"A candlelit temple where calcite waters flow from beneath the Tor into darkness"
White Spring Temple
Glastonbury, Somerset, United Kingdom
Step from daylight into darkness. The White Spring Temple occupies a Victorian well house at the base of Glastonbury Tor, where calcite-white waters have flowed for millennia. Hundreds of candles illuminate shrines to Brigid, Our Lady of Avalon, and the King of Faery. This is an active temple where seekers come to bathe in cold, purifying waters and sit in silence at the threshold between worlds.
Weather & Best Time
Plan Your Visit
Save this site and start planning your journey.
Quick Facts
Location
Glastonbury, Somerset, United Kingdom
Tradition
Site Type
Coordinates
51.1435, -2.7060
Last Updated
Jan 4, 2026
The White Spring Temple combines ancient water veneration with contemporary Goddess spirituality. While the spring is ancient, the temple is a 21st-century creation. It draws on Celtic traditions of sacred wells, the veneration of Brigid spanning Pagan and Christian eras, and the broader Glastonbury mythos connecting this land to Avalon and the Otherworld.
Origin Story
Two springs rise within feet of each other from beneath Glastonbury Tor—one red with iron, one white with calcite. This geological mystery has generated centuries of interpretation. In alchemical understanding, the springs represent masculine and feminine polarities seeking reunion. In Faery tradition, red and white are the colors of the Otherworld. In Arthurian legend, the waters carry whispers of Merlin's magic.
The White Spring's history as a temple is recent. A Victorian well house was built over the spring in 1872 to create a municipal reservoir, but the calcite content blocked pipes and the building was abandoned. A century of neglect followed before revival in the 1980s and consecration as a temple in 2005. Yet the spring itself is ancient, and veneration of sacred waters in this location may extend back millennia.
Key Figures
Brigid
Brighid, Bride, Brigit
deity
Celtic Fire Goddess and guardian of sacred springs, Brigid presides over the temple's central shrine. She is keeper of the hearth fire, the forge, and the Divine flame. According to tradition, St. Brigid—filled with the spirit of the goddess—lived and learned at the nearby Beckery before founding her abbey in Kildare, Ireland, where her perpetual flame was maintained for a thousand years. That flame, extinguished around 1220 and relit in 1993, is echoed in the perpetual flame burning at the White Spring shrine.
Our Lady of Avalon
deity
Honored as the ancient feminine primary power, Our Lady of Avalon is a dark lady—dark as the earth is dark, womb-like, safe, protecting. She represents the Goddess worshiped in Avalon for thousands of years, renewed by the earliest churches that dedicated their 'Old Church' to Our Lady.
Gwyn ap Nudd
deity
King of the Realm of Faery in Welsh tradition, Gwyn ap Nudd is associated with Glastonbury Tor as an entrance to his Otherworld kingdom. His shrine in the temple honors the spring's role as a portal between realms.
Spiritual Lineage
The temple draws on multiple lineages simultaneously. Celtic water veneration provides the foundational understanding of springs as sacred thresholds. The cult of Brigid, spanning both Pagan and Christian eras, offers a central deity and practice (the perpetual flame). Glastonbury's identification with Avalon connects the site to Arthurian and Faery traditions. Contemporary Goddess spirituality provides the framework for the temple's current operation as a space honoring the Divine Feminine in multiple aspects.
Know a Sacred Site We Should Include?
Help us expand our collection of sacred sites. Share your knowledge and contribute to preserving the world's spiritual heritage.