Charing Cross

Charing Cross
OS grid reference	TQ302804
London borough	Westminster
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	WC2
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Cities of London and Westminster
London Assembly	West Central
European Parliament	London
List of places: UK • England • London

Coordinates: 51°′″N 0°′″W / 51.507466, -0.122981

The Victorian replacement Eleanor Cross at Charing Cross.

The front entrance of Charing Cross railway station in a 19th-century print. The cross in front of the station Hotel is a Victorian replacement for the original Eleanor Cross, which stood near the site.

Charing Cross is the district surrounding Charing Cross railway station in Central London, England. It originates from the hamlet of Charing, where King Edward I placed a cross as a memorial to his wife, Eleanor of Castile. It is officially^[1] recognised as the centre of London; distances to London are measured to the location of the original Eleanor cross built at Charing.

History

Charing Cross was the last of 12 locations where Eleanor's coffin rested overnight during the funeral procession from Lincolnshire to her final resting-place at Westminster, half a mile away. At each of these, Edward erected an Eleanor cross, of which only three now remain. The one that stands in front of Charing Cross station is a re-located Victorian version (designed by architect Edward Middleton Barry), larger and more ornate than the original.

The cross's original location was at the village of Charing, at the top of Whitehall, at the south of Trafalgar Square. Since 1675 the site has been occupied by Hubert Le Sueur's statue of King Charles I mounted on a horse. A plaque there reads:

"On the site now occupied by the statue of King Charles was erected the original Queen Eleanor's Cross a replica of which stands in front of Charing Cross Station. Mileages from London are measured from the site of the original cross."

Although it has been thought that the name Charing derived from French chere reine ("dear Queen"), it is more likely to stem from the Old English cearring, meaning a bend in the river - at the site of the village of Charing, coming from Westminster, the Thames makes a dramatic 90-degree turn to the east.

Samuel Johnson is quoted as saying "I think the full tide of human existence is at Charing-Cross." Source: Life of Johnson (J. Boswell), Vol. II. In Aldous Huxley's novel, Brave New World, the Charing Cross is renamed to Charing T, after the Ford Model T.

Official use as central point

Legislation from the early 19th century used Charing Cross as a central point for defining its scope. Its later use in legislation waned in favour of providing a schedule of local government areas and became mostly obsolete with the official creation of Greater London in 1965.

Charing Cross Arches

Since the railway was built, the arches beneath Charing Cross railway station have provided refuge for some of London’s marginal groups, wary of a hostile public reaction to their way of life. In the early twentieth century, the arches and Charing Cross station concourse were notorious cruising sites.^[2] They also provided shelter for many of London’s single homeless people drifting between hostels and the streets and sleeping rough in cardboard boxes.^[3][4] In 1979 the arches became home to ‘’Heaven’’, one of the best known gay nightclubs in Central London.^[5]

Charing Cross arches were the inspiration for the popular song performed by the famous duo Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen. They were also the focal point for the influential radio documentary, Underneath the Arches, which alerted public attention to the plight of homeless people.^[6]

Nearest places

• Trafalgar Square
• Soho
• Holborn
• Mayfair
• Bloomsbury

Nearest tube stations

• Charing Cross tube station
• Embankment tube station
• Leicester Square tube station
• Waterloo station
• Westminster tube station

Nearest railway stations

• Charing Cross railway station
• Waterloo East station
• Waterloo station

References

City of Westminster
Districts	Bayswater · Belgravia · Covent Garden · Fitzrovia · Holborn · Hyde Park · Knightsbridge · Lisson Grove · Maida Vale (including Little Venice) · Mayfair · Marylebone · Millbank · Paddington · Pimlico · Queen's Park · St. James's · St. John's Wood · Soho (including Chinatown) · Victoria · Westbourne Green · Westminster
Attractions	West End theatre · Westminster Abbey · Buckingham Palace · National Gallery · Tate Britain · Trafalgar Square · Horse Guards · Other locations and landmarks in Westminster
Royal Parks	Green Park · Hyde Park · Kensington Gardens · Regent's Park · St James's Park
Constituencies	Regent's Park and Kensington North · Cities of London and Westminster
Parks and open spaces in Westminster

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