{"id":247,"date":"2017-12-13T07:59:16","date_gmt":"2017-12-13T07:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glast.heritech.co.uk\/?page_id=247"},"modified":"2018-02-19T17:45:32","modified_gmt":"2018-02-19T17:45:32","slug":"pilgrimage","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/glastonburyabbeyarchaeology\/digital\/the-lady-chapel-c-1185-1539\/pilgrimage\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilgrimage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pilgrimage<\/h3>\n
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A passage in the crypt provided access to St Joseph’s well (© Glastonbury Abbey; photograph: David Cousins)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Both the Lady Chapel and the crypt chapel beneath it were popular places of pilgrimage. Medieval pilgrims prayed before the miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary and before a statue of St Joseph in the crypt for healing and other miracles. Pilgrims also visited St Joseph’s well which was accessed via a stone passage in the crypt. The well’s water was believed to have healing properties. This well was in existence long before the chapel was built, and may be Roman, but it became absorbed into the developing story of Joseph of Arimathea and Glastonbury. The very fact it was obviously old would have made it seem all the more likely that it was from Joseph’s time.<\/p>\n

The well was so popular that a stair was later inserted near the south-east corner of the Lady Chapel so it could be accessed from both chapels. Many miracles and cures were recorded here in the early 16th century. We know people left their crutches at the altar as gifts of thanks, but they would also have left little models called ‘votives’. The holes in the chapel vaults would have held hooks from which these models or carvings hung.<\/p>\n

The animated visualization below provides an impression of how the chapel may have looked while it was in use.<\/p>\n

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