About
A Brief History
Nestling in the valley between Glastonbury Tor and Chalice Hill in the ancient isle of Avalon, Chalice Well is Britain’s oldest holy well. It was sacred to the Celts and the Druids, and many spiritual communities, such as the Essenes. The Well is also called the Blood Spring because of the iron-rich red waters and the legend of Joseph of Arimathea. These sacred waters flow at the same rate every single day, of over 100,000 litres a day (25,000 gallons) and at a constant temperature of 11C (52F), no matter what the air temperature is. They have flowed ceaselessly for thousands of years, and always attracted pilgrims and visitors of all faiths and beliefs.
It is called a red chalybeate spring because of its rich iron content which colours the water orangey-red and leads to many of the myths that surround the Chalice Well, such as Joseph of Arimathea making a pilgrimage following the crucifixion, bringing with him the two cruets containing the blood and water from Christ’s wounds.
Water diviners and specialists have reported that the Spring has a ‘primary’ origin coming from deep within the earth. The dowser Sig Lonegren has dowsed many sites around the world and says, ‘The water doesn’t come from above. It comes from below and so is not dependent on rainfall and begins its existence deep within the bowels of our Mother, the Earth.’
The Well-shaft is approximately 1.5m diameter and pentagonal in shape, similar to some ancient Egyptian and early Christian constructions. The large squared blocks of local lias stone probably date from the 12th century. The total depth is nearly 3 metres and the walls are bonded and fit very closely. More information about Chalice Well is available in our book The Story of a Living Sanctuary.
The archaeologist Dr. Raleigh Radford, upon examining the Well in the 1960’s considered the stones of the Well-shaft to be consistent with dates in the 12th century before 1184 AD or with a re-use of stones salvaged from the Abbey after the fire of that date. It was found that a water supply coming from Chalice Well was introduced into the new extensions of Glastonbury Abbey in about 1220 AD. Leading off the main shaft there is another space or ‘room’, often referred to as the inner chamber, which was probably constructed around 1750 with additions or alterations in 1820. This acted as a sedimentation tank to ensure a clean supply of water to the pilgrim’s healing pool in King Arthur’s Court which is possible to walk through. Interestingly the inner chamber is built to ancient measurements used by both Egyptian and early Christian builders.
‘There are certain geographical spots or centres where the veil is ‘thinner’ than elsewhere [that] are considered suitable for becoming spiritual and healing oases, through which Light can pass down into our human atmosphere more easily than is the case elsewhere. Such spots are nearly always situated near a spring, well or fresh running water. Chalice Well is once such centre and part of its heritage is to be able to act like a sounding board, ie whatever is thought or done there, it becomes magnified and can be carried further‘
~ Wellesley Tudor Pole
When the Trust founder Wellesley Tudor Pole employed Philip Rahtz to excavate near the Well in 1961 he not only found an ancient yew stump but also several dozen flints (upper Palaeolithic or Mesolithic) and a shard of Iron Age pottery alongside Roman and mediaeval shards suggesting human activity around the Well in antiquity.
The Well lid, was created by Frederick Bligh Bond and Alice Buckton incorporating the sacred geometry of the Vesica Piscis symbol. It represents the harmonious union of complementary opposites – heaven and earth, divine feminine and masculine, what is manifest and what is potential. The wrought iron was made as the first peace-time commission from a factory that had made armaments during the first world war and it includes the lance of Archangel Michael – the protector guardian of Chalice Well- rising towards the heavens. It was dedicated on All Saint’s Day in 1919 in the presence of a group who represented many spiritual paths. In 2000 Hamish Miller added the wrought iron Vesica Piscis symbol on the open well lid that is visible to all, and he bent the tip of the lance of Archangel Michael inwards, creating the heart shape which is so loved about the wellhead.
As early as the 1770’s a survey map clearly shows the present Chilkwell Street named as Chalice Well Street, named after this holy and important Well. The Sacred Heart Seminary owned the site during the 1880s, before Alice Buckton purchased Chalice Well and the surrounding land in 1913, followed by Wellesley Tudor Pole securing the site for posterity by creating the Chalice Well Trust in 1959.
Our Founders
Wellesley Tudor Pole
The Trust was founded by Wellesley Tudor Pole in 1959 as a charity and a non profit-making organisation to preserve the holy well and surrounding lands in perpetuity.
‘S
“Surely it is man’s mission to do all in his power to bring the ‘Golden Age’ of which the ‘Messenger’ speaks, nearer than seems credibly possible to our restricted vision. We should strive our utmost with this end in view, even if this end may seem remote and almost beyond the range of our present faith and understanding.
