The Old Cross in Cheapside Circa 1890
The Eleanor crosses were 12 lavishly decorated stone monuments, of which three survive intact, in a line down part of the east of England. King Edward I had the crosses erected between 1291 and 1294 in memory of his wife Eleanor of Castile, marking the nightly resting-places along the route taken by her body as it was taken to London. Several artists worked on the crosses, as the "Expense Rolls" of the Crown show, with some of the work being divided between the main figures, sent from London, and the framework, made locally. William of Ireland was apparently the leading sculptor of figures Fragments are held by the Museum of London, and surviving drawings enable an accurate reconstruction to be established. The Cheapside Cross was demolished in May 1643 under an ordinance from the parliamentary Committee for the Demolition of Monuments of Superstition and Idolatry, led by Sir Robert Harley. The cross was the third incarnation of the monument, which had been reconstructed and refurbished several times in the preceding three centuries, in which time it had enjoyed the protection of various monarchs and the Mayor and Corporation of London. A replica of the Eleanor Cross, in Charing Cross station forecourtMatters came to a head during the years running up to the English Civil War, when the cross was seen to encompass the doctrinal debates of the period. To puritanical reformers, it was identified with 'Dagon', the ancient god of the Philistines and was seen as the embodiment of Royal Catholic tradition. At least one riot was fought in its shadow as opponents of the cross descended upon it to pull it down and supporters rallied to stop them. After Charles I had fled London to raise an army at the start of the Civil War, the destruction of the cross was almost the first order of business for Harley's commission. Though less well known than the Charing Cross, the downfall of the Cheapside Cross is one of the most interesting and arguably important examples
Size: 2970px × 4256px
Photo credit: © Archivist / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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