Charing Cross
Charing Cross ( CHARR-ing) is a junction in London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; Northumberland Avenue leading to the Thames Embankment; Whitehall leading to Parliament Square; The Mall leading to Admiralty Arch and Buckingham Palace; and two short roads leading to Pall Mall. The name also commonly refers to the Queen Eleanor Memorial Cross at Charing Cross station. A bronze equestrian statue of Charles I, erected in 1675, stands on a high plinth, situated roughly where a medieval monumental cross had previously stood for 353 years (since its construction in 1294) until destroyed in 1647 by Cromwell and his revolutionary government. The famously beheaded King, appearing ascendant, is the work of French sculptor Hubert Le Sueur. The aforementioned homonymous monument, the "Charing Cross", was the largest and most ornate instance of a chain of medieval Eleanor crosses running from 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, and especially 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 – at the height and in the epicentre of the Gothic Revival – after the Palace of Westminster's rebuilding and before Westminster Cathedral's construction. Until 1931, "Charing Cross" also referred to the north end of Whitehall (between Great Scotland Yard and Trafalgar Square). In street numbering, Drummonds Bank, on the corner with The Mall, retains the associated address 49 Charing Cross (not to be confused with Charing Cross Road).Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and is now the point from which distances from London are measured.
Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Charing Cross (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).Charing Cross
Charing Cross, London Covent Garden
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Geographical coordinates (GPS)
Latitude | Longitude |
---|---|
N 51.5073 ° | E -0.12755 ° |
Address
Charles I
Charing Cross
SW1A 2DX London, Covent Garden
England, United Kingdom
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