QUEEN ELEANOR CROSSES. 211 



Mr. C. A. Markham, F.S.A., in his admirable work on ''The 

 Stone Crosses of the County of Northampton," gives the follow- 

 ing description of this beautiful erection. He says : " It is 

 constructed for the most part of Weldon Stone, the string 

 courses and weatherings being of Stanion Stone, which is of 

 a slightly harder texture. It is placed on a calvary of eight 

 plain hexagonal steps, and is nearly 42 feet high. The Cross 

 itself is triangular in plan, and consists of three stories. The 

 lower portion is solid, and is divided into two equal parts by a 

 horizontal string course. In the centre of the panels of the 

 second part are six small shields bearing the Arms of England, 

 Castile, Leon, and Ponthieu. The Arms of Castile and Leon 

 are borne quarterly on one shield. Each face of the solid 

 portion is slightly convex, and at the angles and on the centre 

 of each face are small shafts, the flat portion being entirely 

 covered with very beautiful diaper work, formed of elegant and 

 very beautiful roses, carved with much delicacy. The second 

 storey is also triangular in plan, though considerably smaller 

 than the lower part ; it is turned a third round, so that the 

 points come in the centres of the sides of the lower part. The 

 three figures of the Queen are placed with their backs to 

 the flat sides of the upper part, and are covered by triangular 

 vaulted gables. These figures are similar to those on the 

 Northampton Cross, charmingly designed and executed, the 

 drapery being admirable. The gables over the vaults are 

 ornamented with beautiful crockets of fine workmanship. The 

 third storey, again, is smaller. It is hexagonal in plan, formed 

 of an assemblage of single pinnacles, crowned by small crocketed 

 gables, ornamented with oak leaves and a flower like a fleur-de- 

 lys on the top. It forms a good termination to the structure, 

 and appears quite complete, although it is possible that there 

 was some further Cross or pinnacle above it." 



This Cross is, in the opinion of many, the best and most 

 elegant of the three Eleanor Crosses still in existence. In 

 design, feeling, and treatment it is quite distinct from the 

 others, and the triangular arrangement gives a picturesqueness 