“We can take both courage and solace from the fact that a fresh spiritual Impulse is now making itself felt in our midst and that to our Creator, working through the hearts and minds of men, all things are not only possible but are certain to be harmoniously fulfilled in due course, both in time and in Eternity.’” Wellesley Tudor Pole
Wellesley Tudor Pole was born to Kate and Thomas Pole on 23rd April 1884 in Weston-super-Mare. He had two older sisters, Mary (b.1876) and Katharine (Kitty) (b.1882) and a younger brother, Alexander, with another sister Dorothy died in childhood. The ‘Tudor’ name came from his mother’s side of the family and his father Thomas grew Up on a farm near Williton in Somerset.
From an early age Wellesley was considered to be different especially when he talked of his experiences such as ‘seeing the colours of prayers’ rising up in the air in church. He later told Rosamond Lehmann, with whom he had a long correspondence (many of these letters are published in the book available in our shop: My Dear Alexias) that by the age of eleven, he felt more or less grown up and independent, while retaining a closeness to his sister Kitty. He described his school life was ‘a hellish experience’ and perhaps this is why he turned down university in order to help his father in the family grain business, based in Bristol.
While working with the company Chamberlain, Pole and Co. in Bristol he had a clear vision of himself as a monk in Glastonbury Abbey and so at the age of eighteen he visited and established his life long link with Glastonbury, first visiting the Chalice Well in the Spring of 1904. Working closely with his sister Kitty and the Allen sisters, Janet and Christine, Tudor Pole then established a link with the blue bowl, which Goodchild had placed in a sluice at Beckery in Glastonbury, after purchasing it in Italy. The bowl was kept in an oratory at their house in Bristol until the outbreak of the first war when it went with Kitty to Letchworth. (for more information see ‘Chalice Well: The Story of a Living Sanctuary’ pages 44-48 (Chalice Well Press 2009) and ‘The Avalonians’ by Patrick Benham chapters 6&7 (Gothic Image 2006)).
As managing director of the flour, grain and cereal merchants who were engaged in Government work, Tudor Pole was exempt from military service but he felt called to serve. He joined the Royal Marines in November 1916. After obtaining a commission he sailed from Plymouth in November 1917, arriving in Egypt soon after.
Immediately engaged on the Palestine Front he was wounded on the 3rd December 1917 and taken to hospital in Cairo. The original inspiration for ‘The Silent Minute’ is to be found during fighting in the mountains around Jerusalem in this brief period. Working out the rest of the war as an Intelligence Officer Tudor Pole was awarded the O.B.E. in the 1919 honours list and was also responsible for the intervention which saved the beleaguered leader of the Bahai faith during the war.
By December 1919 he had established his own firm, W. Tudor Pole and Co. at 61, St. James Street in London, which was to become a hive of business and spiritual activity between the wars with links to New York, Paris, Constantinople, Alexandria, Haifa and Russia. His strong moral code led to him engaging in business activity that was of direct benefit to humanity. During this time, Tudor Pole produced a considerable literary output which can be summarised as the five books written between 1915 and 1968, three booklets between 1951 and 1961 and nineteen pamphlets between 1906 and 1968, plus many private letters and correspondence.
Through Tudor Pole’s efforts during the second world war the Silent Minute was established with the help of the Government and the BBC from 10th November 1940 as a signal for a minute silence at 9pm each evening. The practice continued on the BBC until the mid 1950’s. At Chalice Well we observe a minute silence at midday and also at 3pm every day, at the sound of the old school bell. Wellesley Tudor Pole wrote,
“There is no power on earth that can withstand the united co-operation on spiritual levels of men and women of goodwill everywhere. It is for this reason that the continued and widespread observance of the Silent Minute is of such vital importance in the interest of human welfare.” Wellesley Tudor Pole 1960
Undoubtedly the creation of The Chalice Well Trust was one of Tudor Pole’s greatest achievements. Alice Buckton had owned and protected the property from 1913-1944. Fifty-five years after his first visit, Tudor Pole took the opportunity to purchase the Chalice Well property and to create a Trust to preserve and safeguard it for the public good in perpetuity. The Chalice Well Trust was founded on 1 January 1959 at a meeting in London with the financial support of some of his associates and friends. For nine years, while living in Hurstpierpoint in west Sussex, Tudor Pole was able to guide and anchor the energies required to establish and sustain the Trust, while also bringing through the vision of The Upper Room in Little St. Michaels Retreat House. Today the Upper Room continues to be a special and sacred place of silent meditation.
