Overview

Glastonbury Abbey is a place of legendary importance. It was once the wealthiest abbey in England and its magnificence can still be seen within its ruins today. It was here that the monks claimed to have discovered the grave of King Arthur and there is a Holy Thorn believed to be descended from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea. The Abbey's ruins are set within 36 acres of parkland with orchard, ponds, wildlife area and herb garden. Despite its age, the Abbey is remarkably accessible. Most of it is step free.

Transport & Parking

Glastonbury does not have a train station. I took the 376 bus from Bristol which took about 1.5 hours. The bus is accessible with a ramp at the front of the bus and a wheelchair user space. The bus stops virtually outside the entrance to the Abbey. There are bus stops outside the Town Hall in both directions.

Access

The Abbey entrance is on Magdalene Street through a large gateway. This is the only part of the Abbey to be cobblestoned, see photo. There is then a short tarmacked path which leads to the shop, which is before the entrance and has ramp, step free access. Next is the entrance into the building which houses the ticket office and museum, which is all step free. I did not spend time in the museum so unable to comment about it. From this building there is a doorway that leads to the toilets, St Patrick's Chapel and the Holy Thorn. Through the museum there is a doorway that is directly opposite the Lady Chapel. The Abbey grounds are large and are step free apart from in two places. 1) St Patrick's Chapel, a small chapel with beautiful colourful frescos, has two entrances. Both have quite a narrow doorway. There is a single step on one side the step is up into the chapel and the other it is down into the chapel. On both sides there are no hand rails but the step is noticeable but not very steep, see photos. Inside the chapel there plenty of seating with back support but no arms. 2) The crypt of the Lady's Chapel, which has a flight of straight stone stairs with handrails on both sides leading down. I didn't go down these stairs as I was tired by then after walking around, but they were doable for me with my crutch. However at a step free ground floor level there is a viewing platform into the crypt and I could see that in the crypt there was an altar and some bench seating without back support or arms. The rest of the Abbey is step free. There is a ramp at both doorways into the Abbots Kitchen which has a roof on. The remainder of the site has ruins of the Abbey buildings and there are some things worth looking out for and that are the site of King Arthur's grave and the original tomb. There are hard gravel paths around the grounds, but the Abbey remains are on lawn. The land slopes upwards away from the Abbey buildings. There is a wildlife area, ponds, orchard and herb garden to explore. There is a wildlife hut which has some covered bench seating. There are benches scattered throughout the grounds, most have back support and arms. However, all the benches I saw were on lawn and the further you were away from the Abbey buildings the fewer benches there were. I would kindly suggest relocating some of the benches so they are directly next to the path, as when I visited the grass was dry, but if it had been wet my crutch and me would have found it difficult to reach the benches safely without possibly slipping. Also particularly where the top of the slope is ensuring there are easy access benches for people who have mobility impairments or people pushing manual wheelchairs can take a rest, as that stretch is quite tiring although manageable.

Toilets

Next to the entrance and museum is a toilet block. There is an accessible toilet. It is the first toilet in the block. There is a ramp leading up to the toilet. The toilet is spacious with grab rails. it was clean and tidy. There was no emergency red cord.

Staff

I only interacted with the person serving at the ticket booth. She was very friendly, helpful in describing the layout of the Abbey and accessibility. The one thing I would say is that she told me that St Patrick's Chapel and the Lady Chapel crypt would be inaccessible to me as they both had stairs. When I went to the Chapel I found it had a single step, see photo, to enter and for me it was very accessible with a crutch. Likewise I kept the Lady Chapel to the end of my tour, as it is one of the better surviving parts of the Abbey, so kept it for the finale. When I got there I saw that there was a staircase which was actually doable for me. However, as I had exhausted myself with walking round the grounds I was too tired to go down to the crypt. I appreciate that the person on the desk was being extremely kind and informative, but it would have been more helpful for her have described the layout, and from that description I could make my own assessment about whether or not it was accessible for me.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

The Abbey is a historical and spiritual place which is very accessible. If you have only a little time or energy I would suggests visiting the main buildings first and then exploring the grounds. The grounds are beautiful with magnificent trees, shrubs and flowers and well worth visiting if you have the time. There is an outdoor cafe that operates in the summer months. A very special and beautiful place which is well worth visiting.

Photos