Be transported back to medieval world of Queen Eleanor and Edward 1st and the court of King Arthur as we weave together the real history of Queen Eleanor, and a legend of Camelot. In 1290 Eleanor died near Lincoln, and her body was taken back to Westminster in a splendid cortège, a heartbroken Edward following behind his Queen, accompanied by hundreds of members of the royal household.Eleanor's cortège rested overnight in Grantham on Monday December 4th 1290.  Grantham lay near to two of Eleanor's properties offering accommodation for the cortège and a chance for tenants to pay their respects. In the years following her death Edward ordered the best craftsmen in the land to build 12 stone crosses in the places Eleanor’s body had rested overnight stretching from Lincoln to Westminster.

 

The Grantham cross was thought to have stood on what is now St Peters Hill on the High Street. No part of the Grantham cross survives, and it is possibly the most mysterious - there is no formal record of it bar that of its destruction in 1646 during the English Civil War - "the cross at the end of the High Street formerly known as the Queen’s Cross”.

 

There is a plaque dedicated to her at Grantham Guildhall which cost £7,000 in 2015 as a gift from Grantham Civic Society to the town. Her influence is still being felt in the town.

 

Through the ancient art of storytelling you will enter Edward and Eleanor’s world, seeing the contradictory and glorious powerhouse she was; property magnate, mother, lover, bookworm, huntress, crusader and chess champion. This dramatic, tender and captivating performance is touring the monument locations – come and be part of the story!