THE ELEANOR CROSSES
A Journey Set in Stone
When King Edward I’s beloved first wife, Eleanor of Castile, died in 1290, he spent three days in intense mourning, unable to leave the Nottinghamshire village of Harby where she died. He then led her funeral procession, journeying some 200 miles to London over many days.
To commemorate Eleanor, Edward commissioned three tombs and had 12 stone crosses built to mark each place where her body rested overnight on its final journey. He employed the best masons in the land to build them.
Discover the story of these remarkable memorials, and follow the journey of the funeral procession to explore what remains of the original crosses. You can also take a close-up look at the finest of the three surviving crosses, at Geddington in Northamptonshire, and find out how the crosses have inspired later monuments as well as the striking murals at Charing Cross underground station.
Pray for our consort who in life we loved dearly and, dead, we do not cease to love
ELEANOR AND EDWARD
Eleanor was a Spanish princess born to the Castilian king Ferdinand III and his second wife, Jeanne, in about 1241. She grew up in the male-dominated world of the Reconquista – the ongoing military conquest of Al-Andalus, southern Islamic Spain, by the kingdom of Castile.
Edward was born in Westminster in 1239, the eldest son of Henry III (reigned 1216–72). His immediate role models were his father – pious, but often unable to manage the political rivalries of court and country – and his learned and powerful mother, Eleanor of Provence.
The marriage between Eleanor of Castile and Prince Edward was arranged as part of an alliance between England and Castile. It was intended to free the English province of Gascony (what is now south-west France) from Castilian influence, and as a useful diplomatic precaution for both parties against the powerful kingdom of France.
Edward journeyed to Castile in autumn 1254, marrying Eleanor at Burgos in November. He was 15 and she was nearly 13. Aristocratic children often married at this young age – medieval society considered that they were physically and mentally ready.
Edward and Eleanor, depicted in an early 14th-century manuscript originally from Rochester Cathedral Priory
© Alamy Stock Photo
Edward and Eleanor, depicted in an early 14th-century manuscript originally from Rochester Cathedral Priory
© Alamy Stock Photo
From this diplomatically expedient marriage, a relationship of deep affection would develop between Edward and Eleanor. Unlike most royal couples, they were hardly ever apart. Eleanor gave birth to about 16 children over nearly 30 years. There were several stillbirths and early deaths, but five daughters and one son outlived their mother, with Edward of Caernarfon becoming Edward II after his father’s death in 1307.
Following their wedding, after several months in Gascony the couple arrived in England in October 1255. The political and military conflict in England known as the Second Barons’ War dominated their early married life. At one point in the conflict Prince Edward, Eleanor and the king were all imprisoned by the baronial leader Simon de Montfort, after the Battle of Lewes in 1264. But Edward escaped and killed de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham the following year.
In 1270 Edward and Eleanor left England on crusade, eventually arriving in Acre, the capital of the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem. By this point the Christian kingdom was a small outpost, surrounded by the Islamic Mamluk caliphate ruled from Cairo. Edward fought in skirmishes with the Mamluks until a ten-year truce was signed in 1272. In June that year an assassin attempted to kill him: he successfully fought off the attacker but was stabbed in the arm, probably with a poisoned dagger. According to a colourful (and most likely legendary) later account of the episode, Eleanor saved Edward by sucking the poison from his arm.
An etching of 1780 showing Queen Eleanor sucking the poison from King Edward’s arm, after a painting by Angelica Kauffman. Many 18th-century artists, prompted by a play about this mythical incident, were drawn to depict it as an example of wifely devotion
© Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
An etching of 1780 showing Queen Eleanor sucking the poison from King Edward’s arm, after a painting by Angelica Kauffman. Many 18th-century artists, prompted by a play about this mythical incident, were drawn to depict it as an example of wifely devotion
© Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Edward and Eleanor left Acre in September 1272. News of the death of Henry III reached them during their slow journey back to England via Italy, Gascony and France. In August 1274 Edward and Eleanor, renowned as the golden couple of Europe, were crowned in an elaborate coronation at Westminster Abbey.
In the early years of Edward’s reign they went on lengthy tours of the kingdom. The business-like Eleanor quietly established a property portfolio to finance her queenly expenses – an activity which led some at the time to comment on her acquisitiveness:
The King he wants to get our gold
The Queen our manors fair to hold.
In 1282–4 the royal couple were in Wales, taking part in the English conquest after the uprising by the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. Then in 1286–9 they were back in Gascony, dealing, once again, with the complicated politics of the English province.
Returning to England in 1289, Eleanor was already ill. She may have had malaria, or perhaps it was a worsening heart condition. The couple continued to tour the kingdom, but the pace slowed. There is a sense that Eleanor was trying to settle her family affairs, arranging marriages for three of her children.
DEATH AND COMMEMORATION
Travelling slowly northwards in November 1290, the royal party halted at Harby in Nottinghamshire. It was there that the queen died on the evening or night of Tuesday 28 November, aged 49. Edward, struck by grief, stayed in Harby for about three days after Eleanor’s death. He then embarked on a 21-day funeral procession en route to London and Westminster.
The Victorian church of All Saints, Harby. This is a replacement of the medieval church in the village where Queen Eleanor died in a nearby manor house on 28 November 1290
© Julian P Guffogg (cc-by-sa/2.0)
The Victorian church of All Saints, Harby. This is a replacement of the medieval church in the village where Queen Eleanor died in a nearby manor house on 28 November 1290
© Julian P Guffogg (cc-by-sa/2.0)
The funeral party spent the night in over a dozen locations during the journey from Harby to Westminster. As they travelled southwards, Edward and his advisors were already planning a commemorative scheme to mark each stopping place with a memorial cross. A monk at Dunstable Priory described how the procession halted in the town’s marketplace, where the king’s chancellor, Robert Burnell, and the other nobles chose a site for a memorial cross. The prior, William of Wendover, then blessed the chosen site by sprinkling holy water.
The 12 memorial crosses were the largest but not the only part of Edward’s plan to commemorate Eleanor. Most unusually, Eleanor had three burials, and so was commemorated with three tombs. To preserve her body for its slow transport to the chosen burial place in Westminster Abbey, her entrails were removed as part of the embalming process, and buried in Lincoln. Her heart – carefully carried separately from her body from Lincoln to London – was buried at the London Black Friars.
