A KEY religious site on the edge of a Somerset town will be given a new lease of life through government funding.

Glastonbury was one of 101 towns across the UK – and one of only two in Somerset – which has received funding from the government’s towns fund, with £23.6m being provided for projects designed to enhance the town centre and improve the town’s fortunes.

One of the 11 projects – whose final business cases were approved by the government in September 2022 – involves the regeneration of St. Brigid’s Chapel and Field (also known as St. Bride’s Mound) which lies off Moorlands Road at the town’s western edge.

The Friends of St. Bride’s Mound have now submitted formal plans for this project, which could be approved by Somerset Council by the end of the year.

The 33-acre site lies to the north of Moorlands Road, near the town’s housing waste recycling centre, and contains some of the earliest monastic remains ever found in Britain.

The site is a scheduled ancient monument which is of great importance to both Christians and pagans – but it is largely inaccessible either from Moorlands Road or Hulk Moor Drove, which runs alongside the River Brue.

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Working with the South West Heritage Trust and the Somerset Wildlife Trust, the Friends of St Bride’s Mound intend to construct a year-round visitors’ centre on the site, which will be “built to a green specification” with solar panels and “basic refreshment facilities”.

This new building – referred to in the plans as ‘The Roundhouse’ – will provide a meeting point for local community groups and visitor trips, with heritage boards being created around the building which will interpret the site.

A spokesman for the Friends of St Bride’s Mound said: “The proposed building and landscaping will enhance an otherwise utilitarian industrial area and encampment.

“The Chapel Field will be open to visitors year round.”

Local blue lias tone will be laid on the ground to mark out the footprint of the Beckery Chapel, enabling visitors to visualise the former monastic buildings.

To access the site, two new walking and cycle paths will be created, using a similar method of construction to the new sections of the Strawberry Line active travel route which have been delivered in Shepton Mallet and Westbury-sub-Mendip.

These new paths are designed to be accessible for people of all abilities, and will complement the enhancement of the Glastonbury Way and other active travel routes around the town as part of a separate town deal project, the Robert Richards initiative.

On-site parking will be provided for five cars (including one disabled space), with visitors being encouraged to use the Premier Inn car park as an overflow.

The wider site will be enhanced through the planting of a new orchard and wildflower meadow, the creation of a well-being garden and other planting to mitigate any increase in phosphates within the surrounding area.

A total of £730,000 has been set aside for the project, with £670,000 coming from the town deal and the remaining £60,000 from other sources.

A spokesman for the Glastonbury Town Deal said: “This project addresses the need to make the heritage and natural environment of the site accessible, as it is difficult to visit and poorly signed.

“The aim is to bring this ancient pilgrimage place to life, telling its stories, enhancing its wildlife and creating an oasis of well-being.

“Enhanced public access will enable a wide range of educational and volunteering opportunities, as well as connecting the sites to the wider landscape through cycle and footpath access, with the facilities being at the hub of green network routes that reach out from Glastonbury, including to the Avalon Marshes.”

The council is expected to make a decision on the plans by the end of the year. All funding associated with the Glastonbury Town Deal must be spent by April 2026.

Decision are also pending on two other town deal projects in the immediate vicinity – the regeneration of the Baily’s Buildings on Beckery Old Road, and the creation of a “regenerative farming centre” on Porchestall Drove.