Glastonbury Tor - Black and White Art Print by Mark Tisdale.

The subject of this black and white art print is Glastonbury Tor in Somerset, England. The tower ruins at the top are all that remain of a medieval church that was demolished during the reign of England's King Henry VIII (when he dissolved the monasteries). St. Michael's Tower provides an imposing presence as one looks up the steep hill at Glastonbury Tor, doesn't it?

The entire scene in this black and white print seems well suited to myths and legends of long ago, and Glastonbury Tor certainly is the subject of many of them. It's believed by some that this is the mystical Avalon from the Arthurian legends. Glastonbury Tor today isn't an island but if one could time travel, they'd see it once was. The Somerset Levels that surround the tor were once a marshy wetland. The land was reclaimed from the waters for use in farming in the Middle Ages. So the landscape today is different than in times past. And since marshy and watery places were once considered to be mystical boundaries between worlds, one can understand how Glastonbury Tor became a sacred place in prehistory. That sacred character is probably why a church was later built there.

This black and white Glastonbury Tor print has always been among my personal favorites from my prints of the UK. There's a brooding presence I love and there's a sense of both mysticism and mystery to that dark tower sitting at the top of that path. And it's one of those British prints that has received a good deal of attention from others as well over the years.