Editing Charing Cross

{{Short description|Point from which distances from London are measured}}
{{About|a location in London||Charing Cross (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name = Charing Cross
| static_image_name = [[File:Westminster, Charing Cross - geograph.org.uk - 865507.jpg|250px]][[File:Charing Cross London map.png|250px]]
| static_image_width = 
| static_image_caption = '''Top:''' Charing Cross roundabout, with a [[Statue of King Charles I, London|Statue of Charles I]] on the site of the original [[Eleanor Cross]] in the then hamlet of Charing, an important junction since the middle ages.<br/>'''Bottom:''' Map of Charing Cross and its immediate surroundings.
| map_type = Greater London
| region = London
| country = England
| london_borough = Westminster
| constituency_westminster = [[Cities of London and Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)|Cities of London and Westminster]]
| post_town = LONDON
| postcode_area = WC
| postcode_district = WC2
| dial_code = 020
| os_grid_reference = TQ302804
| coordinates = {{coord|51.5073|-0.12755|display=inline,title}}
}}
'''Charing Cross''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|ær|ɪ|ŋ}} {{respell|CHARR|ing}})<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charing Cross definition and meaning {{!}} Collins English Dictionary |url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/charing-cross |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20230327174402/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/charing-cross |archive-date=2023-03-27 |access-date=2025-01-11 |website=www.collinsdictionary.com |language=en}}</ref> is a junction in [[City of Westminster|Westminster]], London, England, where six routes meet.  Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of [[London]]" and became the [[Kilometre zero|point from which distances from London are measured]].  Clockwise from north, the routes that meet at Charing Cross are: the east side of [[Trafalgar Square]] leading to St Martin's Place and then [[Charing Cross Road]]; the [[Strand, London|Strand]] leading to the [[City of London|City]]; [[Northumberland Avenue]] leading to the [[Thames Embankment]]; [[Whitehall]] leading to [[Parliament Square]]; [[The Mall, London|The Mall]] leading to [[Admiralty Arch]] and [[Buckingham Palace]]; and two short roads leading to [[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]] and [[St James's]].  

Historically, the name was derived from the hamlet of ''Charing'' ('Riverbend') that occupied the area of this important road junction in the middle ages, together with the grand [[Eleanor cross]] that once marked the site. The medieval monumental cross, the Charing Cross (1294–1647), was the largest and most ornate instance of a chain of medieval Eleanor crosses running from [[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]] to this location. It was a landmark for many centuries of the hamlet of Charing, [[Westminster]], which later gave way to government property; a little of the Strand; and Trafalgar Square. The cross in its various historical forms has also lent its name to its locality, including [[Charing Cross railway station|Charing Cross Station]]. On the forecourt of this terminus station stands the ornate [[Queen Eleanor Memorial Cross]], a taller emulation of the original, and built to mark the station's opening in 1864.

A [[Equestrian statue of Charles I, Charing Cross|bronze equestrian statue]] of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], erected in 1675, stands on a high plinth, situated roughly where the medieval monumental cross (the 'Charing Cross') had previously stood for 353 years (since its construction in 1294) until destroyed in 1647 by the revolutionary government of [[Oliver Cromwell]]. The famously beheaded King, appearing ascendant, is the work of French sculptor [[Hubert Le Sueur]].  Charing Cross is marked on contemporary maps as the road junction around the statue's traffic island, though it is also a thoroughfare in postal addresses: [[Drummonds Bank]], on the corner with The Mall, retains the address 49 Charing Cross and 1-4 Charing Cross continues to exist.<ref>[https://www.tesco.com/store-locator/london/1-4-charing-cross Charing Cross Express] Tesco</ref><ref>[https://www.flickr.com/photos/funfilledgeorgie/6350385659/ Flickr. Charing Cross] (note also "Charing Cross" street sign, upper left)</ref> The name previously applied to the whole stretch of road between [[Great Scotland Yard]] and Trafalgar Square, but since 1 January 1931 most of this section of road has been designated part of the 'Whitehall' thoroughfare.<ref>[http://www.londoncountyhall.com/localattractions_charingx.html Local attractions – Charing Cross] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326034537/http://www.londoncountyhall.com/localattractions_charingx.html |date=26 March 2012 }}, londoncountyhall.com</ref>

