The Eleanor Cross c1900 following the second restoration of 1887-89.
Perhaps the most striking relic of medieval times in our district is the Queen Eleanor memorial at Waltham Cross. It is one of twelve which were built by Edward I to mark the resting places of the funeral cortege of his consort on its way from Harby, in Lincolnshire, to London. Eleanor died at Harby in 1290 and her body was brought to Westminster for burial on a journey that took thirteen days. The route of the procession was via Lincoln, Grantham, Stamford, Geddington, Northampton, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St. Albans, Waltham, Cheapside, Charing and Westminster. The distance by road was 159 miles.
The King himself led the procession at Barnet, and it is some indication of the importance of the monastery at Waltham that the body of the Queen was brought there. There has been much speculation about the route between St. Albans and Waltham that was used. A map of 1607 shows a road through Theobalds marked “the way to St. Albans”. This road joined up with the present Theobalds Lane, meeting with the main road at Theobalds Grove. The road was obliterated as a right of way by the enclosure of Theobalds by King James I, but it is almost certain that this road had been in use at a fairly early date and had served as a link between St. Albans and Waltham for many centuries. It is also reasonably certain that the body of the Queen rested in the monastic church at Waltham Abbey, and that the cross was subsequently erected a mile to the west of the town at the junction of Waltham Lane (now Eleanor Cross Road) and what was once the busy main road from London to north-east England. A chapel also existed on a site adjacent to the cross, which was mentioned in a survey of Cheshunt dated 1669.
The Eleanor Cross is one of three that now survive, the others being at Northampton and Geddington. All the others were allowed to decay or were destroyed in Cromwellian times. One reason for the preservation of the cross at Waltham is that until 1890 the buildings of the Falcon Inn stood right against the cross and thus protected it against the weather.
It was not until the eighteenth century that anyone made a serious attempt to preserve the monument. Dr William Stukeley of the Society of Antiquaries arranged for posts to be set up to protect it from damage by carts and carriages rounding the corner into Waltham Lane from the London road. In 1833-4 a partial restoration, mainly of the upper two stages, were carried out in Bath stone. This proved unsatisfactory and from 1887-89 further a more complete restoration was carried out largely through the energies of Mr Joseph Tydeman, landlord of the Four Swans Inn. After this the old Falcon Inn was demolished and a new road between it and the monument was formally opened by Lady Meux of Theobalds Park in January 1892. In 1906 the Hertfordshire County Council took custody of the monument, and this authority carried out the last restoration between 1950 and 1953. This modern work was so complete that practically all the original medieval sculpture was replaced by modern replicas; even the effigies of the Queen were completely replaced, the originals being preserved in the Central Library.
The original life-size statue.
The importance of the monument as an example of medieval sculpture cannot be under-estimated. The original was carved from Caen stone and built in three stages. The first stage bears the arms of England, Ponthieu and Castile quartering Leon. The second stage consists of the three decorated canopies, each containing a life size effigy of the Queen. The draperies of these figures, particularly, show the artistic work of the sculptors, the heads of the figures being in the likeness of a Madonna. The final stage tapers to its terminal cross. The sculptors responsible were Alexander of Abingdon, Robert de Corf, Simon de Leger, and it is believed that Roger de Crundale was responsible for the terminal cross.
