Charing Cross Escorts

Charing Cross denotes the junction of the Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in Westminster within Central London, England. It is named after the site of a long demolished Eleanor cross (now occupied by a statue of King Charles I mounted on a horse) located at the former hamlet of Charing, at this point. Since the second half of the eighteenth century Charing Cross has been seen as the centre of London. It is the primary of the central datum points for measuring distances from London along with the London Stone,Hicks Hall and the doors of St Mary-le-Bow church.
The name originates from the Eleanor cross erected in 1291-4 by King Edward I as a memorial to his wife, Eleanor of Castile, and placed between the former hamlet of Charing and the entrance to the Royal Mews of the Palace of Whitehall. The cross was the work of the medieval sculptor, Alexander of Abingdon.[1] Originally built in wood, it was replaced with a stone and marble monument.[2] The name of the hamlet of Charing is derived from the old English word "cierring", referring to the nearby bend in the River Thames.[3][4]
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 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). Furthermore, all residential roads in Greater London have the houses numbered such that number 1 is at the end closer to Charing Cross as the crow flies. 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.