As part of the embalming process, Eleanor’s entrails, or viscera, were removed before her body was carried to London. Her viscera were buried in this beautiful tomb in Lincoln Cathedral, recorded here by the English heraldic artist William Sedgwick, shortly before the tomb’s destruction in the English Civil Wars
© Alamy Stock Photo
As part of the embalming process, Eleanor’s entrails, or viscera, were removed before her body was carried to London. Her viscera were buried in this beautiful tomb in Lincoln Cathedral, recorded here by the English heraldic artist William Sedgwick, shortly before the tomb’s destruction in the English Civil Wars
© Alamy Stock Photo
At Westminster Abbey and Lincoln Cathedral great craftsmen built two painted chest tombs, each capped by a recumbent bronze effigy of Eleanor. And at the London Black Friars her heart-tomb was like a saint’s reliquary, incorporating three small bronze statues. Finally, a commemorative chapel was built at Harby, where a chantry priest was to perform daily masses for Eleanor’s soul.
Detail from William Torel’s remarkable cast bronze effigy of Eleanor on her tomb in Westminster Abbey
© Photo by Angelo Hornak/Corbis via Getty Images
Detail from William Torel’s remarkable cast bronze effigy of Eleanor on her tomb in Westminster Abbey
© Photo by Angelo Hornak/Corbis via Getty Images
So there were 16 monuments to Eleanor on the route from Harby to Westminster. Besides these physical monuments, priests throughout the land were engaged to perform masses and anniversary funeral services to speed Eleanor’s soul through Purgatory to reach Heaven.
Accipite et manducate ex hoc omnes. Hoc est enim Corpus meum
Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my Body
THE JOURNEY AND THE CROSSES
Lincoln
Leaving Harby on the Friday or Saturday after Eleanor’s death, Edward and the funeral procession travelled first the 7 miles or so to Lincoln. There Eleanor’s corpse was embalmed, probably at the city’s Black Friars. On Sunday 3 December 1290 her internal organs – removed as part of the embalming process – were taken to the cathedral for burial.
The memorial cross to mark this first stopping place of the funeral procession was completed in 1292. The cross stood just outside the city walls to the south, at the important road junction by St Catherine’s Priory. A surviving fragment of the Lincoln cross, with the folds of Eleanor’s dress clearly visible, can be seen in its new location at Lincoln Castle.
This fragment within the grounds of Lincoln Castle is all that remains of the first Eleanor cross. This cross, like most of the other Eleanor crosses, was destroyed in the English Civil War of the 1640s or during Cromwell’s Commonwealth of the 1650s – a time when their links to royalty and Catholic religion made these monuments doubly suspicious
© Richard Croft (cc-by-sa/2.0)
This fragment within the grounds of Lincoln Castle is all that remains of the first Eleanor cross. This cross, like most of the other Eleanor crosses, was destroyed in the English Civil War of the 1640s or during Cromwell’s Commonwealth of the 1650s – a time when their links to royalty and Catholic religion made these monuments doubly suspicious
© Richard Croft (cc-by-sa/2.0)
Grantham
On the Monday morning Edward and the funeral procession set out on the 25-mile journey to Grantham. Eleanor’s body may have rested at the parish church of St Wulfram, or in the town’s newly founded Grey Friars. The memorial cross here, later known as Queen’s Cross, was built in the widest part of Grantham’s High Street, by St Peter’s Hill.
The Eleanor cross, and a separate medieval market cross, were dismantled during the English Civil War in the 1640s. However, some of the stones of the two crosses were stored and the market cross was eventually rebuilt. It seems therefore quite likely that the surviving market cross incorporates a few stones from the Eleanor cross.
The market cross at Grantham. It probably incorporates stones from the Eleanor cross, which was destroyed during the Civil War
© Alan Murray-Rust (cc-by-sa/2.0)
The market cross at Grantham. It probably incorporates stones from the Eleanor cross, which was destroyed during the Civil War
© Alan Murray-Rust (cc-by-sa/2.0)
Stamford
On Tuesday the procession travelled a further 22 miles to Stamford. Edward and the members of the procession would have stayed in the castle, with Eleanor’s body spending the night in the castle chapel, the Dominican friary or another church in the town.
A commemorative cross was built just outside Stamford on the Casterton road, which the funeral procession would have passed on leaving the town. We don’t know when it was destroyed, but it was certainly before the mid 18th century, when the antiquarian William Stukeley lived in Stamford. Naturally, he took a keen interest in the history of his adopted town. In 1745 he recorded the hexagonal steps of the cross (all that then survived) and sketched a reconstruction of the whole cross. He even acquired a fragment of the demolished cross to display in his garden.
Today, a modern Eleanor Cross stands in Stamford’s Sheep Market in homage to the lost cross.
The modern cross at Stamford. It is decorated with a spiral pattern of roses, known from Stukeley’s drawing to have adorned the original cross
© Dave Porter/Alamy Stock Photo
The modern cross at Stamford. It is decorated with a spiral pattern of roses, known from Stukeley’s drawing to have adorned the original cross
© Dave Porter/Alamy Stock Photo
Geddington
On Wednesday 6 December the funeral procession travelled 19 miles to Geddington (Northamptonshire). This village had a royal hunting lodge with a particular emotional resonance for Edward and Eleanor. The couple were very fond of hunting and they had stayed here on a number of occasions, most recently only weeks earlier in September.
This time, while Edward rested in the lodge, Eleanor’s corpse lay in the parish church of St Mary Magdalene. The Geddington cross – the finest surviving Eleanor cross – is described in more detail below.
The Eleanor Cross at Geddington, the finest surviving cross, is in the care of English Heritage
The Eleanor Cross at Geddington, the finest surviving cross, is in the care of English Heritage
Hardingstone
On Thursday or Friday the cortège covered the 28-mile journey to Northampton, their fifth stop since leaving Harby. The funeral party probably stayed in Northampton Castle. But the site of the Eleanor cross just outside the town may indicate that Eleanor’s coffin rested overnight in the nunnery of Delapré Abbey, Hardingstone.
