Serious historians amongst you will remember that on 28 November 1290 Edward I’s wife, Eleanor of Castile, died at Harby, Nottinghamshire, and Edward decreed that she should be buried in Westminster Abbey, almost 200 miles away.

Eleanor’s body was first moved to Lincoln, about 7 miles away, where she was apparently embalmed. Having buried her viscera (minus her heart) in Lincoln Cathedral on 3 December, Edward and a huge entourage escorted the body to Westminster – a journey which took around 12 days. Eleanor was buried on 17 December.

Just think about that for a minute. The cortège covered some 180+ miles, in early December, on foot and horseback, on almost non-existent roads. They covered about 15-20 miles a day, stopping overnight at major religious houses, where Eleanor’s body could lie with monks or nuns to keep vigil, and where the King could be accommodated. That, plus one suspects the suitability of the roads, determined the non-obvious (to us) route: Lincoln – Grantham – Stamford – Geddington – Hardingstone – Stony Stratford – Woburn – Dunstable – St Albans – Waltham – Westcheap (now Cheapside) – Charing.

Historians will also know that Edward I decreed that a memorial cross be erected at each of the stopping points – 12 in all. And in true medieval, grieving King style, we’re talking about a substantial memorial 30-40 feet high, richly carved and decorated. These 12 crosses were erected between 1291 and 1295 by established master masons. Records survive of the accounts for many of the crosses and we know that some cost £100 or more each – a vast sum in the 1290s. We also know they were completed before the financial crash of 1297!

Of the original 12 crosses only three now remain; at Geddington, Hardingstone and Waltham. The rest appear to have fallen victim to Oliver Cromwell’s merry men, or just the ravages of time.

[Who said “What about Charing Cross?”. Yes indeed there is an Eleanor Cross outside London’s Charing Cross Station. However: (a) it is a Victorian pastiche, (b) it is fairly well accepted that it is unlikely to be much like the original, (c) the original is known to have been destroyed by Parliamentary forces in 1647 at the height of the Civil War, and (d) it’s in the wrong place.]

Now the awake amongst our long-term readers will recall that I was brought up at Waltham Cross, site of the last of those three surviving crosses. In fact Eleanor’s body lay at the abbey in Waltham, which was in those days a major and influential monastery, (re)founded by King Harold Godwinson (1022-1066) – yes, he who got an arrow in the eye at Hastings. That place is now called Waltham Abbey. But the cross is about 2 miles west at what is now known as Waltham Cross. But why?

There are probably two (maybe more) reasons. Firstly Edward I wanted the memorials to be visible and public, so it didn’t make sense to put them at isolated monasteries. So the cross at Waltham was placed on the nearest “major road” at the junction with the causeway across the marshes to the abbey. Secondly, the abbey at Waltham was indeed rather isolated and in the middle of this swampy piece of marshland at the bottom of the Lea Valley; so the cross had to be built on the nearest sensible piece of stable ground.

Unfortunately I’ve never managed to photograph the cross at Waltham; in my days there it was encumbered by traffic, street furniture, traffic lights, trolleybus wires etc. But here is a recent image with the area round the monument now pedestrianised, and a scan of a glass negative I recently acquired.

Until this week I’d never seen the other two original crosses at Hardingstone (just outside Northampton) and Geddington (about 20 miles NE of Northampton). But a few days ago we had the opportunity to go to Northampton. Noreen was meeting her best friend from university, so I had some hours to kill.

On the way into Northampton we stopped at Hardingstone. Unfortunately the cross there is currently shrouded in scaffolding etc. as it is undergoing yet another round of belated restoration.

But why a cross at Hardingstone? Because Eleanor’s body lay overnight on the journey at Delapré Abbey, just a stone’s throw from the cross (which is on the main road) – the old abbey wall runs just beside the cross (just off to the right of my photograph (below). Here the nuns could keep vigil during the night. Meanwhile King Edward lodged at nearby Northampton Castle. So this was an obvious overnight resting place.

Having dropped Noreen off we went on to Geddington. This is perhaps the best preserved (and least restored?) of the three crosses. Geddington is a tiny village of pretty stone houses and the cross stands in a triangle in the village centre right by the church. (The church itself is interesting as it retains a large element of the Saxon original.) As you can see from the photographs the Geddington cross is very different in style from either Waltham or Hardingstone – much more graceful and fragile in appearance, but just as decorated.

I had puzzled over why there was a cross at Geddington as there was no obvious monastery here. But it turns out there was a royal palace (well at least a hunting lodge; depends who you believe) here, so an easy place for an overnight or two.

Having had a splendid lunch in The Star (also right next to the cross; it’s the building behind the cross in my photo) and looked at the church, we meandered our way back to Northampton; but not without another of Geddington’s delights: the ford, which is right next to the medieval packhorse bridge (now closed to traffic).

The meander took us via Earl’s Barton for a quick look at the church. This is notable for its stunning Saxon tower. The body of the church, and the battlements on the tower, are medieval additions. But that tower is quite something, although as time was ticking on I couldn’t dwell long enough to take much in the way of photos.

Having collected Noreen and after a stop for much needed coffee and cake, we made our way back to London, by a different route. It was a long day, and we packed a lot in. But if possible it’s a trip we’ll be doing again, hopefully when the Hardingstone Cross is once more unwrapped.