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.
Charing.
The cross at Charing was the work of Richard de Crundale. He was responsible for the design of this cross, but his design no doubt influenced the ideas of the other builders, for we know that much of the finer work of the other crosses was executed under his observation. Most of the statues of the Queen were carved near Charing, and many of the ornaments so frequently referred to as the “virgæ, capita et annuli,” were also made by the Westminster artists. The cross was built approximately on the plot of ground now occupied by the statue of Charles I, facing the great thoroughfare now known as “Charing Cross.”
Richard Crundale himself died in 1293, and Roger Crundale came from Waltham to carry on his work. Nearly £700 can be traced as being paid to the Crundales for their work at Charing, but this sum obviously includes work done and materials supplied for other crosses. The finer materials used in the construction of the crosses, such as Caen stone, Purbeck stone and marble, seem to have been distributed to the other crosses by way of Charing. Considerable additional sums of money are mentioned as being paid to merchants of stone, such as William Canon, Robert Blunt, and others who brought the stone from Corfe, and Henry Mauger who supplied stone from Caen. Alexander of Abingdon, the “Imaginator,” carved the statues of the Queen for Charing; William of Ireland, also working at Charing, carved the statues of the Queen which found their way to the crosses built by John Battle and Richard Stowe; while Ralph of Chichester carved much of the fine stonework for the crosses.
Unfortunately no adequate idea can now be obtained of Charing Cross. It is admitted, however, to have been the finest of the series; but it must have been subject to the same vicissitudes as its neighbour in Chepe, and the sketches which exist, purporting to be Charing Cross, can only have been obtained from the mutilated structure which survived to the middle of the seventeenth century. The drawing in the Crowle Collection of the British Museum, which has been reproduced by Wilkinson, is one of these. The suggestion of the cross in van den Wyngaerde’s view of London gives, perhaps, a better idea of its probable appearance.[[52]] John Norden’s account is that of an eye witness, and tells of its condition about the year 1590. He speaks of it as “an old weather-beaten monument erected about 1290 by Edward I. Amongst all the crosses which the King caused to be built ... Charing Cross was most stately, though now defaced by antiquity.”[[53]]