Description: The Countess Cross in Donington Park looking south-east. This memorial was erected in 1874 in a position overlooking the Park and consists of a Celtic cross mounted on a rusticated pedestal surrounded by boulders, the arrangement of which is in the form of a hand. It commemorates the burial on site of the right hand of Edith Maud Rawdon Hastings, the 10th Countess of Loudoun (1833-74), which is said to have been a symbolic attempt on the part of the Countess to influence the future of the Donington Hall estate after her death. This was in turn prompted by a desire to protect it from the 'squandering lifestyle of her brother' (however, this requires confirmation as both her brothers appear to have pre-deceased her).
Donington Park was a deer park, which accounts for the protective fencing around the trees. These formed part of a series of avenues within the Park.
The Countess Cross was listed Grade II in 1989.
This photo was taken by Derby-based postcard publisher F W Scarratt and is believed to be number 1215 in his series.