The cross occupies a position on the main road at Waltham, where a side road branched off leading to the important Augustinian house of Waltham Abbey. The platform from which the cross arose seems originally to have had ten steps. As the result of restorations this number has been diminished to four. From this platform the cross, which is hexagonal in design, arises. Each side of the lower story is divided into two panels, which show alternately the shields charged with the arms of England, Castile and Leon quarterly, and Ponthieu. The panels are surmounted by pointed three-cusped arches supporting a quatre-foil decoration, and finally a gable-like ornament. The whole panel is richly decorated, the upper part with diaper work. The second story, which is separated from the first by a perforated battlement, consists of a series of open tabernacles in pairs, sheltering three statues of the Queen. The tabernacles terminated in profusely decorated triangular gables. The third story, still hexagonal in shape, is ornamented with tabernacle work, reproducing the designs of the story below. From this arose the shaft of the cross, which has been replaced during a recent restoration. Considering the ruinous state into which Waltham Cross had been allowed to pass in the beginning of the eighteenth century, it is almost a wonder that so much of the original structure still remains. The lowest story still gives a good representation of the original work. The Queen’s statues remain after having suffered many indignities. Most of the rest of the cross gives evidence of restoration.
In 1720 Dr. Stukeley remarked on its ruinous state, and prevailed upon the Society of Antiquaries to take steps for its preservation, and Lord Monson surrounded and strengthened the base of the cross with new brickwork in 1757. In early days the Four Swan Inn, at the junction of the road from Waltham Abbey, was the only house of any importance near, but other houses gradually arose. The cross and its site apparently belonged to no one, so the houses crowded on the cross, till at length they actually abutted on its eastern side, destroying much of its beautiful work and even endangering the solidity of the whole structure. The prints of the cross in the eighteenth century show the ruinous condition into which it had fallen.
In the beginning of last century a local committee undertook its restoration, £1,200 being expended at this time. This work was finished in 1834. In 1893 more complete restoration was carried out, nearly £1,200 being again expended on the cross.[[49]] The Falcon Inn, which had encroached on the cross so as actually to be in contact, was set back, and now the roadway surrounds the cross on all sides, allowing its proportions to be seen, and aiding in its preservation. It is interesting to compare the sums expended on restoration with the amount noted as being paid to the original builders. The sum of a little over £90 can be traced into the hands of Dyminge de Legeri and Roger de Crundale. Alexander the Imaginator aided a little in its construction, and a good deal of the stone, especially the Caen stone, so much in use at the time, was conveyed directly from the works at Charing.
[49]. Vide Weekly Telegraph for Waltham Abbey, Cheshunt and District, Friday, 6th January, 1893.
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.”