Charing Cross denotes the
junction of the Strand
, Whitehall
and Cockspur Street
, just south of Trafalgar Square
in Westminster
within Central
London, England. It is named after the site of a long
demolished
Eleanor cross (now occupied
by a statue of King
Charles I
mounted on a horse) located at the former hamlet of Charing, at
this point.
It is the primary of the central datum points
for measuring distances from London along with the London Stone
and the doors of St Mary-le-Bow
church.
History
Location and etymology
"Erect a rich and stately carved cross,
Whereon her statue shall with glory shine;And henceforth see you
call it Charing Cross."
George
Peele The Famous Chronicle of
King Edward the First (1593)The name originates
from the Eleanor cross erected between
the former hamlet of Charing and the entrance to the Royal Mews
of the Palace of Whitehall
in 1291-4 by King Edward I as a memorial to his wife,
Eleanor of Castile. The
cross was the work of the medieval sculptor,
Alexander of Abingdon. Originally
built in wood, it was quickly replaced with a stone and marble
monument.There are many theories about the origins of the name.
Some say it is derived from the
old
English word
cierring, referring to the large bend in
the
River Thames, nearby. The
Encyclopaedia
Britannica says: "A popular derivation of the name
connected it with Edward's "dear queen" (
chère reine), and
a village of Cherringe or Charing grew up here later, but the true
origin of the name is not known."
Since 1675 the site of the cross has been occupied by a statue of
King
Charles I mounted on a
horse.
That original position of the cross is
recognised by modern convention as the centre of London for the
purpose of indicating distances by road in favour of other previous
measurement points (such as St Paul's Cathedral
which remains as the root of the English and Welsh
part of the Great
Britain road numbering scheme). Furthermore, all
residential roads in Greater London
have the houses numbered such that number 1 is at
the end closer to Charing Cross as the crow
flies. Charing Cross is marked on contemporary maps
as a road junction, though it was previously also a postal address
denoting the stretch of road between Great Scotland Yard and Trafalgar
Square
. Since 1 January 1931 this section of road
has been designated as part of the Whitehall thoroughfare.
The Cross
has given its name to a railway station
, a hotel, a hospital
- founded locally, a police station; and two places
of entertainment, the Charing Cross Theatre
and the Charing Cross Music Hall
(which lay beneath the arches of the
station). Charing Cross Road
the main route from the north (which becomes the
east side of Trafalgar Square) was named for the railway station
which was a major destination for traffic, rather than for the
original cross.
St Mary Rounceval
Between 1232–36, the Chapel and Hospital of St Mary Rounceval was
founded at Charing.
This occupied land at the corner of the
modern Whitehall and into the centre of Northumberland
Avenue
, running down to a wharf by the river.
This was
an Augustinian house, tied to a mother
house at Roncesvalles
, in the Pyrenees
. The house and lands were seized for the
King in 1379, under a statute "for the forfeiture of the lands of
schismatic aliens". Protracted legal action returned some rights to
the Prior, but in 1414,
Henry V
finally suppressed the 'alien' houses.
The priory fell into
a long decline due to lack of money, with further arguments over
the collection of tithes with the parish church of St
Martin-in-the-Fields
. In 1541, religious artefacts were removed to
St
Margaret's
, and the chapel was adapted as a private house,
with the almshouse being sequestered to the Royal Palace.
In
1608–09, the Earl
of Northampton built Northumberland House
on the eastern portion of the property. The
house suffered some damage in the
Wilkes'
Election Riots of 1768, the Duke saved his property by the
expedient of opening the nearby Ship Ale House, which drew off the
rioters. In June 1874, the whole of the Duke's property at Charing
Cross, was purchased by the
Metropolitan Board of Works for
the formation of Northumberland Avenue.
The frontage of the Rounceval property caused the narrowing at the
end of the Whitehall entry to Charing Cross, and formed the section
of Whitehall formerly known as Charing Cross, until road widening
in the 1930s caused the rebuilding of the south side of the street
– creating the current wide thoroughfare.
Battle
In 1554, Charing Cross was the locus of the final battle of
Wyatt's Rebellion. This was an
attempt by
Thomas Wyatt,
with others, to overthrow Queen
Mary I
of England, soon after her accession to the throne; and replace
her with
Lady Jane Grey.
Wyatt's army had come
from Kent, and with London
Bridge
barred to them, had come via the then next Thames
bridge at Hampton
Court
. Their circuitous route brought them down
St. Martin's
Lane
to Whitehall.
The palace was defended by 1,000 men under Sir
John Gage at Charing Cross;
they retreated within Whitehall after firing their shot, causing
consternation within — thinking the force had changed sides.
The
rebels – themselves, fearful of artillery on the higher ground
around St
James's
– did not press their attack and marched onto
Ludgate
; where they were met by the Tower
Garrison
and
surrendered.
Civil war removal

