Geddington Eleanor Cross
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Geddington Eleanor Cross by Richard Croft as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Geddington Eleanor Cross
Image: © Richard Croft Taken: 23 Aug 2007
One of the three remaining of the original 12 Eleanor crosses erected by King Edward I to mark the overnight resting places of the funeral cortege of Queen Eleanor, following her death in Harby on November 28th 1290. Some suggest that Geddington Cross is the work of a mason ‘Garcia of Spain’ as it is so different to the other remaining crosses and surviving illustrations of Cheapside and Charing. It is triangular in plan and rises gracefully to a height of 42 feet. The tiers are arranged as the other crosses but it is more richly ornamented and more Decorated in style. Having survived The Civil War unscathed, the cross was damaged in the 18th century during the Easter ‘sport’ of squirrel-baiting, where the unfortunate animals were tormented by stone-throwing locals, some taking refuge in the cross. Geddington Cross is arguably the finest but certainly the most enigmatic of the three surviving crosses.
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Image Location
Latitude
52.437944
Longitude
-0.686611