A gothic conical sculpture in the shape of a rocket is said by some to be located at or just outside the Charing Cross station. This artwork is located in the station yard that shares the same name. Charing Cross is in fact a stone tower, despite the fact that it does not take the form of a cross.
Eleanor of Castile, King Edward’s queen, passed away close to Lincoln in 1290; her name is commemorated on the Charing Cross. Stone memorials were placed at each point along the route that her casket took back to London for the funeral procession, with the Charing Cross serving as the twelfth and final memorial. The cross that you see now isn’t even a cross; it dates back to the Victorian era rather than the Middle Ages; and it’s placed in the incorrect location.
Located a few hundred yards away from the station, the cross dating back to the 13th century was constructed at the bustling intersection just south of Trafalgar Square with the equestrian monument of King Charles I. Charles occupies the seat previously occupied by Eleanor Cross up to the year 1650, when it was regained by Oliver Cromwell as part of his campaign to purge Catholicism and the monarchy. However, the absence of the royal family was only temporary, since ten years later saw the return of the monarchy. And in its place, they erected a statue depicting the monarch with his head severed.
A plaque affixed to the ground reveals that the monument of the King on Horseback serves as the city’s designated focal point. The French term “chère reine,” which literally translates to “dear queen,” is assumed to have been corrupted into the English name “Charing” at some point. Although this explanation seems plausible, Eleanor, the person for whom the town was most likely named, had passed away for at least a century when the name was granted.
To turn is the meaning of the Anglo-Saxon word “cierring,” which is another probable derivation of the term. Both the river and the roads here have sharp bends in them.
It is possible that the Roman centre was identified by the London Stone, a solitary boulder located across from WH Smith’s on Cannon Street. Despite the stone’s many appearances in myth and literature, including Shakespeare’s works, its origin, purpose, and importance remain a mystery. It is possible that it was significant; it may have been a druid shrine, a block to mount on a horse, or just a loose stone that no one ever removed. However, it is also possible that it was of no significance at all.
But there are also other potential hubs in the area, including Cheapside St. Mary-le-Bow Church, Tyburn Hanging Tree (Marble Arch), Hicks Hall, and St. Giles’s Pound, all of which are close by. Some people believe that the Centre Point Tower is where the heart of London is located.
