The cross at Northampton is the only one remaining of the five built by
John Battle and his partners. It occupies a site on the east of the main
road leading south, at a distance of about a mile from the town, in the
parish of Hardingston. The road rises slightly as it leaves the flat
land of the Nene Valley, and on this little elevation the cross was
erected. It was the proximity of the religious house of Cluniac nuns (S.
Maria de Pratis), now Delapré Abbey, which determined the spot where the
funeral procession stopped for the night. This cross stands quite in the
open country, and its fine proportions can be easily seen. Unfortunately
it has suffered much, both at the hands of time, but especially from the
restorer, and much of the original decorative work has disappeared. Its
strong, beautiful outlines give the observer a high idea of John
Battle’s skill as a designer.
[Illustration:
FIG. 16.
The Cross at Northampton, from a photograph by the Author, 1908.
]
The cross is situated on a platform surrounded on all sides by an ascent
of nine steps. From this the cross, which is of octagonal outline,
rises. The lowest story is supported by buttresses at the angles, and
the faces thus formed are divided into two panels by a perpendicular
moulding. Surmounting the panels is a series of decorated gables. The
panels show alternately shields with the arms of England, Castile and
Leon quarterly, and Ponthieu. In addition, every alternate face is
ornamented with an open book.
The second story is arranged also to give an octagonal outline, but
consists really of the quadrilateral solid column of the cross, on each
face of which stands the statue of the Queen, about 6 ft. in height,
facing north, south, east and west. Attached to this solid column is a
series of eight open tabernacles, elaborately and beautifully decorated.
Above this tabernacle story rises the solid four-sided column of the
cross, panelled and adorned with pointed tabernacle work, reproducing
the designs of the story below. The column originally terminated, in all
probability, in a cross-shaped finial. This no longer exists, the feeble
effort to replace the terminal cross during the restoration of 1713
being happily removed.
The first restoration of the cross of which we have particulars was in
1713. It was carried out very badly, and certainly in bad taste. Further
repairs were undertaken in 1762, during which the benefactions of the
restorers were duly and pompously notified on the cross itself. Careful
repairs were carried out in 1884, and now the care of the cross is
vested absolutely in the Northampton County Council. In spite of the
destruction due to early restorations, the Northampton cross remains a
remarkable tribute to the skill of the architects and builders of the
period, and a fine example of English decorated work.
It is difficult to obtain an idea of the cost of the crosses erected by
Battle. The executry accounts give evidence of a sum of nearly £400 paid
to Battle and his partners, but this money was on account of the five
Midland crosses. We know that the accounts are incomplete, so that the
amount spent was no doubt larger than this sum; possibly also a larger
amount may have been spent upon the cross in such an important position
as at Northampton than in certain other places.
In addition to the money which passed into the hands of Battle,
considerable sums were paid to William of Ireland and Ralph of
Chichester, who were entrusted with the sculpture of the statues of the
Queen, and the finer ornamental work represented by the constantly
recurring item, the “virgæ, capita et annuli.”
The building of the cross involved another very important piece of work
at Northampton. The roadway from the town to the Queen’s cross passes
over the flat marshes of the River Nene. Robert Harrison (Robertus
filius Henrici) received £80 for the construction of a causeway across
the marshy land, and certain sums were also expended in laying the
pavement. The necessity for such a “rood-way” is obvious to anyone who
has visited the spot, and the building of the causeway would have been
regarded at the time as a work of piety.