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The Lion's Head Font
Glastonbury, Somerset

[Saturday - 05/08/99] Its been suggested that the well's name of the Chalice Well is medieval in origin. One of the earliest references to the Chalice Well area, in the Great Chartulary of Glastonbury Abbey, gives its name in 1210 as Chalcwelle. Current legend has it, however, that when Joseph of Arimathea brought the Chalice of the Last Supper (or possibly the two cruets containing Christ's blood and sweat from the Crucifixion), he deposited them under the hill from which the blood spring ran.

Water spills out of the Lion's Head font into a shallow bowl and is the designated spot to drink from the Chalice Well. Pilgrims come here to drink the waters which are believed to possess healing qualities. We, of course, all drank from the Well. Did I feel especially blessed? Hard to say, the whole tenor of the Corvus '99 trip kept me feeling that way almost all the time. In fact, it tasted a lot like Pennsic water to me. Of course, this didn't stop several of us from bottling up some of the water to bring home with us! I filled a bottle specifically for use in the House Corvus Chapel at this summer's War.

The daily flow is about 25,000 gallons and is constant, even in times of great drought. On several occassions in the past, and once quite recently, the Chalice Well has been the only remaining supply of drinkable water for the entire town! Its temperature is a constant 52 degrees.


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Last modified on Wednesday, November 26, 2008
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