Editing Glastonbury (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Street and Glastonbury Tor.jpg|thumb|Street and Glastonbury Tor viewed from Walton Hill]]
The walk up the [[Glastonbury Tor|Tor]] to the distinctive tower at the summit (the partially restored remains of an old church) is rewarded by vistas of the mid-Somerset area, including the Levels which are drained marshland. From there, on a [[dry point]], {{convert|158|m|ft}} above sea level,<ref>{{cite web |title=Glastonbury Tor Conservation Statement |url=http://www.glastonburytor.org.uk/conservation.html |publisher=National Trust |access-date=4 July 2010 |date=February 1999 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100825010331/http://www.glastonburytor.org.uk/conservation.html |archive-date=25 August 2010 }}</ref> it is easy to appreciate how Glastonbury was once an island and, in the winter, the surrounding moors are often flooded, giving that appearance once more. It is an agricultural region typically with open fields of permanent grass, surrounded by ditches with [[willow]] trees. Access to the moors and Levels is by [[Drovers' road|"droves"]], i.e., green lanes. The Levels and inland moors can be {{convert|6|m|ft|0}} below peak tides and have large areas of [[peat]]. The low-lying areas are underlain by much older [[Triassic]] age formations of Upper [[Early Jurassic|Lias]] sand that protrude to form what would once have been islands and include [[Glastonbury Tor]].<ref name="natengsomerset">{{cite web |url=http://www.english-nature.org.uk/special/geological/sites/area_ID30.asp |title=Somerset |access-date=10 June 2007 |work=Natural England |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610043102/http://www.english-nature.org.uk/Special/geological/sites/area_ID30.asp |archive-date=10 June 2007 }}</ref><ref name="ncprofile">{{cite web |url=http://www.naturalareas.naturalengland.org.uk/Science/natural/profiles/naProfile85.pdf |title=Somerset Levels and Moors Natural Area&nbsp;– A nature conservation profile July 1997 |access-date=10 June 2007 |work=English Nature |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029184747/http://www.naturalareas.naturalengland.org.uk/Science/natural/profiles/naProfile85.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2013 }}</ref> The lowland landscape was formed only during the last 10,000&nbsp;years, following the end of the [[Last glacial period|last ice age]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hardy |first=Peter |title=The Geology of Somerset |year=1999 |publisher=Ex Libris Press |location=Bradford on Avon |isbn=0-948578-42-4 |pages=185–186 }}</ref>

The low-lying damp ground can produce a visual effect known as a [[Fata Morgana (mirage)|Fata Morgana]]. This [[optical phenomenon]] occurs because rays of light are strongly bent when they pass through air layers of different temperatures in a steep [[temperature inversion|thermal inversion]] where an [[atmospheric duct]] has formed.<ref>{{cite web |last=Young |first=Andrew |title=An Introduction to Mirages |url=http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/mirages/mirintro.html |publisher=San Diego State University |access-date=5 July 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110045709/http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/mirages/mirintro.html |archive-date=10 January 2010 }}</ref> The Italian name ''Fata Morgana'' is derived from the name of [[Morgan le Fay]], who was alternatively known as Morgane, Morgain, Morgana and other variants. Morgan le Fay was described as a powerful [[Magician (fantasy)|sorceress]] and [[antagonist]] of [[King Arthur]] and [[Guinevere|Queen Guinevere]] in the [[Arthurian legend]].

Glastonbury is less than {{convert|1|mi|km|0}} across the [[River Brue]] from the village of [[Street, Somerset|Street]]. At the time of [[King Arthur]] the Brue formed a lake just south of the hilly ground on which Glastonbury stands. This lake is one of the locations suggested by [[Arthurian legend]] as the home of the [[Lady of the Lake]]. Pomparles Bridge stood at the western end of this lake, guarding Glastonbury from the south, and it is suggested that it was here that [[Bedivere|Sir Bedivere]] threw [[Excalibur]] into the waters after King Arthur fell at the [[Battle of Camlann]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Pomparles Bridge |work=ArthurianAdventure.com |url=http://www.arthurianadventure.com/pomparles_bridge.htm |access-date=11 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081017095426/http://www.arthurianadventure.com/pomparles_bridge.htm |archive-date=17 October 2008 }}</ref> The old bridge was replaced by a reinforced concrete arch bridge in 1911.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pomparles Bridge, Northover, Glastonbury |url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/23577 |work=Somerset Historic Environment Record |publisher=Somerset County Council |access-date=4 July 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003122059/http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/23577 |archive-date=3 October 2016 }}</ref>