The Hardingstone cross, which survives just south of the entrance to Delapré Abbey. It has been much renovated over the years, but the base of the original cross-shaft survives at the very top
The Hardingstone cross, which survives just south of the entrance to Delapré Abbey. It has been much renovated over the years, but the base of the original cross-shaft survives at the very top
The cross here is one of the three survivors. Built in 1291–2 by a team led by the mason John of Battle at a cost of well over £100, it was designed with five storeys. From an octagonal base of steps there rises a broad shaft, also octagonal, with arched niches. These are decorated with heraldic shields and open books, the latter presumably once painted with prayers. Above this, the third stage features four deeper niches with statues of Eleanor. The fourth stage is the decorated base from which the cross itself – now broken – rises.
Detail of the heraldic shields and books on the Hardingstone cross. Eleanor was an avid collector of books, and perhaps the books are a tribute to this
Detail of the heraldic shields and books on the Hardingstone cross. Eleanor was an avid collector of books, and perhaps the books are a tribute to this
Stony Stratford
On Saturday 9 December the procession reached Stony Stratford in Buckinghamshire, a journey of 14 miles. They presumably halted at the parish church of St Mary Magdalene, or in the nearby village of St Mary Haversham (where Eleanor owned property), or at Bradwell Priory, 2 miles further on.
The cross was built in the town high street by John of Battle in 1291–3. Like the other crosses, it seems to have featured statues of the queen. The monument has now completely gone – it was probably destroyed during the Civil War or Interregnum of the mid 17th century.
A plaque in the High Street at Stony Stratford commemorating the location of the lost Eleanor cross
© Richard Croft (cc-by-sa/2.0)
A plaque in the High Street at Stony Stratford commemorating the location of the lost Eleanor cross
© Richard Croft (cc-by-sa/2.0)
Woburn
At this point Edward may have left the funeral party, travelling onwards to St Albans to attend the election of the new abbot. The procession now travelled more slowly, making the 14-mile journey to Woburn Abbey, the seventh stop.
Once again, the cross here was built by John of Battle, in 1292–3. Like Stony Stratford’s cross, it has now completely disappeared, and we know little about its appearance. Its site also remains unknown.
The abbey was closed in 1538 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and soon afterwards the courtier Sir John Russell converted it into a mansion. In turn, this Tudor mansion was completely rebuilt in the 18th century.
Detail from a map of Woburn Abbey made in 1661, showing the Tudor mansion built on the site of the abbey, where the funeral party stayed the night
© Woburn Abbey Collection
Detail from a map of Woburn Abbey made in 1661, showing the Tudor mansion built on the site of the abbey, where the funeral party stayed the night
© Woburn Abbey Collection
Dunstable
On Monday 11 December the cortège travelled another 9 miles to Dunstable Priory in Bedfordshire. The priory’s annalist recorded the visit of the funeral party, apparently without the king. It was here, in the market place at the town crossroads, that Robert Burnell, the king’s chancellor, and others present selected the site on which to build a cross:
And when the body of Queen Eleanor passed through Dunstable, it was placed in the middle of the marketplace, with a reliquary on top, until the Lord Chancellor and the nobles who had gone there chose an appropriate place where they would later erect a cross of admirable size. … and our prior sprinkled holy water to bless the chosen place.
Built by John of Battle in 1291–3, the cross here was presumably of a similar design to the Geddington and Hardingstone crosses. The 16th-century English antiquarian William Camden described the cross as being engraved with heraldic arms and statues of Eleanor.
The cross has now gone, and its site is marked by a plaque.
St Peter’s Church, Dunstable, is the former priory church where Queen Eleanor’s body rested overnight
© John Armagh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
St Peter’s Church, Dunstable, is the former priory church where Queen Eleanor’s body rested overnight
© John Armagh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
St Albans
The following day the funeral party continued southwards to the abbey of St Albans, Hertfordshire, where they rejoined the king. The procession stopped briefly at the parish church of St Michael and then continued to the abbey. The abbey’s chronicler recorded:
When her body … approached St Albans all the abbey, solemnly dressed in albs and copes, went out to meet it at the church of St Michael on the edge of the town. From there her body was taken to the choir of the church, before the high altar. That whole night it was honoured by the entire abbey with great devotion, with services and holy vigils.
John of Battle built the fifth of his Eleanor crosses at the south end of the High Street market, opposite the abbey. Part of the cross survived until about 1703 when a new market cross was built, itself later taken down. Today a plaque on the Clock Tower marks its location.
A late 18th-century view of the area now known as Market Cross in St Albans, where the Eleanor cross once stood
© British Library (Maps K.Top.15.49.cc)
A late 18th-century view of the area now known as Market Cross in St Albans, where the Eleanor cross once stood
© British Library (Maps K.Top.15.49.cc)
Waltham
On Wednesday 13 December, 15 days after Eleanor’s death, Edward returned to Westminster. Perhaps he had to make important decisions about the funeral, not to mention dealing with the neglected daily business of being king.
The funeral party, however, travelled eastwards another 25 miles to Waltham Abbey in Essex. This stop may have been planned in order to enter London the next day from the north-east and process through the whole city. And the abbey at Waltham was an appropriate additional stop – it was named after the Holy Cross, and was the site of King Harold’s grave.
The site chosen for the Waltham memorial was a crossroads to the south of the village of Cheshunt. The funeral party would have passed it twice – first travelling eastwards to the abbey in the afternoon, and then returning and heading southwards the next morning.
An engraving of the Waltham cross by George Vertue, published in 1721, after a drawing by William Stukeley
© Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
An engraving of the Waltham cross by George Vertue, published in 1721, after a drawing by William Stukeley
© Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
This cross was built in 1291–2 by the masons Roger of Crundale and Nicholas Dymenge. As the crosses got closer to London, they were grander, with this one costing at least £110. Like the other crosses, it was a five-stage cross, and was hexagonal in plan. Over the stepped base a lower stage featured carved arms in blind arcades, and a middle stage had statues of Eleanor in three of the six niches. Above was an arcaded base for the cross itself.