Statue of Charles I, facing down
Whitehall
The Eleanor Cross was pulled down, by order of Parliament, in 1647,
at the time of the
English Civil
War, becoming the subject of a popular
Royalist ballad:
- Methinks the common-council shou'd
- Of it have taken pity,
- 'Cause, good old cross, it always stood
- So firmly in the city.
- Since crosses you so much disdain,
- Faith, if I were you,
- For fear the King should rule again,
- I'd
pull down Tiburn
too.
(extract from "The Downfall of Charing Cross")
At
the Restoration eight of the
regicides were executed here, including the
notable
Fifth Monarchist, Colonel
Thomas Harrison. A statue
of Charles I, was later erected on the site. This statue had been
made in 1633 by
Hubert Le Sueur, in
the reign of Charles I, but, in 1649, was ordered to be destroyed
by Parliament. Subsequently, after being hidden by the man charged
with destroying the statue, it resurfaced at the Restoration; and
was erected here in 1675.
A prominent
pillory, where malefactors were
publicly flogged, was situated next to the statue of King Charles.
To the
south of Charing Cross was the Hungerford Market
, established at the end of the 16th century; and to
the north was the King's Mews, a royal
stable. The area around the pillory was a popular place of
street entertainment.
Samuel Pepys
records in his diaries visiting the surrounding taverns and
watching the entertainments and executions that were held there.
This
whole area was transformed when Trafalgar Square
was built on the site in 1832.
A famous inn called the "Golden Cross" - first mentioned in 1643 -
was situated in the former village of Charing.
From here, in the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, coaches departed by various
routes to Dover
, Brighton
, Bath
, Bristol
, Cambridge
, Holyhead
and York
. The
inn features in
Sketches by
Boz,
David
Copperfield and
The
Pickwick Papers by
Charles
Dickens. In the latter, the dangers to public safety of the low
archway between the inn to the street were pointed out by
Mr Jingle in a somewhat memorable
fashion:
"Heads, heads - take care of your heads", cried the
loquacious stranger as they came out under the low archway which in
those days formed the entrance to the coachyard.
"Terrible place - dangerous work - other day - five
children - mother - tall lady, eating sandwiches - forgot the arch
- crash - knock - children look round - mother's head off -
sandwich in her hand - no mouth to put it in - head of family
off"
The inn
was demolished for the creation of Trafalgar Square
and a new Golden Cross Hotel was built in the 1830s
on the triangular site now fronted by South Africa House
. Though this hotel is now also gone, the
memory is preserved in commercial offices facing the Strand named
Golden Cross House.
Replacement

Area around Charing Cross
c.1833
The
railway station opened in 1864, fronted on the Strand
with the Charing Cross Hotel. In 1865, a
replacement cross was commissioned from
E. M. Barry by the
South Eastern Railway as the
centrepiece of the forecourt of the hotel; about east of the
original site.
It is not a replica, being of an ornate
Victorian Gothic design based on George Gilbert Scott's Oxford Martyrs'
Memorial
(1838). The Cross rises in three main stages
on an octagonal plan, surmounted by a spire and cross.
The shields in the
panels of the first stage are copied from the Eleanor Crosses and bear the arms of
England
, Castile
, Leon
and Ponthieu; above the 2nd
parapet are 8 statues of Queen Eleanor. The Cross was
designated a
Grade II* monument on 5
February 1970. The month before, the bronze equestrian statue of
Charles, on a pedestal of carved Portland stone was given Grade I
listed protection.
Fragments
of the medieval original remain in the Museum of London
.
Official use as central point
From the early 19th century, legislation that was applicable only
to the London
metropolis used Charing
Cross as a central point to define its geographical 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.
Use |
Scope |
Metropolitan Police
District |
The Metropolitan Police
Act 1829 made provision that all parishes within 12 miles could
be added. This was expanded to 15 miles by the Metropolitan Police Act
1839. |
Metropolitan Buildings
Office |
The London Building Act
1844 allowed that any place within 12 miles could be added to
the area of responsibility. |
Hackney carriage licensing
& The Knowledge |
The London Hackney Carriage Act 1831 and subsequent
legislation set the radius within which cab drivers were obliged to
take a fare. Streets within a six-mile radius of Charing Cross are
still included in taxi driver training. |
Street Trading |
The Metropolitan Streets Act 1856 gave the
Commissioner of Metropolitan Police the power to control various
activities within a six mile radius of Charing Cross. Powers to
licence shoeblack pitches are still in force but in practice are
superseded by individual London
boroughs' street trading arrangements. |
Transport and locale

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.
- Nearest stations
To the
east of the Charing Cross road junction is Charing
Cross railway station
situated on the Strand
. On the other side of the river, connected by
the pedestrian Golden Jubilee Bridges
are Waterloo East
station and Waterloo
station
.
The
nearest London
Underground stations are Charing Cross
and Embankment
.
External links
References