Eleanor Cross (Hardingstone)
The Eleanor Cross at Hardingstone in Northamptonshire is one of only three surviving from the 13th century.
It is situated beside the main road leading South out of Northampton, outside the site of Delapre Abbey, and is in amazingly good condition.
Eleanor of Castile was the much-loved wife of Edward I. When she died at Harby in Nottinghamshire in 1290, Edward built the crosses wherever her body rested on its way to London and burial at Westminster Abbey.
The other surviving crosses are a few miles away at Geddington, and at Waltham Cross, near Waltham Abbey. The well known cross outside Charing Cross Station is a 19th century copy.
There were originally 12 Eleanor Crosses, at Lincoln, Grantham, Stamford, Geddington, Hardingstone, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St. Albans, Waltham Cross, Cheapside and Charing Cross.