Glastonbury Abbey's link to England's "green and pleasant land"
England's Green and Pleasant land is to be the centrepiece of London 2012 – but the famous phrase can be traced back to Glastonbury Abbey.
Sir William Blake’s poem - commonly known as the hymn Jerusalem - features the lines: “And did those feet in ancient time. Walk upon England’s mountains green. And was the holy Lamb of God. On England’s pleasant pastures seen.”
Susan Strong, operations director for Glastonbury Abbey, said: “It is believed the words were inspired by Glastonbury Abbey.
“One of the Abbey’s legends about the building of the first church is that as a boy Jesus travelled with his Uncle Joseph, and built the first church on the Abbey site dedicating it to his mother Mary.
“Several hundred years later when the first stone church was built here, Saint David is said to have come here to consecrate the church. The night before the ceremony he was warned in a dream that the church had already been consecrated by Christ himself. Did Joseph bring his followers to Glastonbury because he knew that a very special church was already here?” Back | 
