The Tribunal
The Tribunal is a remarkable medieval building situated in the heart of Glastonbury, Somerset, one of England's most historically layered and spiritually significant towns. It stands on the High Street and serves today as the official tourist information centre for Glastonbury while also housing a small but fascinating museum. The building is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and is managed by English Heritage, making it one of the best-preserved examples of a late medieval merchant's house in the entire southwest of England. Its dual function as a living, working space and a heritage site gives it a rare vitality among ancient structures, drawing in visitors both for practical reasons and out of genuine historical curiosity.
The building dates principally to the late fifteenth century, though its origins are intertwined with the immense power and wealth of Glastonbury Abbey, which dominated the town and much of the surrounding landscape throughout the medieval period. The name "Tribunal" derives from the long-held belief that the building was used by the abbots of Glastonbury as a court of justice — a place where the abbot or his representatives would sit in judgement over tenants, disputes, and local legal matters. Whether the building was indeed used as a formal court is a matter of some historical debate, but the name has stuck for centuries and captures something of the authority that the Abbey projected over every aspect of life in medieval Glastonbury. The structure passed through various hands following the dissolution of Glastonbury Abbey under Henry VIII in 1539, one of the most dramatic moments in English religious history that effectively ended over a thousand years of monastic life on the site.
The facade of the Tribunal is immediately arresting. It presents a strikingly handsome late Gothic frontage to the High Street, constructed from the warm, honey-coloured limestone that is characteristic of Somerset's built environment. The stonework is detailed and confident, with carved ornamentation typical of prosperous late medieval civic architecture. The building is three storeys tall and relatively narrow, as was common for urban medieval properties where street frontage was at a premium. Large, mullioned windows fill the upper floors with light and give the exterior an almost domestic elegance despite its civic associations. Standing before it, one has the distinct impression of stepping into a streetscape that has changed far less than might be expected over five centuries.
Inside, the Tribunal contains the Lake Village Museum, which is one of the most compelling reasons to visit beyond the building's architectural interest. The museum is dedicated to the remarkable Iron Age lake villages discovered at nearby Meare and Godney in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These prehistoric settlements, which date back roughly two thousand years, were built on artificial islands in what was then a vast wetland environment — the Somerset Levels. The artefacts recovered from them, including sophisticated wooden objects, textiles, metalwork and tools, reveal an extraordinary level of craftsmanship and social organisation for their era. The museum holds one of the finest collections of lake village material in existence, and the juxtaposition of medieval architecture and prehistoric finds makes for an unusually layered cultural experience.
Glastonbury itself is an almost unparalleled concentration of English myth, legend, and sacred landscape. The town sits at the foot of Glastonbury Tor, the iconic terraced hill topped by the ruined tower of St Michael's Church, which looms over the surrounding Somerset Levels and can be seen for miles in every direction. Just a short walk from the Tribunal are the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, the legendary burial site of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere according to medieval tradition, and one of the great pilgrimage destinations of the Middle Ages. The town is also associated with Joseph of Arimathea, the Holy Grail, and an ancient tradition that links it to some of the earliest Christian communities in Britain. All of this mythology saturates the atmosphere of the High Street itself, giving a building like the Tribunal an additional layer of resonance simply by virtue of where it stands.
Walking down Glastonbury High Street today, the Tribunal occupies a prominent and dignified position among a mix of independent shops, cafes, crystal sellers and new age boutiques that reflect the town's distinctly eclectic contemporary character. The street is lively throughout the year, particularly during the summer months when pilgrims, tourists, festival-goers and the simply curious converge on the town in large numbers. The Glastonbury Festival, held at nearby Worthy Farm in Pilton, draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to the broader area every June, and while the festival itself is some miles away, the town of Glastonbury benefits from significant visitor traffic during that period. At other times of year, the town has a quieter, more contemplative atmosphere that suits the pace of a museum visit rather well.
The best time to visit the Tribunal and its museum is during the spring or autumn, when crowds are thinner but the town retains its distinctive energy and all the main attractions remain open. The building is generally open to visitors during regular daytime hours, though it is worth checking current opening times with English Heritage or the local tourist information service before travelling, as hours can vary seasonally. Access to the ground floor is reasonably straightforward, though the medieval nature of the structure means that full accessibility throughout the building may be limited. Glastonbury is served by bus routes connecting it to Street, Wells, and Taunton, the nearest mainline railway town. Parking is available in the town centre car parks a short walk from the High Street.
One of the more intriguing aspects of the Tribunal is the way it encapsulates the deep continuity of Glastonbury's importance across radically different historical periods. The building itself was erected when the Abbey was still at the height of its power; it now stands a few minutes' walk from the Abbey's picturesque ruins, and it shelters objects made by people who lived in the wetlands a thousand years before the Abbey was founded. Few buildings of its modest size contain within their walls such a compression of time. For anyone with an interest in medieval architecture, Somerset archaeology, or the layered mythologies of this extraordinary corner of England, the Tribunal offers a quietly rewarding experience that tends to exceed expectations.