An aquatint of the Waltham cross in 1790
© British Library
An aquatint of the Waltham cross in 1790
© British Library
Much restored, the monument still stands at the crossroads, now the centre of the eponymous town of Waltham Cross.
London: Cheapside
On Thursday Eleanor set out on her final journey to London, 25 miles away. The cortège entered the city through the northern gate of Bishopsgate. Here they turned left, skirting the city wall until they arrived at Holy Trinity Priory in the east of the city.
The route taken through London by the funeral procession
The route taken through London by the funeral procession
On Friday 15 December the funeral party journeyed slowly westwards along the city’s busiest street, Cheapside. Passing the little priory of Sack Friars that Eleanor had refounded in the late 1260s, they reached the large Franciscan friary of Grey Friars. After a mass there, the procession entered the precinct of St Paul’s Cathedral.
An 18th-century engraving of a now destroyed wall painting of the 1540s, showing Edward VI’s coronation procession in 1547 passing the Cheapside cross
© Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images
An 18th-century engraving of a now destroyed wall painting of the 1540s, showing Edward VI’s coronation procession in 1547 passing the Cheapside cross
© Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images
The eleventh cross was placed right in the middle of Cheapside, opposite the church of St Peter Wood Street. It was built under the supervision of Michael of Canterbury, the king’s master mason, at a cost of about £300. This five-stage cross featured the shields of the queen’s heraldic arms and one or two sets of statues. The details are uncertain as the cross was rebuilt in the late 15th century, when religious imagery of the Resurrection was added to the statues portraying Eleanor.
This combination of Catholic and royal imagery led to the dismantling of the cross in 1643, during the English Civil War. An inscribed stone commemorating the cross was installed in 2015 at the nearby church of St Mary-le-Bow.
A contemporary print showing the Cheapside cross being torn down in May 1643
© Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images
A contemporary print showing the Cheapside cross being torn down in May 1643
© Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images
London: Charing
On Saturday the funeral procession travelled a few hundred yards for another mass, this time at the Dominican Black Friars. Eleanor’s heart – carried separately since Lincoln – stayed here at the friary, while her coffin and the procession continued on the journey to Westminster Abbey.
The twelfth and final cross was built by Richard and Robert Crundale in 1291–3. It was sited at the road junction at the hamlet of Charing (modern Trafalgar Square), half a mile north of the abbey, and designed to be visible to those approaching from the north, south or east.
The original cross at Charing (top, centre), depicted in a woodcut map of London made in the early 1560s
© London Metropolitan Archives (City of London)
The original cross at Charing (top, centre), depicted in a woodcut map of London made in the early 1560s
© London Metropolitan Archives (City of London)
At a cost of over £600, this was by far the grandest and most expensive cross. It featured the generous use of dark-hued Corfe marble and, most likely, eight statues of the queen adorning the octagonal main section.
The original Charing cross was destroyed in 1647, during the Civil Wars. The cross that now stands outside the station is a Victorian reconstruction, built to enhance the station and hotel named after the original cross.
Burial
Sunday 17 December 1290 was the nineteenth day since Eleanor’s death, and Westminster Abbey was the final stop for her body. The Benedictine monks conducted the funeral service and buried her body in a temporary coffin within the church.
The Dominican priory of Black Friars in the city of London, as it might have looked in 1500. Little of this large monastic house survives today, although the name lives on in the railway station and bridge
© Nick Holder (illustration by Mark Samuel)
The Dominican priory of Black Friars in the city of London, as it might have looked in 1500. Little of this large monastic house survives today, although the name lives on in the railway station and bridge
© Nick Holder (illustration by Mark Samuel)
But the funeral procession was not quite finished. Edward must have returned to the London monastic house of Black Friars on Tuesday 19 December to attend the interment of Eleanor’s heart, the final part of the queen’s elaborate triple-burial. Edward and Eleanor had refounded the friary in the 1270s and it was the burial place of the heart of their son Alphonso, heir to the English throne until his death in 1284, aged ten. In early 1290 Eleanor was already planning the burial of her heart beside that of her son.
Lincoln
Leaving Harby on the Friday or Saturday after Eleanor’s death, Edward and the funeral procession travelled first the 7 miles or so to Lincoln. There Eleanor’s corpse was embalmed, probably at the city’s Black Friars. On Sunday 3 December 1290 her internal organs – removed as part of the embalming process – were taken to the cathedral for burial.
The memorial cross to mark this first stopping place of the funeral procession was completed in 1292. The cross stood just outside the city walls to the south, at the important road junction by St Catherine’s Priory. A surviving fragment of the Lincoln cross, with the folds of Eleanor’s dress clearly visible, can be seen in its new location at Lincoln Castle.
This fragment within the grounds of Lincoln Castle is all that remains of the first Eleanor cross. This cross, like most of the other Eleanor crosses, was destroyed in the English Civil War of the 1640s or during Cromwell’s Commonwealth of the 1650s – a time when their links to royalty and Catholic religion made these monuments doubly suspicious
© Richard Croft (cc-by-sa/2.0)
This fragment within the grounds of Lincoln Castle is all that remains of the first Eleanor cross. This cross, like most of the other Eleanor crosses, was destroyed in the English Civil War of the 1640s or during Cromwell’s Commonwealth of the 1650s – a time when their links to royalty and Catholic religion made these monuments doubly suspicious
© Richard Croft (cc-by-sa/2.0)
Grantham
On the Monday morning Edward and the funeral procession set out on the 25-mile journey to Grantham. Eleanor’s body may have rested at the parish church of St Wulfram, or in the town’s newly founded Grey Friars. The memorial cross here, later known as Queen’s Cross, was built in the widest part of Grantham’s High Street, by St Peter’s Hill.
The Eleanor cross, and a separate medieval market cross, were dismantled during the English Civil War in the 1640s. However, some of the stones of the two crosses were stored and the market cross was eventually rebuilt. It seems therefore quite likely that the surviving market cross incorporates a few stones from the Eleanor cross.
The market cross at Grantham. It probably incorporates stones from the Eleanor cross, which was destroyed during the Civil War
© Alan Murray-Rust (cc-by-sa/2.0)
The market cross at Grantham. It probably incorporates stones from the Eleanor cross, which was destroyed during the Civil War
© Alan Murray-Rust (cc-by-sa/2.0)
Stamford
On Tuesday the procession travelled a further 22 miles to Stamford. Edward and the members of the procession would have stayed in the castle, with Eleanor’s body spending the night in the castle chapel, the Dominican friary or another church in the town.
