Cylchgronau Cymru

Richard concerned himself with the considerable revenue derived from the offerings made by the faithful to the relics in the chapel, foremost among which was the Croes Naid. Up to the year 1393 the Precentor paid over annually to the Treasurer what was left after all the Chapel expenses had been paid, but in that year the oblations were diverted by the King from the common funds to swell the in- come of the resident Canons. Richard 11's successor, Henry IV, in the fourth year of his reign (1402-03) offered in St. George's Chapel on the Feast of St. George an oblation of 6s. 8d. to the cross. I have been unable to trace any reference to the relic in the succeeding reign of Henry V. but in that of Henry VI the Precentor's Account for 1428-29 contains an entry showing that he had disbursed 2s. in sudario de tartaryn rubes empto per custodem Collegij pro Cruce de Gneygth (on a cloth of red tartaryn bought through the Warden of the College for the Cross of Gneygth). (W.R., xv.56.28)20 For the first hundred years of its life the Chapel of the Garter had been that built by Henry III in 1240 as the chapel of his palace. It stood on the site now occupied by the Albert Memorial Chapel, and was eventually demolished by Henry VII, who started rebuilding it-possibly as a shrine for the body of Henry VI. It was in this older chapel of 1240 that the Croes Naid found its first resting place in Windsor. In 1475 Edward IV began his new chapel; by 1481 the quire and its aisles were roofed in oak, and a year later the stone vaulting over the easternmost bays of the quire aisles was being set up. It is in this portion of the south aisle that the beautiful roof boss showing the King and Bishop Beauchamp kneeling beside the Croes Naid is still in situ. The Bishop had been appointed Master and Surveyor of the Works in 1472, and from 1477 until his death in 1481 he was also Dean of the Chapel. The treasures of the older Chapel of the Garter were in due course transferred to the new Chapel, among them the Croes Naid and the oldest stall plates of the Knights of the Order. The work of building and enriching the Chapel went on through succeeding reigns, and it is interesting to speculate on what manner of devotion was felt by Henry VII for the famous relic which had come from the wild mountains of Wales to rest in the quiet valley washed by the Thames. Henry was a grandson of Owen Tudor, and as a descendant of the Welsh prince Cadwallader he bore as one of the supporters of his shield the Red Dragon of Wales. He had married the daughter of Edward IV, and had therefore a close link with the founder of the chapel in which the Welsh relic was preserved. His Queen, Elizabeth of York, made offerings to the cross, recorded in her Privy Purse expenses for the year March 1502 to February 1503, in which month she died. In the third Inventory of the Treasures of the Chapel, dated 1501, once more the Croes Naid is given place of honour: Imprimis crucem auream continentem in se partem pretiosi ligni ornatum multis lapidibus pretiosis sine pede (first of all a cross of gold containing in it part of the precious wood adorned with many precious stones without a foot). An entry in the Inventory of 1534 shows that the foot of the cross had by that date been restored to it.