From 1292 Northampton’s Queen Eleanor Cross has stood impressively looking over the town on the edge of Delapré Abbey and Hardingstone. It is a constant reminder of the enduring story of love and great loss between King Edward I and Queen Eleanor and the importance of Northampton in the royal story.
The son of King Henry III arranged a marriage between his young son, who eventually became King Edward I, and Eleanor the King of Spain’s half-sister. They married in 1254 and were rarely apart during 36 years of marriage. Both were frequent visitors to Northampton’s royal castle and the county’s hunting lodges. As they travelled through the county in 1290 Eleanor took ill before dying on the 28 November 1290 in Harby, Nottinghamshire.
Edward was distraught, and he decided that Eleanor’s body should be taken by procession to her final resting place in Westminster Abbey.
The funeral procession took 12 days to reach London, stopping overnight at Lincoln, Grantham, Stamford, Geddington, Northampton, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St. Albans, Waltham, Westcheap and Charing. Edward ordered crosses to be erected wherever they stopped. Today only the Northampton, Geddington and Waltham crosses survive, the others having been destroyed over time.
Number 38 of the objects selected for the A History of Northamptonshire in 100 Objects exhibition 2025.
A constraining garment used to restrict the movement of its wearer, preventing injury to themselves, others or property. This straitjacket comes from Hardingstone Workhouse.
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© Public Domain (Wikimedia Commons)
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