"The ground whereon the battle was fought," say the topographers of the
county,[10] "is about one mile west from Durham; it is hilly, and in some
parts very steep, particularly towards the river. Near it, in a deep
vale, is a small mount, or hillock, called the _Maiden's Bower_, on
which the holy Corporex Cloth, wherewith St. Cuthbert covered the
chalice when he used to say mass, was displayed on the point of a spear,
by the monks of Durham, who, when the victory was obtained, gave notice
by signal to their brethren stationed on the great tower of the
Cathedral, who immediately proclaimed it to the inhabitants of the city,
by singing Te Deum. From that period the victory was annually
commemorated in a similar manner by the choristers, till the occurrence
of the Civil Wars, when the custom was discontinued; but again revived
on the Restoration," and observed till nearly the close of the last
century.

The site of the Cross is by the road-side: it was defaced and broken
down in the year 1589. Its pristine beauty is thus minutely described in
Davis's _Rights and Monuments_: "On the west side of the city of
Durham, where two roads pass each other, a most famous and elegant cross
of stone work was erected to the honour of God, &c. at the sole cost of
Ralph, Lord Neville, which cross had seven steps about it, every way
squared to the socket wherein the stalk of the cross stood, which socket
was fastened to a large square stone; the sole, or bottom stone being of
a great thickness, viz. a yard and a half every way: this stone was the
eighth step. The stalk of the cross was in length three yards and a half
up to the boss, having eight sides all of one piece; from the socket it
was fixed into the boss above, into which boss the stalk was deeply
soldered with lead. In the midst of the stalk, in every second square,
was the Neville's cross; a saltire in a scutcheon, being Lord Neville's
arms, finely cut; and, at every corner of the socket, was a picture of