Glastonbury

Glastonbury is a small town in the southwest part of England (United Kingdom), and not far from Wales. It is primarily known for being a site connected to myths of both King Arthur, and Joseph of Arimathea. During the Middle Ages, it served as a pilgrimage destination. Because of its connections to the legends, it played host to the annual conference on Grail lore in the early twentieth century. The town sits at the base of a hill known as Glastonbury Tor.

Key points of interest in Glastonbury in the time of Indiana Jones include the Glastonbury Abbey (whose Lady Chapel was reputed to have held the graves of Arthur and Guinevere), Wearyall Hill (reputed site of the Holy Thorn), and the Chalice Well.

Adventures in Glastonbury[]

Indiana Jones visited Glastonbury at least once in his adventures.

In 1937, Crazy Angus told Indiana Jones that a ley line passed from their location on Estray Island to the southwest toward the Glastonbury Tor, and one with a dowsing rod could feel the power of the lines.^[1]

In March 1945, Professor Henry Jones, Sr. was a lecturer at the annual British Grail Lore conference, as an expert on the Grail. He was approached by several men, led by Dieterhoffmann, who asked him about the Spear of Longinus. Jones surmised that they were Nazis searching in Glastonbury for the spear, and sent a letter to his son, who was on a dig in Ireland.^[2]

Escaping an assassination attempt, Jones arrived in Glastonbury with his assistant, Brendan O'Neal. They met with the senior Jones and walked up Wearyall Hill to discuss the history of the Spear. Finding the tree that the elder Jones believed to be the Holy Thorn, they paused - only to be accosted by Edwina Cheltingham, protector of the tree. After the professor realized that Cheltingham was also a scholar, they became acquainted, and informed her of their need to keep the Holy Thorn out of Nazi possession.^[2]

Devising a plan to isolate Dieterhoffmann's mystic son, Seigfried, professor Jones lured the lad to meet at the Chalice Well at dusk, where O'Neal and Indiana seized him. Dieterhoffmann and his goons arrived, and captured the trio. Dieterhoffmann explained his plot to re-assemble the spear, but before he could eliminate the Joneses and O'Neal, Cheltingham showed up, guiding a group of schoolgirls, including Sally and Molly on a botanical walk. Using the girls as a diversion, the Joneses and O'Neal escaped, with half of the spear tip that Dieterhoffman's associate, Otto Nehrkorn had brought.^[2]

The three went to the Glastonbury Abbey to meet up with Cheltingham later that night, but before she arrived, the three encountered a vision of a mysterious young lady in the Lady Chapel. Cheltingham showed them the real Holy Thorn tree, giving O'Neal a sprig from it, and had arranged for them to escape in a car driven by her student, Rebecca Stein.^[2]

As they drove past town, Dieterhoffmann pursued them by car, and shot at them. After mysteriously not getting hit by a bullet aimed at his chest, Indy fired back, causing one of the pursuing cars to crash into a stone wall. With Stein at the wheel, Indy, his father and O'Neal escaped to Wales.^[2]