At the time of his death on September 13th 1968 when “he returned once again to his own plane of spiritual consciousness” one of the then Trustees, Martin Israel, wrote:
“Of the amazing psychic and spiritual gifts of T.P. I need not write. I know that others will be able to furnish specific examples, and his books, notably ‘Private Dowding’, ‘The Silent Road’, ‘A Man Seen Afar’, and his swan-song ‘The Writing On The Ground’ are unique in their portrayal of active seership – as opposed to the passive mediumship bringing down teaching from higher spheres. On a more worldly level I would draw special attention to his normality. As is well known he was a soldier, a businessman, a traveller and a friend of many famous political figures.”
On St. Michael’s Day, 29 September 1968 services in memory of Tudor Pole were taken by Sir George Trevelyan at Chalice Well. Sir George said:
“…that holy spot which T.P. had personally been responsible for saving and redeeming as a place of pilgrimage. His influence for good in our time is probably far greater than any of us can possibly know.”
Alice Buckton
Alice Buckton was born in Weycombe, Haslemere, on 9 March 1867. She was the eldest of seven daughters of the entomologist George Bowdler Buckton, and his wife Mary Ann Odling. She became friends with their neighbour Alfred Lord Tennyson, and years later Alice still wore the cloak given to her by Tennyson.
Alice became a supporter of women’s emancipation, development and education. She was a pioneer in schooling, a prolific playwright and poet, with her plays performed around the world. Alice was the owner-guardian of Chalice Well from 1913 until 1944.
As a young woman Alice Buckton was involved with the Women’s University Settlement, which grew out of the pioneering work of Octavia Hill. She became interested in the educational ideas of Friedrich Fröbel, and travelled to Germany to visit the Pestalozzi-Fröbel House. She persuaded the Principal there, Annet Schepel, to help set up a similar institution in London, the Sesame Garden and House for Home Life Training, in St John’s Wood. In an 1898 lecture, Alice Buckton outlined a plan for this new institution. Alice said:
“We shall find no peace or satisfaction, if we leave some sides of ourselves undeveloped, ignored and unrealised. There are instincts and capacities which are part of us from our birth, and they leave us no sleep or rest till we accomplish the work of bringing them into harmony”
Sesame House opened in 1899, with Patrick Geddes on the committee. One woman trained at Sesame House was Lileen Hardy, who went on to open the free kindergarten St. Saviour’s Child Garden in Edinburgh. By 1902 the school at Sesame House had sixty-five students. Buckton and Schepel were partners who lived together until Schepel’s death in 1931. Alice’s plan for education combined book learning, cookery, needlework, gardening, house management, psychology, botany, zoology, singing, elocution, geometry and the history of educational reformers, plus London walks and outings to Epping Forest to connect with nature.
While parliament was debating if women should have the right to vote in 1913, Alice organised five minutes of silence in Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral and many cathedrals, churches and chapels throughout Britain. Alice supported Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst’s Women’s Social and Political Union, founded in 1903.
In 1912, Alice Buckton purchased the Chalice Well in Glastonbury. She and Annet Schepel opened the Tor House Training College for Women, which continued their pioneering education and development for women, with the additions of beekeeping, book binding, weaving, banner making, heraldry and Legendary Drama. They also opened a hostel which drew pilgrims from around the world, and Alice Buckton continued to live in Glastonbury for the rest of her life.
Alice also founded the Glastonbury Crafts Guild and taught people about dyeing with vegetables and plants, spinning wool, book binding and many other crafts.
In August 1913 Buckton stage-managed Caroline Cannon’s Pageant of Gwent at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. The following year she supported an Arthurian festival at Glastonbury, centred around the performance of a music drama by Reginald Buckley, ‘The Birth of Arthur’. She wrote and produced The Coming of Bride, first performed in Glastonbury on 6 August 1914. The Coming of the Dawn was written to be produced at Christmas in 1918 by the YWCA. Her most performed play around the world, Eager Heart, was written at Chalice Well. This popular play explores the path to spiritual fulfilment, and the awakening of the heart as the key to transformation. She dedicated Eager Heart “to all who see and worship the One in the Many”
In 1919 Buckton spoke at a Leisure of the People Conference in Manchester, describing the way in which everyday people in Glastonbury enthusiastically took part in performing pageant plays. As a result, the University Settlement organized a May festival in Ancoats, for which Buckton wrote an allegorical play around the figures of Labour, Beauty and Joy.
