HertfordshireTompkins, Herbert W. (Herbert Winckworth)
History
Hertfordshire
Tompkins, Herbert W. (Herbert Winckworth)
Hertfordshire (England) -- Guidebooks
WALTHAM CROSS, on the London-Cambridge road, owes its name, as is well
known, to the Cross which Edward I. erected to the memory of Queen
Eleanor about 11/4 mile W. from Waltham Abbey. The cross stands a little
W. from Waltham Station (G.E.R.), where the above-mentioned road meets
that which leads E. to the Abbey. Although frequently restored it is
perhaps even now more complete than any other Eleanor Cross still
existing. (That erected at St. Albans, as already stated, was destroyed
about 200 years ago.) It is, I believe, disputed as to whether it was
designed by Pietro Cavalini or not; it was completed in 1294. It is
hexagonal in shape, of three stages, diminishing from basement to
summit; the details of its sculpture can be readily seized by examining
Mr. New's drawing. The restoration of 1833 was worked in Bath stone;
this was largely replaced by new material, in Ketton stone, only a
few years ago, at which time the Old Falcon Inn, which projected almost
to the cross, was pulled down, thus affording a view of the monument
from all sides.
The Four Swans, close to the cross, dates from 1260, as is testified on
the large, quaint sign-board which swings above the road; but only a few
portions of the present structure are of any great antiquity. There is a
modern church a little N. from the cross; but much of the district
commonly called Waltham is in Essex. Of great interest to visitors,
however, and about 1 mile W. from the Cross, is _Theobald's Park_, a
brick mansion erected about 150 years back by Sir G. W. Prescott, Bart.
At one of the entrances to the park stands Temple Bar, brought here from
Fleet Street and erected in its present position in 1888. The house does
not occupy the site of the historic manor house visited by so many
sovereigns, which stood on a slight eminence some distance to the N.W.
It was William Cecil, afterwards Lord Burghley, who commenced to build
that famous mansion in 1560, and enlarged it considerably when he found
it pleasant in the eyes of many persons of high degree. Queen Elizabeth
was frequently a visitor at Theobalds. It was Burghley's son, Robert
Cecil, who entertained James I. here as that monarch was on his way to
London and the English Crown, and James became so pleased with the house
and its surroundings that he obtained it from Cecil, giving him the
royal manor of Hatfield in its stead. It was from _Theobalds_ that
Charles I. set out to raise his standard at Nottingham (1642). The house
was partially destroyed during the turmoil that ensued; after the
Restoration it was given by Charles II. to George Monk. It was
subsequently the property of the Earl of Portland and of several other
persons.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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