== History ==
===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>

===St Mary Rounceval===
[[File:Northumberland House on John Rocque's 1746 map of London edited.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|An extract from [[John Rocque's Map of London, 1746]], showing [[Northumberland House]]. The two projecting garden wings had not yet been added.]]
At some time between 1232 and 1236, the Chapel and Hospital of St Mary Rounceval was founded at Charing. It occupied land at the corner of the modern Whitehall and into the centre of [[Northumberland Avenue]], running down to a wharf by the river. It was an [[Augustinians|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 of England|Henry V]] suppressed the 'alien' houses. The priory fell into a long decline from lack of money and arguments regarding the collection of tithes with the parish church of [[St Martin-in-the-Fields]]. In 1541, religious artefacts were removed to [[St. Margaret's, Westminster|St Margaret's]], and the chapel was adapted as a private house; its almshouse were sequestered to the Royal Palace.<ref name="Rounceval">[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=68266 ''The chapel and hospital of St. Mary Rounceval''], ''[[Survey of London]]'': volume 18: St Martin-in-the-Fields II: The Strand (1937), pp. 1–9. Retrieved 14 February 2009</ref>
[[File:Northumberland House by Canaletto (1752).JPG|thumb|upright=1.4|left|Frontage onto Strand/Charing Cross of Northumberland House in 1752 by [[Canaletto]]. The statue of Charles I is at the right of the painting. At the left is the Golden Cross Inn, with signboard outside.]]

In 1608–09, the [[Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton|Earl of Northampton]] built [[Northumberland House]] on the eastern portion of the property. In June 1874, the duke's property at Charing Cross was purchased by the [[Metropolitan Board of Works]] for the formation of Northumberland Avenue.<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=68267 ''Northumberland House''], ''[[Survey of London]]'': volume 18: St Martin-in-the-Fields II: The Strand (1937), pp. 10–20. Retrieved 14 February 2009</ref>

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 which created a wide thoroughfare.<ref name="Rounceval" />

===Battle===
In 1554, Charing Cross was the site of the final battle of [[Wyatt's Rebellion]]. This was an attempt by [[Thomas Wyatt the younger|Thomas Wyatt]] and 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 crossed the river by what was then the next bridge upstream, at [[Hampton Court]]. Their circuitous route brought them down [[St Martin's Lane]] to Whitehall.<ref name="Old" />

The palace was defended by 1000 men under Sir [[John Gage (Tudor politician)|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 on to [[Ludgate]], where they were met by the [[Tower of London|Tower Garrison]] and surrendered.<ref name="Old">[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45140 ''Charing Cross, the railway stations, and Old Hungerford Market''], ''Old and New London'': Volume 3 (1878), pp. 123–134. accessed: 13 February 2009</ref>

===Civil war removal===
[[File:Charing Cross Station 02.jpg|thumb|The [[Victorian era|Victorian]] replacement of the original [[Eleanor Cross]] 200 metres (200 yards) away, along the Strand in front of Charing Cross Station/Hotel. The area derives its name from the original monument destroyed by Parliament in the 1600s; the memorial replacement dates from the 1800s.]]
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 [[Cavalier|Royalist]] [[ballad]]:

{{Blockquote|<poem>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 [[Tyburn|Tiburn]] too.</poem>
|<small>Extract from "The Downfall of Charing Cross"</small><ref>Alan Brooke and David Brandon (2004). ''Tyburn: London's Fatal Tree''. Stroud, Sutton: 238</ref>}}

At [[Stuart Restoration|the Restoration]] (1660 or shortly after) eight of the [[List of regicides of Charles I|regicide]]s were executed here, including the notable [[Fifth Monarchist]], Colonel [[Thomas Harrison (soldier)|Thomas Harrison]].<ref>Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert (1983) ''[[The London Encyclopaedia]]'': 138</ref> A statue of Charles I was, likewise in Charles II's reign, erected on the site. This had been made in 1633 by [[Hubert Le Sueur]], in the reign of Charles I, but in 1649 Parliament ordered a man to destroy it; however he instead hid it and brought it back to the new King, Charles II (Charles I's son), and his Parliament who had the statue erected here in 1675.<ref>Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert (1983) ''[[The London Encyclopaedia]]'': 815</ref>

[[File:Microcosm of London Plate 062 - Pillory, Charing Cross edited.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.3|The Pillory at Charing Cross (1809). The dark equestrian statue is the junction centrepiece (marker). This is a drawing by [[Augustus Pugin]] and [[Thomas Rowlandson]] for [[Rudolph Ackermann]]'s ''Microcosm of London'' (1808&ndash;11).]]

