Glastonbury

Glastonbury, town, England

Glastonbury (glăs`tənbərē), town (1991 pop. 6,751), Somerset, SW England. It has a leather industry, but Glastonbury is famous for its religious associations and many legends. One legend tells that St. Joseph of Arimathea founded the first Christian church in England there. On Wearyall Hill he rested his staff, which rooted and became the Glastonbury thorn, blooming annually on Christmas Eve. Another story identifies Glastonbury as the Isle of Avalon of Arthurian legend. Glastonbury Abbey was a center of learning and an object of pilgrimages in the Middle Ages. Extensive remains of an Iron Age lake village have been found nearby.

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Glastonbury, town, United States

Glastonbury, town (1990 pop. 27,901), Hartford co., central Conn., a suburb of Hartford on the Connecticut River; inc. 1690. Located near a farming region, the town has industries that include dairying, fruit processing, poultry research and breeding, and light manufacturing. Several 17th-century houses still stand in Glastonbury, which was the birthplace of American politician Gideon Welles.