Scheduled Monument: Eleanor Cross 1km South West of Delapre Abbey (1015536)

Reasons for Designation A standing cross is a free standing upright structure, usually of stone, mostly erected during the medieval period (mid 10th to mid 16th centuries AD). Standing crosses served a variety of functions. In churchyards they served as stations for outdoor processions, particularly in the observance of Palm Sunday. Elsewhere, standing crosses were used within settlements as places for preaching, public proclamation and penance, as well as defining rights of sanctuary. Standing crosses were also employed to mark boundaries between parishes, property, or settlements. A few crosses were erected to commemorate battles. Some crosses were linked to particular saints, whose support and protection their presence would have helped to invoke. Crosses in market places may have helped to validate transactions. After the Reformation, some crosses continued in use as foci for municipal or borough ceremonies, for example as places for official proclamations and announcements; some were the scenes of games or recreational activity. Standing crosses were distributed throughout England and are thought to have numbered in excess of 12,000. However, their survival since the Reformation has been variable, being much affected by local conditions, attitudes and religious sentiment. In particular, many cross-heads were destroyed by iconoclasts during the 16th and 17th centuries. Less than 2,000 medieval standing crosses, with or without cross-heads, are now thought to exist. The oldest and most basic form of standing cross is the monolith, a stone shaft often set directly in the ground without a base. The most common form is the stepped cross, in which the shaft is set in a socket stone and raised upon a flight of steps; this type of cross remained current from the 11th to 12th centuries until after the Reformation. Where the cross-head survives it may take a variety of forms, from a lantern-like structure to a crucifix; the more elaborate examples date from the 15th century. Much less common than stepped crosses are spire-shaped crosses, often composed of three or four receding stages with elaborate architectural decoration and/or sculptured figures; the most famous of these include the Eleanor crosses, erected by Edward I at the stopping places of the funeral cortege of his wife, who died in 1290. Also uncommon are the preaching crosses which were built in public places from the 13th century, typically in the cemeteries of religious communities and cathedrals, market places and wide thoroughfares; they include a stepped base, buttresses supporting a vaulted canopy, in turn carrying either a shaft and head or a pinnacled spire. Standing crosses contribute significantly to our understanding of medieval customs, both secular and religious, and to our knowledge of medieval parishes and settlement patterns. All crosses which survive as standing monuments, especially those which stand in or near their original location, are considered worthy of protection. Of the 12 Eleanor crosses erected at the end of the 13th century only three still stand. The cross at Northampton is the only surviving one which included statuary by the royal sculptor William of Ireland, who worked on four other Eleanor crosses which have since been destroyed. In its architectural and sculptural detail it is a rare and well documented example of medieval stone carving of the highest quality. Recent careful conservation of the stonework has resulted in the preservation of sculptural detail in good condition. The cross is adjacent to the site of the battle of Northampton of 1460 which is included in the Register of Battlefields. The monument has been the subject of art-historical research and is thus well understood. As a monument accessible to the public it also serves an important educational and recreational function. Details The monument includes a standing stone cross erected at the end of the 13th century in memory of Eleanor of Castile, wife of Edward I. Queen Eleanor died on 28 November 1290 at Harby, Nottinghamshire, and her funeral procession passed from Lincoln to Westminster in December. The cross at Northampton commemorates the resting of Queen Eleanor's body at Delapre Abbey on the night of 8th-9th December 1290. The cross was constructed between 1291 and 1294 by the King's master mason, John of Battle, with sculptural work by William of Ireland. It was restored during the 18th and 19th centuries, when the steps were rebuilt, and most recently in 1984 when some of the stonework was renewed. The monument includes the standing cross, which is Listed Grade I, together with its foundation and associated archaeological deposits which lie within a boundary of 1m around the standing structure. The monument is situated about 2km south of the city centre on the east side of the A508, formerly the principal medieval route between Northampton and London. It lies near the site of a crossroads at the south eastern corner of the precinct of Delapre Abbey, formerly within the parish of Hardingstone. The cross, which stands on a slight rise, is spire-shaped and includes a stepped base, spire and shaft fragment. There are nine steps of octagonal plan, the lowest step measuring about 9m across. The spire of the cross takes the form of a tall pinnacle of three receding stages constructed of Lincolnshire limestone and Purbeck marble. The lowest stage is octagonal in plan with eight solid faces separated by angle buttresses. On each face is a blind pointed arch divided into two vertical panels with blind tracery; in the upper part of each panel is a shield carved in turn with the arms of Castile, Leon, Ponthieu and England. Below the shields, on alternate faces, is carved a lectern holding an open book on which a text would originally have been painted. Above each arch is a flat crocketed gable. The angle buttresses are also panelled and terminate in foliate pinnacles. The lower stage is separated from the middle stage by a projecting cornice, also with foliate ornament. The middle stage is also octagonal in plan, although slightly shorter than the first, and is composed of four open canopies set above those faces of the lower stage which contain carved lecterns. Under each canopy is a statue of Queen Eleanor. The canopies are supported by vertical shafts rising above the angle buttresses of the lower stage and similarly terminating in foliated pinnacles. Each canopy has crocketed gables and a crocketed pyramidal roof. Behind the pinnacles of the middle stage rises the upper stage, square in plan, its four solid faces positioned above the four principal faces of the lower stages. On each face is a blind arch divided into four vertical panels with blind tracery and surmounted by a crocketed gable. At each angle is a vertical shaft terminating in a foliated pinnacle like those below. On top of the spire stands a broken cross-shaft, added to the cross in 1840; the form of the original terminal, which disappeared before 1460, is unknown. The full surviving height of the cross is about 14m.

Record last edited

Dec 16 2024 2:35PM