On the 28th November in 1290 in the Nottinghamshire village of Harby, Eleanor of Castile, the beloved wife of Edward I died.
It is thought that Eleanor had not properly recovered from catching malaria a few years earlier, and it was on her journey to pray at the Shrine of St Hugh in Lincoln Cathedral that she became ill. On the 13th November, once parliament had concluded at King’s Clipstone, the royal party began their journey into Lincolnshire, but Eleanor's health deteriorated so they stopped at Harby, the home of Richard de Weston, in the hope that she regain her strength. According to Edward’s itinerary, they arrived at Harby on the 20th November, it was here eight days later that Eleanor died. The king was with her at her request, Oliver Sutton, the Bishop of Lincoln, and Harby’s parish priest, William de Kelm were also in attendance.
Eleanor’s body was conferred to St Catherine’s Priory in Lincoln where it was embalmed. The queen's viscera were buried in Lincoln Cathedral, where Edward would place a copy of her Westminster Abbey tomb.
King Edward’s grief at the loss of his wife is well known as is the fact that at each place his queen's body rested on her journey to London he erected crosses, all different and all beautifully ornate. The first one placed was at St Catherine’s, sadly nothing but a stump remains, and this can be found in the grounds of Lincoln Castle.
At Harby, a chantry chapel was established in 1294 where prayers were said for the queen's soul and this was done until the dissolution, however the building itself survived until 1877.
King Edward’s grief at the loss of his wife is well known as is the fact that at each place his queen's body rested on her journey to London he erected crosses, all different and all beautifully ornate. The first one placed was at St Catherine’s, sadly nothing but a stump remains, and this can be found in the grounds of Lincoln Castle.
At Harby, a chantry chapel was established in 1294 where prayers were said for the queen's soul and this was done until the dissolution, however the building itself survived until 1877.
We were at Harby last year, it was a cold and wet day, much like the day in 1290. The manor house in which Queen Eleanor died is long gone, but you can walk to the site on which it stood, also to be seen are the remains of the moat that once surrounded it.
The aforementioned Chantry Chapel once stood behind the iron railings, on the spot where the above was taken.
The aforementioned Chantry Chapel once stood behind the iron railings, on the spot where the above was taken.
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