Eleanor Cross, Sledmere

A tall stone Eleanor Cross stands at the west side of Sledmere village in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Built between 1896 and 1898 for Sir Tatton Sykes, it was designed by Temple Lushington Moore to resemble the 13th-century Eleanor cross at Hardingstone. The cross rises on eight steps with a plinth inscribed with the Lord’s Prayer, its four tiers of limestone ashlar carved with heraldic shields, tracery panels and statues of Queen Eleanor. Limestone pinnacles and a bronze crucifix crown the structure, which was erected by stonemasons Thompsons of Peterborough with ornamental work by John Baker of Kennington. After the First World War the cross was converted into a war memorial by Sir Mark Sykes. He added twenty-two engraved monumental brasses to the first tier, each depicting a fallen soldier in modern or Gothic Revival style. The brasses were installed gradually, with the final panel filled in 1921 by a figure of Sir Mark himself, shown as a knight with the Sykes arms and a scroll bearing the words “LAETARE JERUSALEM.” The memorial now bears twenty-four names of officers and men of the 5th Yorkshire Regiment who died in the Great War. Visitors find the cross beside the Church of St Mary on the Sykes Churches Trail. The first tier shows sixteen heraldic shields and blind tracery panels, while the second tier holds four niches with painted statues of Queen Eleanor. The top tier contains four closed niches with statues of the Virgin Mary beneath a stone pinnacle and jewelled crucifix. Nearby stands the Grade I listed Wagoners’ Memorial, and a short distance away a tall stone monument honours Sir Tatton Sykes, 4th Baronet.