Cheape Cross

Artist's impression of the Eleanor Cross at Cheape
A painting by Peter Schneider

One of the twelve Eleanor Crosses was erected by Master Michael, a mason from Canterbury, not long after the death of England's King Edward I's much-loved queen in 1290.

The location chosen was Cheape - an old term for a market - which later became known as Westcheap and is now Cheapside, situated only a short distance from St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

A curious account of the monument appears Old Church Lore which notes that one of the Eleanor Crosses once stood at Cheape, the historic marketplace of the city.

The original structure has long vanished, and its exact appearance is unknown. No contemporary illustrations survive, and each of the twelve crosses differed in design according to the craftsman responsible. Nevertheless, certain shared characteristics are evident, and the image shown here is a reconstruction based on those surviving examples.

Unlike several of the other Eleanor Crosses, the Cheape Cross did not endure for long in its original form. In 1441 it was rebuilt, incorporating a public drinking fountain.

Descriptions from the pageants held for the coronation of Edward VI in 1547 provide a useful picture of how the monument then appeared. It consisted of three octagonal tiers, each supported by eight slender columns. The total height is thought to have been around thirty-six feet, with the lowest section measuring roughly twenty feet, the middle about ten, and the uppermost around six. The decorative scheme likely included figures of the pope, four apostles, and the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus. Additional statues occupied the upper niches, and the structure was crowned with a cross surmounted by a dove.

On 21 June 1581, fervent Puritans attacked the monument, regarding it as a symbol of Catholicism, and removed the figure of the Virgin Mary. Some fourteen years later, the statue was restored.

Soon afterwards, the cross suffered a further indignity when it was dismantled and replaced with a pyramidal structure topped by a figure of the Roman goddess Diana - associated with hunting and later linked to the moon. The statue, notably immodest by later standards, was designed so that water from the Thames flowed from it as part of a fountain feature. (Diana is also mentioned in Acts 19:21-41.)

This was doubtless far removed from what Edward I had intended when he commissioned the memorial in 1290. Yet, as with many public monuments, its fate ultimately lay in the hands of the populace. Queen Elizabeth I, however, was displeased with this alteration and ordered that a gilded cross be reinstated.

Accordingly, in 1600 the monument was rebuilt once more, this time in a restrained blend of Grecian and Gothic styles. It remained standing until the night of 24 January 1641, when it again became the focus of unrest. Unlike the more rural settings of most Eleanor Crosses, Westcheap was a busy urban area populated by merchants and members of the gentry, many of whom associated the monument with “Dagon”, the Philistine deity, and viewed it as emblematic of Catholic practice.

On 2 May 1643, acting under an ordinance issued by the parliamentary Committee for the Demolition of Monuments of Superstition and Idolatry, the cross at Cheapside was finally destroyed. Sir Robert Harley, who oversaw its removal, recorded that as the upper cross fell, drums were beaten, trumpets sounded, and crowds cheered, throwing their caps into the air in celebration.

Today, no trace of the monument remains at Cheapside, although fragments are preserved in the Museum of London.