Charing Cross

Charing Cross is an area in London, United Kingdom. It marks the site of the Eleanor Cross, Edward I's memorial to his wife Eleanor of Castile.

Today, it marks the central point for measuring distances from London. The replacement cross stands in the forecourt of Charing Cross station.

The cross also gave its name to Charing Cross Hospital,^[1] Charing Cross bridge and Charing Cross Road. This was at one time a main route for traffic, bypassing the actual cross.^[2]

Charing Cross is the notional "centre of London". It is the point from which distances from London are calculated.

1. ↑ The hospital was close to the station, but was demolished. Staff were transferred to a hospital bearing the same name elsewhere in London.
2. ↑ Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road, Survey of London: volumes 33 and 34: St Anne Soho (1966), pp. 296–312. Date accessed: 09 August 2009