Libraries and leisure

Archaeology, Sites to See

The Eleanor Cross

The Eleanor Cross, Waltham Cross, is one of only three surviving of the original twelve crosses erected between 1291-5, on the order of Edward I, to mark the places at which his wife, Queen Eleanor’s body rested when it was brought from Nottingham to London in December 1290. The Cross comprises three stages; the first bears Eleanor’s coats-of-arms, the second three statues of the Queen, and the last is the base for the delicate spire and cross which completes the monument. The Cross has been must restored in recent times (when the statues were replaced with replicas), but it is still one of the most important examples of English Gothic monumental sculpture in the country.

It is situated at the junction of High Street and Eleanor Cross Road, Waltham Cross. Grid reference TL 3608 0038.

Map showing Eleanor Cross