Charing Cross

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Charing Cross
Charing Cross (Greater London)
Charing Cross

Charing Cross shown within Greater London
OS grid reference TQ302804
London borough Westminster
Ceremonial county Greater London
Region London
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LONDON
Postcode district WC2
Dialling code 020
Police Metropolitan
Fire London
Ambulance London
European Parliament London
UK Parliament Cities of London and Westminster
London Assembly West Central
List of places: UKEnglandLondon

Coordinates: 51°30′30″N 0°07′31″W / 51.508411, -0.125364

Charing Cross is located at the junction of the Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street in Central London, England. The name originates from the Eleanor cross put there by King Edward I as a memorial to his wife, Eleanor of Castile at the former hamlet of Charing. 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[1] 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). 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.[2]

Contents

[edit] Official use as central point

Area around Charing Cross c.1833
Area around Charing Cross c.1833
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.
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.

Legislation from the early 19th century used Charing Cross as a central point for defining its 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.
The Knowledge Streets within a six-mile radius are included in taxi driver training.

[edit] Charing Cross arches

The Victorian replacement Eleanor Cross at Charing Cross.
The Victorian replacement Eleanor Cross at Charing Cross.

Since the railway was built, the arches beneath Charing Cross railway station have provided refuge for some of London’s marginal groups, wary of a hostile public reaction to their way of life. In the early twentieth century, the arches and Charing Cross station concourse were notorious cruising sites.[3] They also provided shelter for many of London’s single homeless people drifting between hostels and the streets and sleeping rough in cardboard boxes.[4][5] In 1979 the arches became home to Heaven, one of the best known gay nightclubs in Central London.[6]

The Charing Cross arches were the inspiration for the popular song "Underneath the Arches" performed by the famous duo Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen. They were also the focal point for the influential radio documentary Underneath the Arches (named after the song), which alerted public attention to the plight of homeless people.[7]

[edit] Nearest places

[edit] Nearest tube stations

[edit] Nearest railway stations

[edit] References

  1. ^ There is an absence of official definition in the UK Statute Law Database but Charing Cross is overwhelmingly used as an official reference point.
  2. ^ Harold P. Clunn (1970) The Face of London: 254
  3. ^ [1] Queer London: Perils and Pleasures in the Sexual Metropolis, 1918-1957. Google book reviews. URL accessed October 15, 2007.
  4. ^ [2] The Blackburn Citizen website. URL accessed October 15, 2007.
  5. ^ [3] Oxford Journals website. URL accessed October 15, 2007.
  6. ^ [4] Out in London website. URL accessed October 15, 2007.
  7. ^ Radio Times March 5 - 11 1977