Eleanor Cross

Eleanor Cross

A village cross and First World War memorial standing on the western side of Sledmere village, 45 metres south-west of the Church of St Mary's gateway, adjacent to the site of the former church pond.

The cross was erected between 1896 and 1898 to designs by Temple Moore. It was built by Thompsons of Peterborough, with G Mills as foreman of the masons and John Barker of Kennington undertaking the ornamental carving. The structure is constructed of ashlar limestone with brass effigies. It was converted to a war memorial in 1918 following a design by Sir Mark Sykes, with effigies manufactured and engraved by Gowthorpe and Sons, memorial brass engravers of London.

The cross is octagonal in plan, rising from a base of eight steps and comprising four stages. It is a near copy of the Northampton Eleanor Cross at Hardingstone, dating from 1291.

The first stage rises from a plain plinth inscribed with words from the Lord's Prayer. It contains an arcade of eight paired blind tracery panels with ogee transoms and blind hoods beneath engaged crocheted canopies, separated by perpendicular-style staged square pillars with pinnacles. Sixteen carved and painted stone heraldic shields hung from oak branches are positioned beneath the ogee transoms, one to each panel. The heraldry represents England, the Borough of Kingston upon Hull, the Borough of Beverley, the Holy Trinity, the See of York, Archbishop Maclagan, a Gallic Cock, and the family crests of the Sykes, Harcourt, Mortimer, Woodcock, Robson, Matthew families, and one uncertain crest representing either Belgrave, Watton, or Banister.

The panels below contain twenty-five brass effigies commemorating the fallen. Twenty-two represent officers and men of the 5th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment; one commemorates a soldier of the 1st Battalion Cheshire Regiment; another represents a soldier of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry; and one depicts Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Mark Sykes. The effigies are not all to the same scale: one panel shows six officers in pairs in three superimposed rows, another shows three soldiers, while other panels display two full-length figures with an additional figure standing centrally to the rear.

The panels depicting officers show them in knightly attire or with chivalric references including gothic canopies, scrolls, supporting angels, St George slaying the dragon, and images with quotations of Joan of Arc. The effigy of Lieutenant-Colonel James Thomson depicts him standing on the chained and prostrate figure of Wotan. The effigy of Captain Edward Bagshaw is an adaptation of the brass of Sir Robert de Septvans at the Church of St Mary, Chartham, Kent. The effigies were originally gilded, but only faint traces remain. Details illustrating awards and stained glass have been coloured, and traces of paint can be found on numerous effigies.

The non-commissioned officers and soldiers are shown in crusader poses with hands in prayer, all wearing contemporary British Army uniforms and equipment of the First World War. Some of the non-commissioned officers and soldiers wear a mixture of contemporary and medieval equipment, including mail mitts and coifs. Most soldiers' effigies stand on headstones with a tool of their trade beneath their feet, including a footman's salver, a bill-hook, and a carpenter's plane. The additional effigy of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Mark Sykes shows him as a knight carrying a shield bearing the Sykes arms, beneath a scroll inscribed with the words LAETARE JERUSALEM, standing over a paynim with the Holy City in the background.

The first stage is capped by a band decorated with flowers and beasts, forming the base of the second stage. This stage houses four statues of Queen Eleanor, one on each side in open niches beneath elaborately carved canopies with foliate hoods and crocheted pinnacles, supported by square-profile corner pillars with small crocheted pinnacles. The clothing of these statues shows traces of scarlet, blue, and yellow paint.

The third stage rises from the second and comprises four blind tracery panels beneath engaged foliate carved hoods and pinnacles.

The fourth stage houses four statues of the Virgin Mary set within open niches beneath elaborately carved canopies with foliate hoods and crocheted pinnacles supported by square-profile corner pillars with small crocheted pinnacles and foliate finials. The central crocheted pinnacle terminates in a jewelled bronze crucifix with drop pendants and Christ crucified depicted on its north-eastern side.