Historical sketches of old Charing. / The hospital and chapel of Saint Mary Roncevall. Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England, and the monuments erected in her memory.

by Sir James Galloway

Chepe.

The cross in the City of London stood at the west end of Cheapside, opposite Wood Street. The construction of this cross was entrusted entirely to a distinguished architect Michael of Canterbury, who at the same time was engaged in building the Chapel of St. Stephen’s at Westminster. There is unfortunately no relic of the original design. In the Guildhall Museum, however, are two broken stone panels, which formed almost certainly a portion of the Eleanor Cross in Chepe. These panels show the characteristic heraldic shields emblazoned with the arms of England and of Leon and Castile. Portions of ornamental mouldings are also preserved on these panels. It is possible that these may be relics of the work of Michael of Canterbury, but it is more probable that they are of later date. In the case of Chepe Cross, we may gain the best idea of the amount of money spent on individual crosses. Michael of Canterbury evidently agreed to erect the cross for £300, and the Queen’s executry accounts give evidence of his receiving £226 13s. 4d.

By the year 1441, the cross “being by length of time decayed,” John Hatherley, Mayor of London, procured licence of King Henry VI to “edifie the same in more beautifull manner for the honor of the citie.” This restoration probably followed the main lines of the original structure, and was very slow in progress.

Fig. 18.
The Cross at Waltham, from a photograph by the Author, 1908.

In the course of time the citizens of London seem to have lost interest in the cross and its significance, and it is only necessary to refer to the pages of John Stow, published in 1603, to sympathize with this worthy’s indignation at the desecration which the cross had suffered even in his time. It had been partly restored on several occasions subsequent to the time of John Hatherley, including various re-gildings and re-burnishings in honour of various important royal functions, but in the year 1581 “diuers Juries” of the citizens having considered that it stood in the “highway to the let of carriages,” so much prejudice was aroused that on the night of 21st June a band of roughs destroyed the lowest images round the cross. These, however, were images totally different from those originally on the cross, and included one of the Virgin Mary. In the year 1595, according to Stow, this image “was againe fastened and repaired, and the yeare next following a new misshapen son born out of time all naked was laid in her arms.”

Later the cross was further desecrated by the addition of an alabaster image of Diana, which served the noble purpose of a water conduit for the benefit of the citizens. Attempts were made by certain members of Queen Elizabeth’s court to bring home to the Mayor and citizens the desecration of the cross which had been permitted. But shortly after Christmas, 1600, “the image of Our Lady was again defaced by plucking off her crown and almost her head, taking from her her naked child and stabbing her in the breast, &c.”[^[50]]

[50]. Stow, John. “A Survey of London,” Edition of C. L. Kingsford, 1908.

The cross by this time could only have presented a remote resemblance to the original work. The new statues which found a resting place on it had no reference to its original purpose. During the religious and political turmoils which followed, the crosses both at Chepe and Charing formed the subject of numerous political lampoons, which are interesting as giving some idea of the frenzy of destruction which possessed the extreme political sects. It can hardly, therefore, have been considered a matter of regret when the last scene of all was enacted.

The cross, mutilated and desecrated beyond recognition, was completely destroyed on 2nd May, 1643. The Parliament deputed a certain Robert Harlowe to do this work, who went with a troop of horse and two companies of foot, and carried it out completely. “At the fall of the top cross drums beat, trumpets blew, and multitudes of caps were thrown into the air, and a great shout of people with joy”; so runs a contemporary account.[^[51]]

[51]. Walford. “Old and New London,” i, p. 334.

The history of the cross in Chepe is important as giving an indication of the gradual process of decay which seriously damaged the crosses, long before the desecrating hands of political fanatics mutilated and finally destroyed the remaining fragments.