Glastonbury Tor proverb

Glastonbury Tor - by By Tony Grist (Photographer's own files) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

"As old as Glaston-bury torre". - Somerset.

This torre, i.e. tower, so called from the Latin Turris stands upon a round hill in the midst of a level, and may be seen far off. It seemed to me to have been the steeple of a church that had formerly flood upon that hill, though now scarce any footsteps of it remain. "

Ray 1768

Map - Glastonbury Tor

[I do not think that the tor is the steeple on the hill, it is the hill itself. On Dartmoor and in Cornwall we have plenty of other Tors, very few of which have a building on them. However most of our tors (but not all) are natural piles of rock, and not necessarily the hill they stand on. The word is found in Old English and Old Welsh, as well as in Latin, though the Old Welsh and Gaelic meanings are similar to the most common modern uses in the West Country - i.e. a heap, pile or lofty hill. Given that all these languages are ultimately related supposed Latin roots could simply come from that this is the oldest recorded version, rather than a direct root for our West Country Tor.]