Page "Eleanor cross" Paragraph 34

According to romantic folk etymology, Charing derives from French chère reine ( dear queen ), but the name was certainly used in the contemporary royal accounting records for the costs of constructing the cross.

The name Charing probably comes from the Anglo-Saxon word cerring, a bend, as it stands on the outside of a 90-degree bend in the River Thames ( see Charing in Kent ).

The original cross stood at the top of Whitehall on the south side of Trafalgar Square, but was destroyed on the orders of Parliament in 1647 during the Civil War, and was replaced by an equestrian statue of Charles I in 1675 following the Restoration.

This point in Trafalgar Square is regarded as the official centre of London in legislation and when measuring distances from London.