A prominent [[pillory]], where malefactors were publicly flogged, stood alongside for centuries.<ref>Arthur Groom (1928)'' Old London Coaching Inns and Their Successors'': 3</ref> About 200 yards to the east was the [[Hungerford Market]], established at the end of the 16th century; and to the north was the [[King's Mews]], or Royal Mews, the stables for the Palace of Whitehall and thus the King's own presence at the Houses of Parliament (Palace of Westminster). The whole area of the broad pavements of what was a three-way main junction with private (stables) turn-off was a popular place of street entertainment. [[Samuel Pepys]] records in his diaries visiting the taverns and watching the entertainments and executions that were held there.<ref>''Pepys Diary'' – frequent visits between 1660–69. Particularly 13 October 1660 – for his account of the execution of Harrison.</ref> This was combined with the south of the mews when Trafalgar Square was built on the site in 1832, the rest of the stable yard becoming the National Gallery primarily.

A major London coaching inn, the "Golden Cross" – first mentioned in 1643 – faced this junction. From here, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, coaches linked variously terminuses of: [[Dover]], [[Brighton]], [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], Bristol, [[Cambridge]], [[Holyhead]] and [[York]]. The inn features in ''[[Sketches by Boz]]'', ''[[David Copperfield (novel)|David Copperfield]]'' and ''[[The Pickwick Papers]]'' by [[Charles Dickens]]. In the latter, the dangers to public safety of the quite low archway to access the inn's coaching yard were memorably pointed out by [[Mr Jingle]]:
<blockquote>"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."</blockquote>

The story echoes an accident of 11 April 1800, when the Chatham and Rochester coach was emerging from the gateway of the Golden Cross, and "a young woman, sitting on the top, threw her head back, to prevent her striking against the beam; but there being so much luggage on the roof of the coach as to hinder her laying herself sufficiently back, it caught her face, and tore the flesh in a dreadful manner."<ref>''The Daily Register''. April 1800</ref>

The inn and its yard, pillory, and what remained of the Royal Mews, made way for Trafalgar Square, and a new Golden Cross Hotel was built in the 1830s on the triangular block fronted by [[South Africa House]]. A nod to this is made by some offices on the Strand, in a building named Golden Cross House.

===Cross memorial===
{{Main|Queen Eleanor Memorial Cross}}

[[File:Charing Cross London from 1833 Schmollinger map.jpg|thumb|right|Area around Charing Cross {{c.}}1833]]
[[File:Westminster Met. B Ward Map 1916.svg|thumb|A map showing the Charing Cross ward of Westminster Metropolitan Borough as it appeared in 1916]]
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 (England)|South Eastern Railway]] as the centrepiece of the station forecourt. It is not a replica, being of an ornate [[Victorian era|Victorian]] [[Gothic architecture|Gothic design]] based on [[George Gilbert Scott]]'s Oxford [[Martyrs' Memorial]] (1838). The Cross rises {{convert|70|ft|m}} 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 and León|Castile]], [[Castile and León|Leon]] and [[Ponthieu]]; above the 2nd parapet are eight statues of Queen Eleanor. The Cross was designated a [[listed building|Grade II*]] monument on 5 February 1970.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1236708 |desc=Queen Eleanor Memorial Cross |access-date=13 February 2009}}</ref> The month before, the bronze equestrian statue of Charles, on a pedestal of carved Portland stone, was given Grade I listed protection.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1357291 |desc=Statue of Charles I |access-date=13 February 2009}}</ref>

The rebuilding of a monument to resemble the one lost under Cromwell's low church Britain took place in 1864 in Britain's main era of medieval revivalism.<ref name=Yates2008/> The next year the memorial was completed and [[Cardinal Wiseman]] died, having been appointed the first [[Archbishop of Westminster]] in 1850, with many Anglican churches also having restored or re-created their medieval ornamentations by the end of the century. By this time England was the epicentre of the [[Gothic Revival]].<ref name=Yates2008>N. Yates, ''Liturgical Space: Christian Worship and Church Buildings in Western Europe 1500-2000'' (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2008), p. 114,</ref> It was intertwined with deeply philosophical movements associated with a re-awakening of "High Church" or [[Anglo-Catholic]] self-belief (and by the Catholic convert [[Augustus Welby Pugin]]) concerned by the growth of religious nonconformism.<ref name=Yates2008/>

