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

The cross stands in the middle of the village, where the main road from Stamford to Northampton turns in a southerly direction to pass over the old bridge across the small river Ise. There is here a widening of the road caused by the junction of a road from the east, allowing of a clear space, so that the cross is well seen from all sides. The cross itself rises from a platform led up to by a series of eight steps, arranged in hexagonal form. It is exceptional in being triangular in section. The first story consists of three faces, each face being divided by firm mouldings into four panels. These panels show a beautiful example of stone carving in various diaper designs. Even now the effect is rich, but before the outlines had faded, the diaper work must have shown great firmness and strength. The upper panels of the lower story present the shields bearing alternately the arms of England, Castile and Leon quarterly, and Ponthieu, as in the case of the other crosses. The second story also gives the effect of a triangular outline, the angles corresponding with the middle of each side of the lower story. At each angle rises a beautifully moulded pillar which, with similar pillars from the other sides, support the series of canopies sheltering the three statues of the Queen. These tabernacles are richly ornamented in the characteristic style of decoration of the period. The third story continues the main column of the cross upwards, and consists of a cluster of pillars ending in decorated finials, repeating the designs of the tabernacle work below. The column may have been originally surmounted by a cross. Fortunately no attempt has yet been made to replace the terminal feature. The triangular design of the cross gives a very curious effect when it is looked at from certain directions. It will be evident that when seen from a line parallel to one of the faces of the second story, the whole of the cross presents a lop-sided aspect. Its symmetry of outline becomes obvious on changing the point of view a little to one side or the other.

Geddington Cross, like the others, suffered not only by exposure to the elements, but perhaps even more by neglect and wilful damage. It is mentioned that in ancient times, during the rough sports which were held on Easter Monday, it was the custom to catch squirrels in the neighbouring woods and turn them loose in the neighbourhood of the cross. The little animals naturally took refuge in its crevices and corners, whereupon the mob attempted to destroy the squirrels by stoning them, and many a decorated finial and beautiful piece of foliage must have been shattered on those days.

On the south side of the steps leading to the cross is a spring of water evidently used from time immemorial by the inhabitants. It is now covered in by a small square-headed stone cistern. This cross fortunately escaped the ruin which befell so many of the other memorial crosses during the Civil War. It was restored in 1868, and repairs were judiciously carried out in 1890.[^[47]]

[47]. Cf. “The Stone Crosses of the County of Northampton.” Christopher A. Markham. Northampton: Joseph Tebbutt, 1901.

Northampton.

The cross at Northampton is the only one remaining of the five built by John Battle and his partners. It occupies a site on the east of the main road leading south, at a distance of about a mile from the town, in the parish of Hardingston. The road rises slightly as it leaves the flat land of the Nene Valley, and on this little elevation the cross was erected. It was the proximity of the religious house of Cluniac nuns (S. Maria de Pratis), now Delapré Abbey, which determined the spot where the funeral procession stopped for the night. This cross stands quite in the open country, and its fine proportions can be easily seen. Unfortunately it has suffered much, both at the hands of time, but especially from the restorer, and much of the original decorative work has disappeared. Its strong, beautiful outlines give the observer a high idea of John Battle’s skill as a designer.

Fig. 16.
The Cross at Northampton, from a photograph by the Author, 1908.

The cross is situated on a platform surrounded on all sides by an ascent of nine steps. From this the cross, which is of octagonal outline, rises. The lowest story is supported by buttresses at the angles, and the faces thus formed are divided into two panels by a perpendicular moulding. Surmounting the panels is a series of decorated gables. The panels show alternately shields with the arms of England, Castile and Leon quarterly, and Ponthieu. In addition, every alternate face is ornamented with an open book.

The second story is arranged also to give an octagonal outline, but consists really of the quadrilateral solid column of the cross, on each face of which stands the statue of the Queen, about 6 ft. in height, facing north, south, east and west. Attached to this solid column is a series of eight open tabernacles, elaborately and beautifully decorated.