A commemorative cross was built just outside Stamford on the Casterton road, which the funeral procession would have passed on leaving the town. We don’t know when it was destroyed, but it was certainly before the mid 18th century, when the antiquarian William Stukeley lived in Stamford. Naturally, he took a keen interest in the history of his adopted town. In 1745 he recorded the hexagonal steps of the cross (all that then survived) and sketched a reconstruction of the whole cross. He even acquired a fragment of the demolished cross to display in his garden.
Today, a modern Eleanor Cross stands in Stamford’s Sheep Market in homage to the lost cross.
The modern cross at Stamford. It is decorated with a spiral pattern of roses, known from Stukeley’s drawing to have adorned the original cross
© Dave Porter/Alamy Stock Photo
The modern cross at Stamford. It is decorated with a spiral pattern of roses, known from Stukeley’s drawing to have adorned the original cross
© Dave Porter/Alamy Stock Photo
Geddington
On Wednesday 6 December the funeral procession travelled 19 miles to Geddington (Northamptonshire). This village had a royal hunting lodge with a particular emotional resonance for Edward and Eleanor. The couple were very fond of hunting and they had stayed here on a number of occasions, most recently only weeks earlier in September.
This time, while Edward rested in the lodge, Eleanor’s corpse lay in the parish church of St Mary Magdalene. The Geddington cross – the finest surviving Eleanor cross – is described in more detail below.
The Eleanor Cross at Geddington, the finest surviving cross, is in the care of English Heritage
The Eleanor Cross at Geddington, the finest surviving cross, is in the care of English Heritage
Hardingstone
On Thursday or Friday the cortège covered the 28-mile journey to Northampton, their fifth stop since leaving Harby. The funeral party probably stayed in Northampton Castle. But the site of the Eleanor cross just outside the town may indicate that Eleanor’s coffin rested overnight in the nunnery of Delapré Abbey, Hardingstone.
The Hardingstone cross, which survives just south of the entrance to Delapré Abbey. It has been much renovated over the years, but the base of the original cross-shaft survives at the very top
The Hardingstone cross, which survives just south of the entrance to Delapré Abbey. It has been much renovated over the years, but the base of the original cross-shaft survives at the very top
The cross here is one of the three survivors. Built in 1291–2 by a team led by the mason John of Battle at a cost of well over £100, it was designed with five storeys. From an octagonal base of steps there rises a broad shaft, also octagonal, with arched niches. These are decorated with heraldic shields and open books, the latter presumably once painted with prayers. Above this, the third stage features four deeper niches with statues of Eleanor. The fourth stage is the decorated base from which the cross itself – now broken – rises.
Detail of the heraldic shields and books on the Hardingstone cross. Eleanor was an avid collector of books, and perhaps the books are a tribute to this
Detail of the heraldic shields and books on the Hardingstone cross. Eleanor was an avid collector of books, and perhaps the books are a tribute to this
Stony Stratford
On Saturday 9 December the procession reached Stony Stratford in Buckinghamshire, a journey of 14 miles. They presumably halted at the parish church of St Mary Magdalene, or in the nearby village of St Mary Haversham (where Eleanor owned property), or at Bradwell Priory, 2 miles further on.
The cross was built in the town high street by John of Battle in 1291–3. Like the other crosses, it seems to have featured statues of the queen. The monument has now completely gone – it was probably destroyed during the Civil War or Interregnum of the mid 17th century.
A plaque in the High Street at Stony Stratford commemorating the location of the lost Eleanor cross
© Richard Croft (cc-by-sa/2.0)
A plaque in the High Street at Stony Stratford commemorating the location of the lost Eleanor cross
© Richard Croft (cc-by-sa/2.0)
Woburn
At this point Edward may have left the funeral party, travelling onwards to St Albans to attend the election of the new abbot. The procession now travelled more slowly, making the 14-mile journey to Woburn Abbey, the seventh stop.
Once again, the cross here was built by John of Battle, in 1292–3. Like Stony Stratford’s cross, it has now completely disappeared, and we know little about its appearance. Its site also remains unknown.
The abbey was closed in 1538 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and soon afterwards the courtier Sir John Russell converted it into a mansion. In turn, this Tudor mansion was completely rebuilt in the 18th century.
Detail from a map of Woburn Abbey made in 1661, showing the Tudor mansion built on the site of the abbey, where the funeral party stayed the night
© Woburn Abbey Collection
Detail from a map of Woburn Abbey made in 1661, showing the Tudor mansion built on the site of the abbey, where the funeral party stayed the night
© Woburn Abbey Collection
Dunstable
On Monday 11 December the cortège travelled another 9 miles to Dunstable Priory in Bedfordshire. The priory’s annalist recorded the visit of the funeral party, apparently without the king. It was here, in the market place at the town crossroads, that Robert Burnell, the king’s chancellor, and others present selected the site on which to build a cross:
And when the body of Queen Eleanor passed through Dunstable, it was placed in the middle of the marketplace, with a reliquary on top, until the Lord Chancellor and the nobles who had gone there chose an appropriate place where they would later erect a cross of admirable size. … and our prior sprinkled holy water to bless the chosen place.
Built by John of Battle in 1291–3, the cross here was presumably of a similar design to the Geddington and Hardingstone crosses. The 16th-century English antiquarian William Camden described the cross as being engraved with heraldic arms and statues of Eleanor.
The cross has now gone, and its site is marked by a plaque.
St Peter’s Church, Dunstable, is the former priory church where Queen Eleanor’s body rested overnight
© John Armagh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
St Peter’s Church, Dunstable, is the former priory church where Queen Eleanor’s body rested overnight
© John Armagh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
St Albans
The following day the funeral party continued southwards to the abbey of St Albans, Hertfordshire, where they rejoined the king. The procession stopped briefly at the parish church of St Michael and then continued to the abbey. The abbey’s chronicler recorded:
When her body … approached St Albans all the abbey, solemnly dressed in albs and copes, went out to meet it at the church of St Michael on the edge of the town. From there her body was taken to the choir of the church, before the high altar. That whole night it was honoured by the entire abbey with great devotion, with services and holy vigils.