The cross, having been revived, gave its name to a [[Charing Cross railway station|railway station]], a [[Charing Cross tube station|tube station]], a police station, a [[Charing Cross Hospital|hospital]], a hotel, a [[Charing Cross Theatre|theatre]], and a [[Charing Cross Music Hall|music hall]] (which had lain beneath the arches of the railway station). [[Charing Cross Road]], the main route from the north (which became the east side of Trafalgar Square), was named after the railway station, itself a major destination for traffic, rather than after the original cross.<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41110 ''Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road''], ''[[Survey of London]]'': volumes 33 and 34: St Anne Soho (1966), pp. 296–312. Retrieved 3 March 2009</ref>

==Official use as central point==
By the late 18th century, the Charing Cross district was increasingly coming to be perceived as the "centre" of the [[metropolis]] (supplanting the traditional heartland of the [[City of London|City]] to the east).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K6qxPXnzLR8C&q=centre+of+London+charing+cross&pg=PA34 |first=John |last=Barrell |title=The Spirit of Despotism: invasions of privacy in the 1790s |place=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |isbn= 978-0-19-928120-6 |pages=20–27, 34 }}</ref> From the early 19th century, legislation 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 creation of [[Greater London]] in 1965.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Use||Scope
|-
|[[Hackney carriage]] (colloquially London cab/taxi) licensing and [[Taxis of the United Kingdom#The Knowledge of London|The Knowledge]]|| The [[London Hackney Carriage Act 1831]] and other Acts set the radius within which licensed London cabs illuminated or otherwise advertising for business had to take a fare (and convey passengers). The legacy of this is that streets within a six-mile radius of Charing Cross are the basis of 'black taxi' driver training. Such cabs can turn down exceptionally long journeys.
|-
|[[Metropolitan Police District]] || The [[Metropolitan Police Act 1829]] stated all parishes within 12 miles of Charing Cross could be added. This was expanded to 15 miles by the [[Metropolitan Police Act 1839]]. It has since been harmonised to Greater London, as to stations and main conurbations.
|-
|[[Metropolitan Buildings Office]]|| The Office (superseded in 1855 and today by each local authority's Building Control departments or teams) could regulate use and building standards under the [[London Building Act 1844]], within 12 miles of Charing Cross 
|-
|Street trading|| The Metropolitan Streets Act 1856 gave the Commissioner of Metropolitan Police power to control some acts within six miles of Charing Cross. Powers to license shoeblack pitches remain, heavily superseded by the [[London borough]]s' street trading licensing laws.
|-
|Amateur radio|| 431MHz-432MHz are banned for amateur radio use within 100km of Charing Cross.
|}

