Charing Cross, London

Charing Cross is officially recognised as the very centre of London. It is located at the point where the Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street meet in Central London, at a district surrounding the Charing Cross railway station. The name came about because King Edward I placed a cross as a memorial to his wife, Eleanor of Castile, at the hamlet of Charing. All distances to London are measured from the location where the original Eleanor cross was built.

Charing Cross Station and Thistle Charing Cross Hotel, with the Eleanor Cross on the right
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barge_on_River_Thames,_London_-_Dec_2009.jpg
Author: David Iliff


There were originally 12 Eleanor crosses marking the twelve locations that Eleanor's coffin rested on its funeral procession from Lincolnshire to Wesminster. Of these, only 3 remain. The one in front of Charing Cross station is a re-located Victorian version that is designed by architect Edward Middleton Barry; it is larger and more ornate than the original.

The cross's original located was at the village of Charing, which was at the top of Whitehall, at the south of Trafalgar Square. That particular spot has since 1675 been occupied by the statue of King Charles I mounted on a horse. There is a plaque there that 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."

Nearest stations of the London Underground stations to Charing Cross include the Charing Cross Tube Station, Embankment Tube Station, Leicester Square Tube Station, Waterloo Tube Station and Westminster Tube Station.

Nearby Places

Location Map of Charing Cross

List of Places in London

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