Windows mark link to queen

A village has marked its connection to Queen Eleanor with new stained-glass windows commemorating her death.

Eleanor of Castile, wife of King Edward I died at the home of Richard de Weston in Harby, in November 1290.

On Sunday about 130 residents filled the village’s All Saints’ Church for the dedication of the new windows in the north of the naive.

The windows, which are predominantly blue and cost about £5,000, were created by Mr Stephen Lewis, the deputy team leader of glazing in the works department at Lincoln Cathedral.

An inscription reads: “Queen Eleanor, beloved wife of King Edward of England, died November 28th 1290 in Harby.

“A gift from the people of Harby to commemorate 2,000 years of Christianity and to the Glory of God.”

The service was led by the priest-in-charge, the Rev Kenneth Potter.

The dedication was carried out by the Dean Emeritus of Southwell, the Very Rev David Leaning.

Readings were also given by the parish clerk, Miss Ros Medley, former churchwarden Mrs Susan West, and Emily Nolan (10) a pupil at the village’s Queen Eleanor Primary School.

The windows feature Queen Eleanor, the 12 crosses to commemorate her death and the coat of arms of Leon and Castile, England and Ponthieu. Her father was the King of Castile and her mother was the Countess of Ponthieu.

After the embalming of Queen Eleanor’s body in Lincoln, her viscera was buried in a tomb in Lincoln Cathedral and her heart was taken to Blackfriars Church, London, for burial.

During the royal funeral procession that took Queen Eleanor’s body from Lincoln to Westminster Abbey, where she was finally laid to rest, the cortege stopped at 12 sites, which were marked by King Edward I with commemorative crosses. Only three crosses remain.

The chairman of the parish council, Mr Richard Croft (49) of Wigsley Road, said all the money had come from villagers, either through donations or fundraising.

He said a chantry chapel was founded in the village after Queen Eleanor died but it was dissolved in 1548 and was incorporated into the former church building, which was later knocked down to be replaced with the current church.

Harby had never had its own memorial to Queen Eleanor since then so they opted for the windows.

He said: “The window is quite spectacular, I feel honoured that it has all come together.”

Guests at the service include people who helped a group of villagers who, last year, cycled the 220-mile route of Queen Eleanor’s funeral procession.

The group stopped at each of the cross sites and raised about £11,000 in sponsorship for church roof repairs.

Mr Croft said among those at the service were members of the charity group Geddington Volunteer Fire Brigade, who hosted the cyclists for a night during the bike ride.

They exchanged gifts with the group in Geddington at the site of one of the remaining crosses.

Another special guest was Mr David Holtam, the son of the vicar at St-Martins-in-the-Fields Church in Trafalgar Square, who guided the Harby cyclists out of London.

Trafalgar Square is where one of the crosses once stood.