[[File:Mileages from London (16049013071).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|Plaque by the [[Equestrian statue of Charles I, Charing Cross|statue of Charles I]], stating that "Mileages from London are measured from the site of the original Cross"]]
Road distances from London continue to be measured from Charing Cross. Prior to its selection as a commonly agreed central [[Geodetic datum#Horizontal datum|datum point]], various points were used for this purpose. [[John Ogilby]]'s ''Britannia'' of 1675, of which editions and derivations continued to be published throughout the 18th century, used the "Standard" (a former conduit head) in [[Cornhill, London|Cornhill]];<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Ogilby |author-link=John Ogilby |title=Britannia |chapter=Preface |place=London |year=1675 }}</ref> while [[John Cary]]'s ''New Itinerary'' of 1798 used the [[General Post Office]] in [[Lombard Street, London|Lombard Street]].<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Cary |author-link=John Cary |title=Cary's New Itinerary |chapter=Advertisement |place=London |year=1798 }}</ref> The [[milestone]]s on the main [[Turnpike trusts|turnpike road]]s were mostly measured from their terminus which was peripheral to the free-passage urban, London roads. Ten of these are notable: [[Hyde Park Corner]], [[St Mary Matfelon|Whitechapel Church]], the southern end of [[London Bridge]], the east end of [[Westminster Bridge]], [[St Leonard's, Shoreditch|Shoreditch Church]], [[Marble Arch|Tyburn Turnpike]] (Marble Arch), [[Holborn Bars]], [[St Giles's Pound]], [[Hicks Hall]] (as to the [[Great North Road (Great Britain)|Great North Road]]), and the Stones' End in [[Southwark|The Borough]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Daniel |last=Paterson |author-link=Daniel Paterson |title=A New and Accurate Description of all the Direct and Principal Cross Roads in Great Britain |edition=12th |place=London |page=x }}</ref><ref name="1831 Census">{{cite book |title=Answers and Returns Made Pursuant to an Act: Passed in the Eleventh Year of the Reign of His Majesty King George IV. Intituled "An Act for Taking an Account of the Population of Great Britain, and of the Increase Or Diminution Thereof" |date=January 1833 |page=498 |url=https://archive.org/stream/abstractofanswer03grea#page/n559/mode/2up }}</ref> Some roads into [[Surrey]] and [[Sussex]] were measured from [[St Mary-le-Bow]] church in the City.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hissey |first=James J. |title=The Charm of the Road |year=1910 |publisher=Macmillan |place=London |page=58 |oclc=5071681 }}</ref><ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1252622 |desc=Bow Bell Milestone 35 miles from London |access-date=9 July 2015}}</ref> Some of these structures were later moved or destroyed, but reference to them persisted as if they still remained in place. An exaggerated but well-meaning criticism was that "all the Books of Roads ... published, differ in the Situation of Mile Stones, and instead of being a Guide to the Traveller, serve only to confound him".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Traveller's Pocket-Book: or, Ogilby and Morgan's Book of the Roads Improved and Amended, in a method never before attempted |place=London |year=1760 |page=iv }}</ref>

[[William Camden]] speculated in 1586 that [[Roman roads in Britain]] had been measured from [[London Stone]], a claim thus widely repeated, but unsupported by archaeological or other evidence.<ref name="1831 Census"/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Clark |first=John |title=Jack Cade at London Stone |journal=Transactions of London and Middlesex Archaeological Society |year=2007 |volume=58 |pages=169–89 (178) |url=http://www.lamas.org.uk/transactions-archive/Vol%2058.pdf }}</ref>

==Neighbouring locations==
{{Geographic Location
|title     = Neighbouring areas of London
|Northwest = [[Trafalgar Square]]
|North     = [[Covent Garden]]
|Northeast = [[Kingsway, London|Kingsway]]
|West      = [[The Mall, London|The Mall]]
|Centre    = Charing Cross
|East      = [[Strand, London|Strand]]
|Southwest = [[Whitehall]]
|South     = [[London Waterloo railway station|London Waterloo]]<br /><small>via [[Golden Jubilee Bridges]]</small>
|Southeast = [[South Bank]]<br /><small>via [[Waterloo Bridge]]</small>
}}

==Transport==
{{Multiple image
|align=right
|direction=horizontal
|width1=200
|width2=204
|image1=Charing Cross Station - geograph.org.uk - 29712.jpg
|image2=Charing Cross in the 19th century.jpg
|alt1=Charing Cross railway station, when Network South East was improving the railways in the South East of England.
|caption1=[[Charing Cross railway station|Charing Cross station]] in 1994, with [[Network SouthEast]] trains
|caption2=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.
}}

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 railway station|Waterloo East]] and [[London Waterloo railway station|Waterloo]] stations.

The nearest [[London Underground]] stations are [[Charing Cross tube station|Charing Cross]] and [[Embankment tube station|Embankment]].

{{Clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Portal|London}}
*[https://www.flickr.com/photos/27903472@N07/3112530415/ ''Charing Cross Bridge'' in London from Claude Monet, in YOUR CITY AT THE THYSSEN, a Thyssen Museum project on Flickr]
*'The statue of Charles I and site of the Charing Cross', Survey of London: volume 16: St Martin-in-the-Fields I: Charing Cross (1935), pp.&nbsp;258–268. URL: [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=68141 The statue of Charles I and site of the Charing Cross | British History Online]. Retrieved 6 March 2014.

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[[Category:Areas of London]]
[[Category:Districts of the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Kilometre-zero markers]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in London]]
[[Category:Execution sites in England]]
[[Category:London crime history]]
[[Category:Eleanor of Castile]]