Eleanor cross

From Freepedia

The Eleanor crosses are stone monuments in the shape of a cross that Edward I of England erected in memory of his wife Eleanor of Castile at the twelve places where her funeral procession stopped overnight on its route from Harby, near the city of Lincoln, to Westminster Abbey in London in 1290.

Those twelve places were:

• Lincoln
• Grantham
• Stamford
• Geddington
• Northampton
• Stony Stratford
• Woburn
• Dunstable
• St Albans
• Waltham (now Waltham Cross)
• Westcheap
• Charing (now Charing Cross)

The only three crosses still standing are those at Waltham Cross, Northampton, and Geddington.

Northampton Cross

The Northampton cross is located at the edge of Delapre Abbey - where the body rested overnight; the King stayed at nearby Northampton Castle.

The cross at Charing Cross was destroyed in 1647 and a statue of Charles I was erected on the site in 1675. The replica cross is a copy of the original and was erected at a later date but not in the same location as the original.