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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Eleanor crosses
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A series of carved stone crosses put up in memory of Eleanor of Castile (1246–90), the wife of *Edward I. She had accompanied him on crusade and was believed to have saved his life when he was wounded at Acre in 1272. When she died in Nottinghamshire, her body was brought down to London. Wherever it had rested, on each evening of that sad journey, he later had one of these crosses built. There were twelve, of which only three survive – at Geddington and Hardingstone in Northamptonshire, and at Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire. The most famous of them, *Charing Cross in London, exists today as a replica.
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