….come back soon to see the Magical Guardian Bird of these relics ….England has always been a host of numerous medieval legends, especially the tale of King Arthur, whose legend has continued to inspire heroism and hope to this day. It was a useful find at a time of impending impoverishment of the abbey.

The monks made a black marble tomb for King Arthur’s and Queen Guinevere’s relics (there were various treasures amongst the bones which included the leaden cross, and four lions heads) and invited pilgrims to visit. Or did it? Queen Guinevere’s hair (cement structure, hand gilded glass, gilded grout) Then the monks picked up a tress of golden hair still attached to Queen Guinevere’s skull and it turned to dust. Of course it unmistakeably belonged to Arthur as they noticed his name was written on the bone just like the end of a gift shop stick of rock! King Arthur’s bone (cement structure, gold leaf glass, hand-gilded glass, marble, stained glass, vintage glass tile, millefiori, gold lipped oyster shell) They noticed his thigh bone (femur is it?) was broken, presumably from his last battle before being laid to rest several hundred years ago in the cemetery. The monks were quite surprised at the size of King Arthur’s bones, he was a real giant of a man. Translated it means ‘ Here lies buried the renowned King Arthur in the isle of Avalon’.

They knew it was King Arthur because they found a lead cross with writing on it in Latin. In 1191 the monks discovered King Arthur’s and Queen Guinevere’s skeletons buried in the ancient cemetery within Glastonbury Abbey.

The relics are mostly playful analogies, comparing the Catholic tradition of the veneration of relics with modern day trends and the culture of souvenir gifts. Perhaps in hidden hollows under the Tor.Ħ magical birds (double headed eagles) keep guard as ‘guardians of the relics.’ They guard King Arthur and Queen Guinevere’s relics, 3 of the abbey’s saint’s relics and a living legend ‘rock star’s’ relics! Whilst other abbeys successfully moved their relics to safe houses during the reformation, I found very little evidence or traces about the whereabouts of the Glastonbury Abbey relics, so I wondered if the monks had hidden them to keep them safe. The inspiration for the pieces I made came from the abbey’s precious relics that were once in abundance in medieval times but then lost or destroyed by the Abbey fire and the reformation. As I mentioned in the last post I will be posting fairly regularly in the next few weeks to show you my work for the Glastonbury Abbey exhibition “Traces Revealed”

Glastonbury tor giants tomb