Editing Charing Cross (section)

===Location and etymology===
[[File:Old Charing Cross.jpg|thumb|upright|The old Eleanor cross at Charing ({{Circa|1293}} to 1643)]]
[[File:John Norden's Map of Westminster - Charing Cross.jpg|thumb|right|Charing Cross shown on [[John Norden]]'s map of Westminster, 1593. The map is oriented with north to the top right, and Whitehall to the bottom left.]]
{{Blockquote|<poem>Erect a rich and stately carved cross,
Whereon her statue shall with glory shine;
And henceforth see you call it Charing Cross.</poem>
|<small>[[George Peele]] ''The [[Famous Chronicle of King Edward the First]]'' (1593)</small>}}
The name of the lost hamlet, Charing, is derived from the [[Old English]] word ''ċierring'', a river bend, in this case, referring to a bend in the [[River Thames|Thames]].<ref name="epns">{{cite book |first1=J. E. B. |last1=Gover |first2=Allen |last2=Mawer |author-link=Allen Mawer|first3=F. M. |last3=Stenton |author3-link=Frank Stenton |title=The Place-Names of Middlesex apart from the City of London |series=[[English Place-Name Society]] |volume=18 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1942 |pages=167 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Helen |last=Bebbington |title=London Street Names |location=London |publisher=Batsford |year=1972 |isbn=9780713401400 |page=[https://archive.org/details/londonstreetname0000bebb/page/81 81] |url=https://archive.org/details/londonstreetname0000bebb/page/81 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://library.eb.co.uk/eb/article-9022531?query=charing%20cross&ct= |title=Charing Cross – Britannica Online Encyclopedia |publisher=library.eb.co.uk |access-date=7 July 2010 }}</ref> A debunked [[folk etymology]] claimed the name is a [[corruption (linguistics)|corruption]] of ''chère reine'' ("dear queen" in French), but the name pre-dates Queen Eleanor's death by at least a hundred years.<ref name="epns" /><ref>{{cite web|title=The Eleanor Crosses|url=http://archive.museumoflondon.org.uk/medieval/People/147014/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112090526/http://archive.museumoflondon.org.uk/medieval/People/147014/|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 November 2013|work=Eleanor of Castille (archived copy)|publisher=[[Museum of London]]|access-date=12 November 2013}}</ref>

The suffix "Cross" refers to the [[Eleanor cross]] made during 1291&ndash;94 by order of King [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] as a memorial to his wife, [[Eleanor of Castile]].<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Charing Cross|volume=5|pages=859–860}}</ref> This place latter comprised little more than wayside cottages serving the [[Royal Mews]] in the northern area of [[Trafalgar Square]], and built specifically for the [[Palace of Whitehall]] (much of the east side of [[Whitehall]]).  A variant from the hazy [[Middle English orthography]] of the late fourteenth century is ''Cherryngescrouche''.<ref name="epns" />

The stone cross was the work of the medieval sculptor, [[Alexander of Abingdon]].<ref>[http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1265_frost/?p=14 ''Medieval and Renaissance: Past, Present and Future: Charing Cross''] Stuart Frost ([[Victoria and Albert Museum]]). Retrieved 13 February 2009</ref> It was destroyed in 1647 on the orders of the purely Parliamentarian phase of the [[Long Parliament]] or [[Oliver Cromwell]] himself in the [[English Civil War|Civil War]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/08/15/charingcross_feature.shtml Where Is The Centre Of London?] BBC</ref> A {{convert|70|ft|m|abbr=on}}-high [[Queen Eleanor Memorial Cross|stone sculpture]] in front of [[Charing Cross railway station]], erected in 1865, is a reimagining of the medieval cross, on a larger scale, more ornate, and not on the original site. It was designed by the architect [[Edward Middleton Barry|E. M. Barry]] and carved by [[Thomas Earp (sculptor)|Thomas Earp]] of Lambeth out of [[Portland stone]], [[Mansfield]] stone (a fine sandstone) and [[Aberdeen granite]]; and it stands 222 yards (203 metres) to the north-east of the original cross, focal to the station forecourt, facing the [[Strand, London|Strand]].<ref name="Old" />

Since 1675 the site of the cross has been occupied by a statue of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], the king beheaded during the Cromwellian era, mounted on a horse. The site is recognised by modern convention as the centre of London for determining distances (whether geodesically or by road network) in preference to other measurement points (such as [[St Paul's Cathedral]] which remains the root of the English and Welsh part of the [[Great Britain road numbering scheme]]). Charing Cross is marked on modern maps as a road junction, and was used in street numbering for the section of Whitehall between [[Great Scotland Yard]] and Trafalgar Square. Since 1 January 1931 this segment has more logically and officially become the northern end of Whitehall.<ref>Harold P. Clunn (1970) ''The Face of London'': 254</ref>