Until the 13th century, the direct route to the sea at Highbridge was prevented by gravel banks and peat near Westhay.<ref>{{cite web |title=Meare and Ferran Mere |work=Sacred Sites around Glastonbury |url=http://www.isleofavalon.co.uk/sacredsites/meare.html |access-date=1 November 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120802135217/http://www.isleofavalon.co.uk/sacredsites/meare.html |archive-date=2 August 2012 }}</ref> The course of the river partially encircled Glastonbury from the south, around the western side (through Beckery), and then north through the Panborough-[[Bleadney]] gap in the [[Wedmore]]-[[Wookey]] Hills, to join the [[River Axe (Bristol Channel)|River Axe]] just north of Bleadney. This route made it difficult for the officials of Glastonbury Abbey to transport produce from their outlying estates to the abbey, and when the valley of the River Axe was in flood it backed up to flood Glastonbury itself. Some time between 1230 and 1250 a new channel was constructed westwards into [[Meare Pool]] north of [[Meare]], and further westwards to Mark Moor. The [[Brue Valley Living Landscape]] is a [[Conservation biology|conservation]] project based on the [[Somerset Levels and Moors]] and managed by the [[Somerset Wildlife Trust]].<ref name="Brue Valley living landscape">{{cite web |title=Brue Valley Living Landscape |url=http://www.somersetwildlife.org/brue_valley.html |publisher=Somerset Wildlife Trust |access-date=2 July 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605030653/http://www.somersetwildlife.org/brue_valley.html |archive-date=5 June 2011 }}</ref> The project commenced in January 2009 and aims to restore, recreate and reconnect [[habitat]], ensuring that wildlife is enhanced and capable of sustaining itself in the face of [[climate change]], while guaranteeing farmers and other landowners can continue to use their land profitably.<ref name="Brue Valley living landscape"/> It is one of an increasing number of [[landscape-scale conservation]] projects in the UK.<ref>{{cite web |title=a living landscape |url=http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/?section=environment:livinglandscapes |publisher=Wildlife Trusts |access-date=5 July 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605030423/http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/?section=environment%3Alivinglandscapes |archive-date=5 June 2011 }}</ref>
[[File:Glastonbury town centre arp.jpg|thumb|The town centre in summer 2010]]

The [[Ham Wall]] [[national nature reserve (United Kingdom)|National Nature Reserve]], {{convert|4|km|mi}} west of Glastonbury, is managed by the [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/h/hamwall/index.asp |title=Ham Wall |publisher=RSPB |access-date=1 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206095352/http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/h/hamwall/index.asp |archive-date=6 February 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/nnr/1006955.aspx |title=Ham Wall NNR |publisher=Natural England |access-date=1 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100902063357/http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/nnr/1006955.aspx |archive-date=2 September 2010 }}</ref> This new wetland habitat has been established from out peat diggings and now consists of areas of reedbed, wet scrub, open water and peripheral grassland and woodland. Bird species living on the site include the [[bearded tit]] and the [[Eurasian bittern]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Ham Wall |url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/h/hamwall/index.aspx |publisher=RSPB |access-date=6 June 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426050135/http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/h/hamwall/index.aspx |archive-date=26 April 2012 }}</ref>

The [[Whitelake River]] rises between two low [[limestone]] ridges to the north of Glastonbury, part of the southern edge of the [[Mendip Hills]]. The [[confluence]] of the two small streams that make the Whitelake River is on Worthy Farm, the site of the [[Glastonbury Festival]], between the small villages of [[Pilton, Somerset|Pilton]] and [[Pylle]].