For the Historical Society’s talk on 10 February 2015 we invited Chris Rowe to tell us about Eleanor of Castile and the Eleanor Crosses. Eleanor was King Edward I’s wife and monumental crosses were constructed in her memory.
The paragraphs below was taken from the Sherington Historical Society March 2015 newsletter.
The February meeting was a a very interesting illustrated talk from Chris Rowe about Eleanor of Castile and the Eleanor Crosses. She gave us the history of Eleanor and told us that when Eleanor died near Lincoln in 1290, her husband, King Edward I, ordered the building of 12 crosses to mark each of resting place of his wife’s funeral procession as it travelled from Lincoln to her burial place at Westminster Abbey in London. Only 3 of the original crosses still survive, 2 in Northamptonshire. The best preserved of these crosses is in Geddington (see photo below).
Chris brought some books along for us to look at after her talk.
A fascinating evening and I’m certainly inspired to go and have a look at the Geddington Eleanor Cross when I’m next travelling through Northamptonshire.