Building    From 1290 

Queen Eleanor’s Cross

Categories: Architecture, Royalty

The last of 12 Eleanor Crosses erected to celebrate Eleanor's last journey.

Queen Eleanor of Castile died near Lincoln, with her husband, King Edward I, at her bedside, and was to be buried in Westminster Abbey. The crosses were erected at each of the overnight stops her funeral procession made on the journey, the King accompanying it the whole way.

The Charing Cross, 70 foot high, was the "best" of them all, in size, grandeur and cost. It was marble; the others were stone or wood. It was pulled down by order of Parliament in 1647, when royalty was out of favour. Only three original crosses remain: Geddington, Hardingstone and Waltham Cross.

The current Charing cross, a Victorian Gothic re-imagining by architect Edward Middleton Barry and sculptor Thomas Earp, was erected in 1863-5 by the South Eastern Railway Company when they built Charing Cross Station, as the centrepiece of the hotel forecourt. Drawings and fragments of the original are held by the Museum of London.

Another London Queen Eleanor’s Cross stood in the City at Westcheap - the Museum of London holds some fragments.

See History and Traditions of England and Seiyaku for more information.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Queen Eleanor’s Cross

Commemorated ati

Charing Cross

Around the monument are 8 standing, crowned statues of Eleanor. This is a rec...

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Queen Eleanor's Cross

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Other Subjects

Sir Charles Barry

Sir Charles Barry

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5 memorials
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott

Architect. Born 26 Church Row, Hampstead. Grandson of Sir George Gilbert Scott. Built Liverpool Cathedral (where he and his wife are buried). Rebuilt the Commons Chamber at the Houses of Parliament...

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7 memorials
Essex Street, House & grounds

Essex Street, House & grounds

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Place, Architecture, Property

1 memorial
Monmouth House

Monmouth House

The Duke of Monmouth obtained a site in Soho Square in 1681 on which the house was built. After his execution, it became the residence for successive French Ambassadors, before being demolished.

Building, Architecture

1 memorial
William Kent

William Kent

Painter, architect, and designer of gardens and interior furnishings. Baptised in Yorkshire, on 1 January 1686. Began as a sign and coach painter. While on the Grand Tour he met his chief patron an...

Person, Architecture, Art, Craft / Design, Gardens / Agriculture

1 memorial