David Livingstone is not the only one to have his heart buried in one place and his body in another. The same happened to Queen Eleanor, wife of King Edward 1, on a grand scale. After she had died in the East Midlands her body was embalmed in Lincoln and similarly dismembered. Her body was carried to London and her husband had nine crosses erected to mark the stopping-places on the journey. The best preserved of these is at Geddington, in Northamptonshire. The final cross was erected at Charing in London and a replica is now sited at the entrance to Charing Cross station.
Eleanor was no pushover. She would have made her mark as a queen in her own right. She was a capable busines-woman with an interest in interior decorating and garden design. She lived (1241-1290) in days when men like Edward could register his regard for a wife by extravagant display. The succession of memorials had a dignity about it that is not always apparent in memorials today. Crowded cemeteries sometimes have memorials vying with each other in a contest of splendour and sculpture that is less than edifying. The Eleanor crosses avoided such competitive jostling.
The nearest we have in modern days to these memorials is the Cenotaph in Whitehall. This, like the Eleanor crosses, is an empty tomb. It, too, is a national monument of an unusual kind. In this case it memorialises a whole generation.
The instinct to honour ancestors and achievers is deep-rooted east and west and in a variety of political contexts. It is part of folk religion and folk atheism. Pilgrims plod or fly to Nazareth and Compostela. They return – or they once did – carrying palms to show their commitment.
We are fortunate to have in the Eleanor crosses a reminder of the respect due to our forebears. It gives rise to a tribute in stone. We call to mind how much we have in common with those in our history who lived through very different days and yet are close to us in matters that go deep. See Psalm 143.5.
GEDDINGTON FRIENDS
Geddington parish church is a medieval building with evidence of its original Anglo-Saxon nave. It is treasured by the village community. In 1995 Friends of the church were organised and over 25 years raised £100,000 to maintain the church building. The Vicar is Gillian Gamble.
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