John of Battle built the fifth of his Eleanor crosses at the south end of the High Street market, opposite the abbey. Part of the cross survived until about 1703 when a new market cross was built, itself later taken down. Today a plaque on the Clock Tower marks its location.
A late 18th-century view of the area now known as Market Cross in St Albans, where the Eleanor cross once stood
© British Library (Maps K.Top.15.49.cc)
A late 18th-century view of the area now known as Market Cross in St Albans, where the Eleanor cross once stood
© British Library (Maps K.Top.15.49.cc)
Waltham
On Wednesday 13 December, 15 days after Eleanor’s death, Edward returned to Westminster. Perhaps he had to make important decisions about the funeral, not to mention dealing with the neglected daily business of being king.
The funeral party, however, travelled eastwards another 25 miles to Waltham Abbey in Essex. This stop may have been planned in order to enter London the next day from the north-east and process through the whole city. And the abbey at Waltham was an appropriate additional stop – it was named after the Holy Cross, and was the site of King Harold’s grave.
The site chosen for the Waltham memorial was a crossroads to the south of the village of Cheshunt. The funeral party would have passed it twice – first travelling eastwards to the abbey in the afternoon, and then returning and heading southwards the next morning.
An engraving of the Waltham cross by George Vertue, published in 1721, after a drawing by William Stukeley
© Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
An engraving of the Waltham cross by George Vertue, published in 1721, after a drawing by William Stukeley
© Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
This cross was built in 1291–2 by the masons Roger of Crundale and Nicholas Dymenge. As the crosses got closer to London, they were grander, with this one costing at least £110. Like the other crosses, it was a five-stage cross, and was hexagonal in plan. Over the stepped base a lower stage featured carved arms in blind arcades, and a middle stage had statues of Eleanor in three of the six niches. Above was an arcaded base for the cross itself.
An aquatint of the Waltham cross in 1790
© British Library
An aquatint of the Waltham cross in 1790
© British Library
Much restored, the monument still stands at the crossroads, now the centre of the eponymous town of Waltham Cross.
London: Cheapside
On Thursday Eleanor set out on her final journey to London, 25 miles away. The cortège entered the city through the northern gate of Bishopsgate. Here they turned left, skirting the city wall until they arrived at Holy Trinity Priory in the east of the city.
The route taken through London by the funeral procession
The route taken through London by the funeral procession
On Friday 15 December the funeral party journeyed slowly westwards along the city’s busiest street, Cheapside. Passing the little priory of Sack Friars that Eleanor had refounded in the late 1260s, they reached the large Franciscan friary of Grey Friars. After a mass there, the procession entered the precinct of St Paul’s Cathedral.
An 18th-century engraving of a now destroyed wall painting of the 1540s, showing Edward VI’s coronation procession in 1547 passing the Cheapside cross
© Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images
An 18th-century engraving of a now destroyed wall painting of the 1540s, showing Edward VI’s coronation procession in 1547 passing the Cheapside cross
© Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images
The eleventh cross was placed right in the middle of Cheapside, opposite the church of St Peter Wood Street. It was built under the supervision of Michael of Canterbury, the king’s master mason, at a cost of about £300. This five-stage cross featured the shields of the queen’s heraldic arms and one or two sets of statues. The details are uncertain as the cross was rebuilt in the late 15th century, when religious imagery of the Resurrection was added to the statues portraying Eleanor.
This combination of Catholic and royal imagery led to the dismantling of the cross in 1643, during the English Civil War. An inscribed stone commemorating the cross was installed in 2015 at the nearby church of St Mary-le-Bow.
A contemporary print showing the Cheapside cross being torn down in May 1643
© Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images
A contemporary print showing the Cheapside cross being torn down in May 1643
© Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images
London: Charing
On Saturday the funeral procession travelled a few hundred yards for another mass, this time at the Dominican Black Friars. Eleanor’s heart – carried separately since Lincoln – stayed here at the friary, while her coffin and the procession continued on the journey to Westminster Abbey.
The twelfth and final cross was built by Richard and Robert Crundale in 1291–3. It was sited at the road junction at the hamlet of Charing (modern Trafalgar Square), half a mile north of the abbey, and designed to be visible to those approaching from the north, south or east.
The original cross at Charing (top, centre), depicted in a woodcut map of London made in the early 1560s
© London Metropolitan Archives (City of London)
The original cross at Charing (top, centre), depicted in a woodcut map of London made in the early 1560s
© London Metropolitan Archives (City of London)
At a cost of over £600, this was by far the grandest and most expensive cross. It featured the generous use of dark-hued Corfe marble and, most likely, eight statues of the queen adorning the octagonal main section.
The original Charing cross was destroyed in 1647, during the Civil Wars. The cross that now stands outside the station is a Victorian reconstruction, built to enhance the station and hotel named after the original cross.
Burial
Sunday 17 December 1290 was the nineteenth day since Eleanor’s death, and Westminster Abbey was the final stop for her body. The Benedictine monks conducted the funeral service and buried her body in a temporary coffin within the church.
The Dominican priory of Black Friars in the city of London, as it might have looked in 1500. Little of this large monastic house survives today, although the name lives on in the railway station and bridge
© Nick Holder (illustration by Mark Samuel)
The Dominican priory of Black Friars in the city of London, as it might have looked in 1500. Little of this large monastic house survives today, although the name lives on in the railway station and bridge
© Nick Holder (illustration by Mark Samuel)
But the funeral procession was not quite finished. Edward must have returned to the London monastic house of Black Friars on Tuesday 19 December to attend the interment of Eleanor’s heart, the final part of the queen’s elaborate triple-burial. Edward and Eleanor had refounded the friary in the 1270s and it was the burial place of the heart of their son Alphonso, heir to the English throne until his death in 1284, aged ten. In early 1290 Eleanor was already planning the burial of her heart beside that of her son.
