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

Lincoln.

The cross at Lincoln was built by Richard de Stowe, who at the time was the master mason in charge of the work at Lincoln Cathedral. Stowe received sums on account of his work during the years 1291 to 1293 amounting to £106 13s. 4d.

Of Stowe’s design for the cross we have no record, but the presumption is that it agreed in its main features with the other crosses, for some of the finer decorative work and statues were sent to the cross from Westminster. They were entrusted to William of Ireland, the “Imaginator.” The accounts of this sculptor are specially noted. He received in all the sum of £23 6s. 8d. for making the statues of the Queen, the “virgæ, capita et annuli,” and for their carriage from Westminster to Lincoln. We know that he received the sum of five marks—£3 6s. 8d.—for each statue. The cross stood on Swine Green, opposite the Gilbertine Priory of St. Catherine, where the Queen’s body rested. The last traces of the cross at Lincoln have long since disappeared.

The tomb in Lincoln Cathedral was erected by Dyminge de Legeri and Alexander of Abingdon who was under the immediate influence of Westminster. Note is made of their receiving £18 6s. 8d. on account of their work at Lincoln, a sum, however, which includes a small amount to Alexander of Abingdon on account of making statues for the tomb at Blackfriars. Roger de Crundale was evidently associated with the work, as he is mentioned as receiving £1 16s. 8d. for marble supplied and work done at the tomb of the Queen. The most important feature of the Queen’s tomb, however, was the metal effigy made by William Torel, which was an exact replica of the effigy on the tomb in Westminster. The tombs at Westminster and Lincoln were probably similar in design. The Queen’s tomb occupied a position under the great east window of the cathedral, but now no relic of it survives.

Fig. 14.
The Cross at Geddington, from a photograph by the Author, 1908.

In 1901 a monument in memory of the Queen, copying the original tomb, was placed on the southern side of the retro-choir by the late Mr. Joseph Ruston. Sufficient information was obtained from drawings of the original monument by Dugdale and Bishop Sanderson, now in the possession of the Earl of Winchilsea, to permit of this being done. This monument, however, could not be placed in the original position on the north side of the “Angel Choir” as the site had been used for a recent interment, and the Bishop’s Chair had been erected close to the site.[^[42]] No fragments of the original tomb were discovered when this work was being done.

[42]. From information kindly given by Mrs. J. M. H. MacLeod.