In 1920 Buckton attended a ceremony in celebration of the foundation stone being laid for a theatre in the grounds of Chalice Well, during which she described the theatre as a “another round table,” referring to King Arthur’s round table. Part of this stage is still visible in the Cress Field, which is the ancient field we open on 1 May to celebrate Beltane. In 1922 she led a team who created the 68 minute film Glastonbury past and Present. The film was said to the first about the history of a town. In 1925 she wrote a series of six radio sketches based on the Arthurian legends, performed by the Cardiff Station Radio Players with music by Warwick Braithwaite. It was the first play specifically written for radio.
In 1938 she received a civil list pension “in recognition of her services to literature and of the services rendered by her father” Alice Buckton died on 10 December 1944 at the home of a friend in Vicars’ Close, Wells, Somerset. She was cremated and her ashes scattered on the Tor. A memorial to Alice was erected in the Church of St John the Baptist, Glastonbury, by Lionel Smithett Lewis.
Ethos
Many Paths, One Source
Chalice Well welcomes pilgrims and visitors of all spiritual paths, faiths and beliefs. We seek to facilitate a connection between people, nature and the spirit of this special place.
Gathering together in our beautiful garden or spending time in our Retreat house offerspeople a shared acknowledgement of the sacred and divine that transcends borders and differences. With the challenges facing the world today, we believe that this has never been more relevant or important.
The Chalice Well Trust was originally founded by Wellesley Tudor Pole in 1959 to ensure that this ancient Holy Well would continue to be available to all – forever. We are the guardians of this living sanctuary. We ensure its safety and anchor its purpose so that many people now and in future years can benefit from the positive energies and high vibration here. Our vision is to protect and sustain the Chalice Well as a place of deep resonance for all those who visit, from near and afar, and for all who work or volunteer there, and to work alongside all people of goodwill and true heart to sustain this sacred place as a beacon of hope throughout the world.
The Purposes of the Trust are:
- To preserve in perpetuity the property known as the Chalice Well in Glastonbury in the county of Somerset and surrounding lands for the benefit of the public, so that they may for ever have access to this living sanctuary as a place of pilgrimage and rest;
- To preserve and safeguard the said Chalice Well and its surroundings and to beautify them;
- To advance religious and spiritual activities and permit members of the public of all religious and spiritual paths to take advantage of such facilities as the Chalice Well Trust can offer for pilgrimage, quiet contemplation and healing;
- To advance education in all ways by encouraging the study and enjoyment of the sacred through the arts, particularly as may be associated with the said Chalice Well and its surroundings.
The Sanctuary
Peace and beauty abound. Chalice Well and the main gardens are enfolded in the vale between Chalice Hill and Glastonbury Tor, enclosed within a Grade I listed site.
The Chalice Well is a destination for those seeking, peace, beauty and a refuge from the everyday world. Nestling at the foot of Glastonbury Tor, the site occupies a beautiful and historically important location. The four-acre site consists of beautiful gardens which provide a wonderful relaxing and healing environment throughout the seasons.
During the warmer months of the year, many visitors will bring picnics to enjoy the peaceful surroundings of the meadow following their progress through the gardens.
Chalice Well Gardens
Chalice Well Gardens – a living sanctuary and World Peace Garden
The gardens and Wellhead offer beauty and tranquility that welcomes everyone to pause and rest a while. The garden colours and landscapes flows with the changing seasons, from the first snowdrops pushing through the wintry soil to greet the light of the early spring, to the deep green of the holly and yew trees at winter solstice. Throughout the garden there is the constantly sight and sound of the flowing well waters, the red spring rhythmically moving down through the garden at the same rate of 100,000 litres a day and always at 11C.
The Chalice Well Vesica Piscis, is the ancient sacred geometry symbol of the union of complementary opposites. The union of heaven and earth, divine feminine and divine masculine, what is yet to be manifested and what is already formed. Our symbol can be seen throughout the gardens in many forms.
At our community Wheel of the Year events, we dress the well with flowers from the garden, to honour the waters and the well maidens – the protective fairy-goddess presences who protect springs and work in harmony with nature. Our gatherings and events invite everyone who feels called to these sacred lands to connect deeply with these waters, ad Mother Nature, becoming present in the interconnectedness of all life.
The Retreat House & Meeting Room
Little St. Michaels Retreat House
Available for Companions of the Well to stay on retreat, Little St Michael’s Retreat House is a beautiful Grade II listed house at Chalice Well, dating from 1600. Available for individual and group bookings, it offers a very special setting for retreats, pilgrimages and sacred tours.
