Probably that she was dead. The story of the twelve crosses was that they were erected by Kind Edward I in memory of his wife (conveniently called Eleanor) as they processed her body from Lincoln to London, at the end of the 13th Century. This one, at Charing Cross, is a Victorian "improved" replica, and is the point to which all distances to London are measured.
Worth noting that the original cross stood just to the south of Trafalgar Square, where the statue of King Charles I now stands.
ReplyDeleteFantastically ornate piece.
ReplyDeleteNow I need to read up about those twelve crosses.
they were originally referred to as "chere reine" crosses, since degraded int "charing" in some places. like this one.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!
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