Editing Eleanor cross (section)

===Westcheap (now Cheapside)===
[[File:ONL (1887) 1.313 - Cheapside Cross, as it appeared in 1547.jpg|thumb|The coronation procession of [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]] passing the Cheapside cross in 1547: a 19th-century wood engraving based on a lost mural at [[Cowdray House]], Sussex]]
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Eleanor's bier reached the [[City of London]] on 14 December 1290, and a site for the cross was selected in Westcheap (now [[Cheapside]]).<ref name="pow194"/><ref name="cock345"/> Her heart was buried in the [[Blackfriars, London|Blackfriars]] priory on 19 December.<ref name="cock344"/> The Cheapside cross was built from 1291 onwards by Michael of Canterbury at a total recorded cost of £226 13s. 4d.<ref name="colv483"/><ref name ="pow165">Powrie 1990, p. 165.</ref>

Under a licence granted by [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]] in 1441, the cross was extensively restored or rebuilt in 1484–86.<ref>Powrie 1990, p. 166.</ref> It was subsequently regilded several times in the 16th century on the occasion of coronations and royal visits to the City.<ref name="pow165-6">Powrie 1990, pp. 165–66.</ref><ref name="stow">{{cite book |first=John |last=Stow |editor-first=Charles Lethbridge |editor-last=Kingsford |editor-link=Charles Lethbridge Kingsford |title=A Survey of London |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1908 |orig-year=1603 |volume=1 |pages=265–67 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/survey-of-london-stow/1603/pp258-276 }}</ref> [[John Stow]] included a detailed account of the cross and its history in his ''Survay of London'' of 1598, updating it in 1603.<ref name="stow"/>

Although a number of images of the cross and its eventual destruction are known, these all postdate its various refurbishments, and so provide no certain guide to its original appearance.<ref name="pow165"/> However, the chronicler [[Walter of Guisborough]] refers to this and Charing Cross as being fashioned of "marble"; and it is likely that it was similar to the Hardingstone and Waltham Crosses, but even more ornate and boasting some [[Purbeck marble]] facings.<ref name="pow165"/><ref>Cockerill 2014, p. 356.</ref>

The cross came to be regarded as something of a public hazard, both as a traffic obstruction and because of concerns about fragments of stone falling off; while in the post-[[English Reformation|Reformation]] period some of its [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] imagery aroused resentment, and elements were defaced in 1581, 1599 and 1600–01.<ref name="pow165-6"/><ref name="stow"/><ref>Galloway 1914, pp. 76–77.</ref> Matters came to a head during the years leading up to the Civil War. To puritanical reformers, it was identified with [[Dagon]], the ancient god of the [[Philistines]], and was seen as the embodiment of royal and Catholic tradition. At least one riot was fought in its shadow, as opponents of the cross descended upon it to pull it down, and supporters rallied to stop them. After [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] had fled London to raise an army, the destruction of the cross was almost the first order of business for the Parliamentary Committee for the Demolition of Monuments of Superstition and Idolatry, led by [[Robert Harley (1579–1656)|Sir Robert Harley]], and it was demolished on 2 May 1643.<ref>Cockerill 2014, p. 368.</ref><ref>Galloway 1914, p. 77.</ref> The downfall of the Cheapside Cross is an important episode of [[iconoclasm]] in English history.

Two Purbeck marble fragments of the original cross, displaying shields bearing the [[Royal Arms of England|royal arms of England]] and of [[Heraldry of Castile#Quartering with the arms of León|Castile and León]], were recovered in 1838 during reconstruction of the sewer in Cheapside. They are now held by the [[Museum of London]].<ref>Alexander and Binski 1987, p. 364.</ref>