No. 8 On The Map:
Glastonbury Thorn
The tree stands in Senior Circle – near the entrance to St. Albans School. The Glastonbury Thorn on the Cathedral Close was grown from a cutting from the tree near Glastonbury Abbey in England.
The Glastonbury thorn is a form of common English Hawthorn found in and around Somerset, England. It’s official name is Crataegus monogyna Biflora. “Biflora” refers to its unique tendency to re-bloom in the English mid-winter, typically around the time of the Winter Solstice. This unseasonable manifestation of white blossoms inspired myth, legend, and religious iconography around this unusual tree. It is associated with legends about Joseph of Arimathea and the arrival of Christianity in Britain and has appeared in written texts since the medieval period.
The Thorn in Senior Circle 
The Thorn outside Glastonbury Abbey
The Glastonbury Thorn is associated with legends about Joseph of Arimathea and the arrival of Christianity in Britain and has appeared in written texts since the medieval period. The legend goes that when Joseph of Arimathea and his companions supposedly arrived in England, they journeyed until weary and stopped on Christmas Day near Glastonbury; Joseph thrust his staff into the ground where it immediately took root, budded, and bloomed. A flowering sprig from a Thorn growing in Glastonbury is sent to the British Monarch every Christmas.
Cross Pilgrim Road to the hill between the Little Sanctuary and St. Alban’s Church where the Peace Cross stands.
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