his father And to these with ten others the rights of Glastonbury are appropriated.

To the Britons I went after I had buried Christ, Came to Glastonbury, taught the Britons, took my rest.”

William of Worcestre added his own post-script: “Oh Lord Jesus exceeding in perfection every creature, grant us they servants that by the works of St.Joseph done for thee at and after thy passion we may truly know on earth and find here in life his remains to receive worthy reverence.”

English Veneration of the Archangel Michael St.Michael was not only venerated and beloved by William of Worcestre. The Archangel had a very special place in the hearts of the people. Many travelled the St.Michael‟s Pilgrimage Path from Glastonbury to St.Michael‟s Mount. The route corresponds to the legendary path which the young Christ was believed to have taken from Cornwall to Glastonbury. Country people were particularly careful to be hospitable to unknown strangers lest they fail to recognise the returning Christ in their midst. At Glastonbury the church on the Tor is dedicated to St.Michael, who is depicted in a carving on the tower weighing the souls of the dead. Michael is variously portrayed as the adversary of Lucifer, the slayer of dragons or devils, the protector of innocents and the guide to the after life. Holy scripture describes him as “one of the chief princes” (Dan:10:13) and as the leader of the heavenly armies in their battle against the forces of hell (Rev 12:17). He is also mentioned in the epistle of St.Jude as “rebuking the devil.” Shrines to St.Michael were placed by Catholics on pinacles where pagan fires had been lit to the deities. At high places, such as Glastonbury Tor, magnetic forces have often created unexplained effects with light and atmosphere, leading believers to invoke the prince of the heavenly host as their protector. Here, too, were ancient “ley” lines, dating from megalithic times, marking a straight course between sacred places. These spirit paths and ways of the dead marked out routes from places like the Tor to the stone circle at Avebury. Christians saw the claiming and cleansing of these lines as part of a spiritual battle in which the angelic host became crucial allies.. St.Michael on the Tor is one of the stations in a series of shrines to St.Michael that extend right along the spine of the south west of England. Eleven miles southwest of Glastonbury the pilgrim way follows the route to Taunton. At Burrowbridge is another St.Michael‟s Hill - with a ruined church standing on the summit of what is known as “the Mump” - or King Alfred‟s Fort. Churches are also dedicated to the Archangel at Stoke St.Michael, and St.Michael, Buckland Dinham. Traveling west, along the pilgrim way, is St.Michael‟s Church at Othery and the church of St.Michael, Brentor, and finally,on to William of Worcestre‟s destination at St.Michael Mount.

Cornish Churches While in Cornwall the pilgrim may also care to visit some of the other ancient churches which have been opened through the work of the Open Churches Trust. At St.Bartholomew, Lostwithiel, there is a church which dates from the twelfth century. Its tower has been described as “the pre-eminent glory of the West of England.” The octagonal thirteenth century font was desecrated during the civil war - and used to Christen a horse, Charles.

St.Enodoc‟s, Trebetherick, is the “north chapel” of the parish of St.Minver. Twelfth century