Statues - Hither & Thither |
Site Search:
|
|
Waltham Cross
Hertfordshire East of England High Street / Eleanor Cross Road |
Eleanor Cross |
Alexander of Abingdon
1294 (copy) |
The Eleanor crosses were a series of twelve tall and lavishly decorated stone monuments topped with crosses, of which three survive nearly intact, in a line down part of the east of England. King Edward I had the crosses erected between 1291 and 1294 in memory of his wife Eleanor of Castile, marking the nightly resting-places along the route taken when her body was transported to London.
The only three crosses still standing are those at Geddington, Hardingstone, just outside Northampton, and Waltham Cross, although remnants of the lost ones can also be seen at other sites. Charing Cross (see here) is a new cross based on the Eleanor crosses.
The Waltham Cross monument in Hertfordshire was constructed in co-operation between an architect and a sculptor: Roger of Crundale, who was the senior royal mason, and Master Alexander of Abingdon, respectively. It is still standing, although it has been restored on several occasions, and the original statues of Eleanor (all three statues represent the queen) were replaced by replicas during the last major restoration in the 1950s. The original statues were kept for some years at Cheshunt Public Library; but they were removed, possibly in the 1980s, to the Victoria & Albert Museum.
 |
 |
 |
The coat of arms on the faces of the hexagonal base have relation to Eleanor: England paired with Castile and Leon, and with Ponthieu (Eleanor was countess of Ponthieu). Each pair is depicted three times
 England and Castile & Leon |
 England and Ponthieu |
|
THIS CROSS WAS ERECTED BY KING EDWARD THE FIRST IN 1294 A.D. IN MEMORY OF HIS FIRST QUEEN ELEANOR OF CASTILE WHO DIED IN 1290 A.D. it was one of the resting places of the hearse on its progress from harby in nottinghamshire to westminster. the cross was the work of roger de grundale and dymenge de leger, and the original statues, made by alexander de abyndone, are in the cheshunt central library. the shields bear the ancient arms of england ponthieu, and castile quartering leon. |
Your banner here? Click for information.