THE CROSSES:
Design and Purpose
In most cases the memorial cross was sited in a prominent position, near, but not directly beside, Eleanor’s resting place on that stage of the funeral procession. The common factor is that Eleanor’s body passed this exact spot. The choice was usually for a significant crossroads or junction – it did not seem to matter whether this was inside or outside the town. In Grantham, Stony Stratford and St Albans a wide stretch of the town high street was chosen. Whether erected at a crossroads or on a high street, the crosses were designed to be seen from a distance.
The location of the Geddington cross, seen here in an early 20th-century photograph, at a prominent road junction, is typical of the sites chosen for the Eleanor crosses
© Historic England Archive
The location of the Geddington cross, seen here in an early 20th-century photograph, at a prominent road junction, is typical of the sites chosen for the Eleanor crosses
© Historic England Archive
The location may sometimes indicate where the funeral party actually stopped. In Northampton, for example, the king probably stayed in the castle, but Eleanor’s coffin must have lain at Delapré Abbey in Hardingstone, just outside the town.
The idea for a series of commemorative crosses originated in the French ‘montjoies’, the crosses erected to mark the course of King Louis IX’s funeral procession of 1270–71. These crosses combined architectural and sculptural details in freestanding cross-towers and clearly influenced the design of the Eleanor crosses.
Edward entrusted his commemorative project to a team of churchmen led by John Bacun and Robert of Middleton. They worked in partnership with the finest royal masons in England, including Michael of Canterbury, John of Battle and the brothers Richard and Roger of Crundale.
This early 15th-century manuscript shows one of the ‘montjoie’ memorial crosses built to commemorate the funeral procession of King Louis IX in 1270–71. The montjoies were the inspiration for the Eleanor crosses
This early 15th-century manuscript shows one of the ‘montjoie’ memorial crosses built to commemorate the funeral procession of King Louis IX in 1270–71. The montjoies were the inspiration for the Eleanor crosses
Working for three or four years in the early 1290s, the artists created extraordinary multi-storey crosses. They used complicated geometry to combine stages that featured heraldic decoration in relief, painted inscriptions, full-size sculptures of Eleanor and ornate architectural detailing. These stages were then capped with the actual crosses. Each of the monuments was at least 13 metres (40 feet) tall.
The series of crosses may have been planned as a whole, perhaps to develop in height and complexity – as well as cost – from Lincoln to Charing. With their innovative designs, these artists pushed forward the boundaries of English Gothic design, combining architecture and sculpture in a series of freestanding memorial cross-towers.
The monuments relate Eleanor’s pedigree in their coats of arms and they also seem to capture something of her life. In William Torel’s bronze funeral effigy at Westminster Eleanor wears loose robes and her hair is uncovered, ready to be crowned – transporting us back to her coronation in 1274. And in the Geddington sculptures we see her as a young queen wearing a coronet and a veil, her hair just visible.
Eleanor looks out over Geddington, her wavy hair just visible behind her veil and coronet
Eleanor looks out over Geddington, her wavy hair just visible behind her veil and coronet
But the monuments move beyond illustrations of Eleanor the woman, or physical statements of Edward’s grief. They are a bold manifestation of the power and majesty of monarchy, with saint-like images of Eleanor looking down at the crossroads and market-places of southern and eastern England.
THE GEDDINGTON CROSS:
A Closer Look
The Geddington cross is the finest of the three surviving crosses – the other two well-preserved monuments are at Hardingstone and Waltham Cross. Little documentary evidence survives for the commissioning and construction of the Geddington cross. However, we know it was certainly not the most expensive Eleanor monument of the 1290s – that was the Charing cross – and must have been built by about 1295.
The Geddington cross was designed as a five-stage tower. At the base, a flight of eight steps arranged as concentric hexagons rises up 1.3 metres from the road surface.
Above this, there is a 4.2-metre shaft, triangular in plan, and decorated with a carpet of roses in relief. The rose was not (yet) a traditional royal symbol, but it was Edward who first used it as an emblem and it may also evoke Eleanor’s love of gardens.
This stage of the monument has some interesting details. The shaft rests on a base that evokes the shape of a 13th-century tombstone, as though the cross is growing out of Eleanor’s tomb.
The shaft of the Geddington cross rises from a small chamfered base (at the top of the steps), as though it is growing out of Eleanor’s tomb
The shaft of the Geddington cross rises from a small chamfered base (at the top of the steps), as though it is growing out of Eleanor’s tomb
In the upper half of this stage there are pairs of shields on each of the three faces. These proclaim Eleanor’s identity, with the coats of arms of England (through her marriage to Edward), Ponthieu in France (through her mother, Jeanne de Dammartin) and Castile and León (through her father, Ferdinand III).
Eleanor’s coats of arms on a carpet of carved roses: left, the arms of the county of Ponthieu (France) and, right, the arms of Castile and León
Eleanor’s coats of arms on a carpet of carved roses: left, the arms of the county of Ponthieu (France) and, right, the arms of Castile and León
Rising above this is the 3.5-metre storey with three sculptures of Eleanor, standing in gabled canopies. In the three quite similar statues she is portrayed as the young queen, with tantalising glimpses of her wavy hair just visible beneath her veil and coronet. She holds her left hand to her heart at the neckline of her dress. The right forearm is broken in all three sculptures, but her right hand was held out to us, probably holding a sceptre. The folds of her dress spill delicately over her poulaine (long-toed) shoes.
Eleanor holds her left hand to her heart. Her broken right forearm was once outstretched, perhaps holding a sceptre symbolising her royal status
Eleanor holds her left hand to her heart. Her broken right forearm was once outstretched, perhaps holding a sceptre symbolising her royal status
A feature that may strike us as odd is the fact that each of the statues is partly hidden behind a slender column. Each statue sits within a triangular niche, so each Eleanor – her back to the rear wall of the niche – looks forward to the slender column that forms the forward-facing point of the niche. Perhaps that was the intention of the designer: as with Eleanor’s tomb at Westminster, we, the onlookers, must walk slowly around the monument to glimpse her royal face through the sculptural screen.