Staying in our Retreat House offers Companions of Chalice Well a quiet and inspiring space, with access to the Upper Room, the esoteric library and the opportunity to be in the garden when it’s closed to the public.
Little St Michael’s Retreat House, is a place where many paths cross, many faiths converge; a place to share experiences, beliefs and personal truth, or a place to be still.
Inside the house are simple, comfortable bedrooms, a quiet relaxing living room with an inspiring esoteric library, a well equipped kitchen and dining area. In the eaves lies the sacred Upper Room, a holy space kept solely for prayer, reflection and meditation, observing the Silence of this hallowed room, envisioned and created by Wellesley Tudor Pole.
The Meeting Room
Next to our Retreat House, the Meeting Room is a beautiful space full of natural light with views of the garden trees. It is suitable for a range of group activities and can be booked for a full or half a day. Set up for a group seminar, the space can comfortably hold 20 people in a circle and up to 36 people with theatre style rows of chairs. It is also suitable for a small yoga group.
For Meeting Room bookings, you can also enjoy the gardens during breaks and for individual contemplation, but not for group activities in the garden, ceremonies or rituals in the garden. If you wish to hold group activities in the garden as part of your workshop, please ask about booking a Private Access. This gives you time for ceremonies when the garden is closed to the public.
The Shop
The Chalice Well Shop is full of inspiring and beautiful gifts to help deepen your connection with this living sanctuary and ancient holy Well.
You are welcome to browse our books, crystals, jewellery, oracle cards, candles, ponchos, flower and vibrational essences, handmade and artisan gifts, incense, notebooks, journals and home accessories. We are open every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
Our ranges of inspiring gifts carry the vibration of the Well and help you to deepen your own connection with this beautiful living sanctuary. We hope you find the perfect gift for yourself, friends or family, and you can talk to our friendly and knowledgeable shop team. All our carefully curated gifts are inspired by the energies and love that Chalice Well offers.
Our online shop enables you to buy many of the items available 24 hours a day from wherever you are in the world, with worldwide shipping. Everything we send is packed with care and love and blessing from the Well.
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
1030 am – 5:30 pm
1030 am – 5:30 pm
1030 am – 5:30 pm
1030 am – 5:30 pm
1030 am – 5:30 pm
1030 am – 5:30 pm
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
10 am – 4 pm
10 am – 4 pm
10 am – 4 pm
10 am – 4 pm
10 am – 4 pm
10 am – 4 pm
- 25 & 26 December
- 1 January
The Blue Bowl
We thank those who have reached out to the board of Trustees with ideas, concerns and requests regarding the Blue Bowl. These are welcomed and considered. Please be reassured that the Blue Bowl is safe and resides on our sacred land in the heart of the Temenos of Glastonbury-Avalon, from where we can believe it emanates for the good of all.
The decision of the Trustees based on the Chalice Well Trust Blue Bowl Policy, and after risk-assessment, consultation and contemplation, is that the Blue Bowl will remain withdrawn from public access for the time being, as it has been for lengthy periods in its history. This decision will be reviewed regularly.
Wellesley Tudor Pole spoke of the Blue Bowl as a symbol of unity, lasting peace and joy. He believed the bowl to be always active on some level. We invite you to unify your awareness with its subtle energies as you meditate, contemplate, and pray for peace.
With goodwill from Chalice Well.
Interesting associated sites.
The Albion site was created in 2017-18 by Paul Fletcher and Kevin Redpath from a donation by the Wrekin Trust to the Chalice Well Trust. The site explores the essential ideas contained in British spirituality. It focusses on the central role played by the forerunners such as Wellesley Tudor Pole, Alice Buckton, Ronald Heaver and Dion Fortune and on the emergence of many positive forward thinking organisations. There are many informative links to sacred sites, publications, essays, maps and other interesting websites. It is easy to navigate and has been much praised.
This is an archive site created by Palden Jenkins that contains an online archive of Sir George Trevelyan’s life and work. With copious contributions from many who knew and worked with Sir George it is a complete overview of this fascinating pioneer’s journey from his days of educational innovation at Attingham Park through to his later inspirational work with the Wrekin Trust and his many talks.
This is a more recent site developed after the ending of the Wrekin Trust by friends of Sir George subtitled Awaken your Soul. It is designed to allow the exploration of the life and values of Sir George through his many publications, his ideas and principles and tells us how these values can be brought into the present time for the good of humanity.
(All three sites are administered by the Chalice Well Trust)