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: UK • England • London

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. Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England. The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government The City of Westminster ( is a borough of London with city status. The ceremonial counties are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government as the Counties for the purposes of the Lieutenancies Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England. The region, also known as the government office region, is currently the highest tier of local government sub-national entity of England, with only one Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England. Constituent country is a phrase used often by official institutions in contexts in which a country makes up a part of a larger entity or grouping England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland This list of sovereign states, alphabetically arranged gives an overview of States around the world with information on the extent of their Sovereignty. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system The London postal district is the area in England, currently of 241 square miles to which mail addressed to the LONDON Post town is delivered UK Postal codes are known as postcodes. UK postcodes are Alphanumeric. The WC (Western Central postcode area, also known as the London WC postcode area, is a group of postcode districts in central London, England. The UK Telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, is the system used for assigning Telephone numbers in the United There are a number of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom. "Metropolitan Police" redirects here See also Metropolitan police. The fire service in the United Kingdom operates under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and The London Fire Brigade ( LFB) is the statutory The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS is the largest "free at the point of contact" ambulance service in the world that does not directly charge its patients London is a Constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 9 MEPs using the D'Hondt method of Party-list proportional This is a list of the 646 constituencies currently represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, as at the 2005 general election Cities of London and Westminster is a Constituency covering the area comprising the City of London and southern portion of the City of Westminster in Greater London is divided into fourteen territorial constituencies for London Assembly elections each returning one member West Central is a Constituency represented on the London Assembly. A Gazetteer of place names in the United Kingdom showing each place's County, Unitary authority or council area and its geographical coordinates List of places --> List of cities in the United Kingdom List of towns in England Lists of places This is a partial list of places in London, England See List of places in England for lists of settlements in other counties A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. The Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. Whitehall is a road in Westminster in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards traditional Cockspur Street is a short Thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, London, which links Trafalgar Square to Pall Mall, The Haymarket The term Central London refers to the districts of London England which are considered closest to the centre England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland 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. The Eleanor crosses were 12 lavishly decorated stone monuments of which three survive intact in a line down part of the east of England. Edward I (17 June 1239 – 7 July 1307 popularly known as Longshanks, was a King of England who achieved historical fame by conquering large parts of Wales and almost For others known sometimes by same name see Leonora of Castile For other Eleanors of England see Eleanor of England (disambiguation A hamlet is (usually&mdashsee below a Rural community — that is a small settlement — which is too small to be considered a Village. Since 1675 the site of the cross has been occupied by a statue of King Charles I mounted on a horse. Charles I, (19 November 1600 &ndash 30 January 1649 was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. 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). St Paul's Cathedral, is the Anglican Cathedral on Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, and the seat of the Bishop of London. The Great Britain road numbering scheme is a Numbering system used to classify and identify all Roads in Great Britain. 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. New Scotland Yard or Scotland Yard, informally known as The Yard and NSY, is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, responsible Trafalgar Square is a square in central London, England. With its position in the heart of London it is a tourist attraction its trademark is Nelson's Since 1 January 1931 this section of road has been designated as part of the Whitehall thoroughfare. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[2]

Official use as central point

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.

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. Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England.

Charing Cross arches

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. Heaven is a Nightclub in London, England which appeals predominantly (but not exclusively to the Gay market ^[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. For other uses see Underneath the Arches (disambiguation " Underneath the Arches " is a popular Song written Bud Flanagan ( 14 October 1896 &ndash 20 October 1968) was a popular English Wartime entertainer born Chaim Reuben Weintrop Chesney Allen (5 April 1893 - 13 November 1982 was a popular English entertainer of the Second World War period 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. For other uses see Underneath the Arches (disambiguation Underneath the Arches was an award-winning documentary on BBC Radio London ^[7]

Nearest places

• Trafalgar Square
• Soho
• Holborn
• Mayfair
• Bloomsbury

Nearest tube stations

• Charing Cross tube station
• Embankment tube station
• Leicester Square tube station
• Waterloo station
• Westminster tube station

Nearest railway stations

• Charing Cross railway station
• Waterloo East station
• Waterloo station

References