A deliberate medieval design? Eleanor is partly hidden behind the front column of her statue-niche. This may have been the artist’s intention, forcing us to walk around the monument to catch glimpses of her face
A deliberate medieval design? Eleanor is partly hidden behind the front column of her statue-niche. This may have been the artist’s intention, forcing us to walk around the monument to catch glimpses of her face
The slender gables of the statue-canopies rise up into the next storey, where they become flowering pinnacles that clasp the base of the upper storey. This tall and slender stage, 4.1 metres high, is, in plan, a hexagonal crown, echoing the shape of the steps. The surviving monument is 13.2 metres (43 feet) high overall.
Nothing survives of the stone cross itself apart from its broken base where it rises from the top of the upper storey. The cross had a plain shaft, about 200 millimetres (9 inches) square, and it probably rose up 2 or 4 metres, making the whole monument about 16 metres (50 feet) high.
The Geddington monument is an extraordinary combination of architectural and sculptural details, set within a geometric composition. Most surviving sculpture of the period is in churches, particularly the great churches like Westminster, Norwich or York. Indeed, the Eleanor statues on the Geddington cross would not look out of place if they were laid horizontally on a great church tomb.
Above: A three-dimensional model of the Geddington cross
(produced by Historic England using a ‘Structure from motion’ digital photogrammetric survey)
INSPIRATION
In the late 18th century the Society of Antiquaries commissioned a survey of the Geddington, Hardingstone and Waltham crosses, part of their long programme of publishing views of monuments and artefacts in the prints and books known as Vetusta Monumenta. The beautiful engravings that resulted helped to bring the Eleanor crosses to the attention of historians and architects.
The engraving of the Hardingstone Eleanor Cross published in Vetusta Monumenta in 1796
© Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
The engraving of the Hardingstone Eleanor Cross published in Vetusta Monumenta in 1796
© Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
In the 1830s the young architect George Gilbert Scott was working in Northampton, and he probably saw the Hardingstone cross at this time. By the late 1830s he was increasingly involved in the Gothic Revival movement and was working on the design of the Martyrs’ Memorial in Oxford, completed in 1843.
The Martyrs’ Memorial in Oxford, photographed in 1890. It commemorates the three Protestant bishops tried for heresy in 1555 and burnt at the stake in Oxford
© Historic England Archive
The Martyrs’ Memorial in Oxford, photographed in 1890. It commemorates the three Protestant bishops tried for heresy in 1555 and burnt at the stake in Oxford
© Historic England Archive
Scott was also involved in the design of the memorial to Mary Watts-Russell in Ilam, Staffordshire (completed in 1840). Both these monuments were Gothic Revival versions of Eleanor crosses.
The cross at Ilam, Staffordshire, erected in memory of Mary Watts-Russell by her husband, Jesse. Although not its main architect, Scott was almost certainly consulted over its design
© Geography Photos/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The cross at Ilam, Staffordshire, erected in memory of Mary Watts-Russell by her husband, Jesse. Although not its main architect, Scott was almost certainly consulted over its design
© Geography Photos/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Scott’s Martyrs’ Memorial started a wave of new monuments, and Eleanor-inspired crosses gradually sprung up all over England. They included one outside the railway terminus and hotel at Charing Cross in London, designed by Edward Barry and completed in 1865. Eleanor thus returned to the eponymous Charing Cross, two centuries after the original monument was taken down during the Civil War.
A late 19th-century photograph of the Victorian cross built in 1863 to replace the original Charing cross
© Historic England Archive
A late 19th-century photograph of the Victorian cross built in 1863 to replace the original Charing cross
© Historic England Archive
Eleanor’s strong influence can also be felt in the Albert Memorial of 1872, a Gothic memorial– also designed by George Gilbert Scott – in which a monarch (Queen Victoria) publicly expresses grief at the loss of the royal consort (Albert).
The Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens, London, designed by George Gilbert Scott in 1872
© Historic England Archive
The Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens, London, designed by George Gilbert Scott in 1872
© Historic England Archive
And in 1979 Eleanor went underground in the new Tube station of Charing Cross, which joined and renamed the old stations of Trafalgar Square and Strand. The London-based artist David Gentleman designed a striking decorative scheme for the station’s refurbished Northern Line platforms, to tell the story of the design, preparation and building of the original Charing cross in the early 1290s.
Gentleman researched the methods, materials and tools used in the 13th century before designing and engraving over 50 separate wood blocks for the scheme. The engravings are arranged to form a continuous mural, stretching over 100 metres from one end of the platform to the other, as if in a medieval strip cartoon – beginning with the quarry workers and finishing with the placing of the very top of the cross.
Image credits: top image © Angelo Hornak/Corbis via Getty Images; woodcut engravings courtesy of David Gentleman
Detail from the mural by David Gentleman at Charing Cross underground station, telling the story of the building of the Charing cross. Here workmen are quarrying stone
Detail from the mural by David Gentleman at Charing Cross underground station, telling the story of the building of the Charing cross. Here workmen are quarrying stone
Masons working the stone
Masons working the stone
Putting finishing touches to one of the statues of Queen Eleanor
Putting finishing touches to one of the statues of Queen Eleanor
A statue is lifted into position
A statue is lifted into position
A keystone for one of the canopies is lowered into place, using a wooden frame as a guide
A keystone for one of the canopies is lowered into place, using a wooden frame as a guide
Finally the cross is placed on top of the monument
(Photos by Jasper Fry)
Finally the cross is placed on top of the monument
(Photos by Jasper Fry)
Further reading
S Cockerill, Eleanor of Castile (Stroud, 2015) [an authoritative and accessible biography of Eleanor. Sara Cockerill’s website has links to individual blog pages on Eleanor’s final journey from Harby to Westminster]
H Colvin, History of the King’s Works, volume 1 (London, 1963), pp 479–85 [analyses the documentary evidence for the construction of the tombs and crosses]
D Parsons (ed.), Eleanor of Castile, 1290–1990: Essays to Commemorate the 700th Anniversary of Her Death (Stamford, 1991) [scholarly essays by several contributors on the life, death and commemoration of Eleanor]
JC Parsons, Eleanor of Castile: Queen and Society in Thirteenth-Century England (London, 1997) [an academic study, emphasising the themes of queenship rather than the chronology of her life]
J Powrie, Eleanor of Castile (Studley, 1990) [an investigation into Eleanor’s funeral journey and memorial crosses]
Built with Shorthand
