WALK 26 - SOME FASCINATING LONDON BUILDINGS AND OBJECTS - (Part 1) St Pauls Cathedral to Charing Cross


INTRODUCTION
This walk starts near St Paul's Cathedral.

The route then goes west, along an ancient route between the City of London and Westminster, and ends at Charing Cross.

Along the way, a range of interesting old buildings and monuments will be pointed out.

USING THE WALK
The walk is designed to be used directly from your phone. 


Just scroll down to start the walk using your phone.

TEXT COLOURS
There are links within the text to more information about the things that are discussed in the walk. You can follow these up later if you wish. 

In the walk: 
- Directions are shown in black text.
- History notes are shown in blue text.
- Links to further infomation are shown in brown text.

THE WALK
Start from the St Paul's Tube Station exit. Then head towards the Cathedral down Panyer Alley. On the right you will pass a plaque on the wall.
 
THE PANYER BOY
You are in Panyer Alley, thought by some to be named after “The Panyer”, an inn near here which burned down in the Great Fire of 1666. However, in the late 16th century, John Stow, an English historian, suggested that the alley got its name from a sign depicting a baker’s boy sitting on his bread basket. The bas-relief (or an earlier version of it) might have been what Stow was talking about. Called “The Panyer Boy”, there is much modern speculation as to what the bas-relief was first used for. It may have been a sign on the inn, or a sign on a bread shop (Bread Street, the centre of baking in medieval London, is the first turning down Cheapside from here). A Panyer (Pannier) is a traditional basket for carrying bread.

Below the Panyer Boy is a dated panel.  It seems unlikely that they were originally put together as they are now, as they differ in width and style.  The panel reads: “When ye have sought the City Round. Yet still this is the highest ground. August 27th 1688” 

Roman Londinium was built on two gravel hills, Ludgate Hill (where you are now) and Cornhill, now near the Bank of England. The hills were surrounded by the marshland and clay of the Thames flood plain. It was long thought that Ludgate Hill was the higher of the two.  However, modern surveying has shown that in fact, Cornhill is higher by about 30 cm.

Walk towards St Paul’s Cathedral down Panyer Alley. At the first junction turn right down Paternoster Row, leading to Paternoster Square.

PATERNOSTER SQUARE
Paternoster Square takes it's name from the medieval Paternoster Row. This was where the clergy of St Paul’s used to walk, holding their rosary beads and reciting the ‘Paternoster’, the Lord’s Prayer (Paternoster means ‘Our Father’).

In Paternoster Square there is a bronze sculpture of a Shepherd and Sheep by Elisabeth Frink.

Frink's sculpture is a reference to the Newgate Meat Market, which was on this site from the late 17th century, until Smithfield Market replaced it in 1868. The use of sheep is also a religious nod to the nearby St Paul’s Cathedral.

There is also a large Corinthian, Portland stone column monument in the Square. It is 23m high, and is topped by a gold leaf covered flaming copper urn. The column commemorates two fires that affected this area, the Great Fire in 1666 and in the 1940's when the area was bombed.

Beneath the Square is a service road. The column has, built into it, a ventilation shaft leading to the road. 

Finally, there is Temple Bar Gate. This is a stone archway, Commissioned by King Charles II, and designed by Christophrer Wren. It was originally constructed between 1669 and 1672, and was sited on Fleet Street at Temple Bar (the historic western ceremonial entrance to the City of London).  It replaced an earlier gate, built in the Middle Ages. 

In 1878 the Temple Bar was taken down because it caused traffic congestion. It was moved to Theobalds Park, near Waltham Cross, and replaced in Fleet Street with the Temple Bar Memorial.

In 2004, at a cost of £3,000,000, Temple Barr was moved to its current position in Paternoster Square.


Walk through the Temple Barr towards St Paul's Cathedral, then turn right, passing the front of the Cathederal on your left.

ST PAULS CATHEDRAL
This is the latest in a succession of St Paul’s Cathedrals, beginning in 604. All but one of the previous Cathedrals burned down, the exception was destroyed by Vikings in 962. The enormous Norman Cathedral was both larger and taller than the current building, boasting the tallest spire ever built in England. 
The old St Paul's Cathedral before 1561 (when the spire burned down). 
  
It had fallen into great disrepair over the centuries through neglect, and deliberately mistreated for theological and ideological reasons during the Commonwealth. Following Charles II restoration,  in 1663 Wren was asked to repair and renew the building. He argued strongly in favour of demolition and a fresh start, but was overruled. His final plan for restoration was agreed only six days before fate intervened, and Wren got his own way via the Great Fire.

Wren made three separate plans for the new St Paul’s, only having the final design approved by the King in 1675. Fortunately, the Royal Warrant authorising building enabled Wren to modify the design enormously between sign off and completion 35 years later. In particular, the building was much shorter than planned, and the expected steeple was replaced with the dome that now defines the building, and defined the London skyline until the later 20th century.


Continue walking with the steps of St Paul's behind you. Go  down Ludgate Hill, passing Ave Maria Lane on the right. On the right you will then pass St Martin Within Ludgate (meaning just inside Ludgate), with a Blue Plaque commemorating the actual position of the Ludgate. 

THE LUDGATE
The name Ludgate was thought to be related to the mythical King Lud. More recent theories are that it comes from the Old English term "ludgeat," which meant "back gate, postern" or potentially "swing-gate". Another possibility is that it's a variation of "Fleodgaet" or "Fleet-gate,". This name could have arisen due to the proximity to the River Fleet. The Fleet flowed south from Hampstead, and finally along where Farringdon Street now is. It then flowed into the Thames near to where Blackfriars Bridge currently stands.


Continue walking down Ludgate Hill, passing Old Bailey on your right. 
 
OLD BAILEY
Further up Old Bailey is the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales.The court has been housed here in a number of buildings since the sixteenth century. It was originally attached to the medieval Newgate Prison. In the cellars of the Old Bailey court building are some Roman London Wall remains. 


Carry on walking down Ludgate Hill to Ludgate Circus, the intersection of Ludgate Hill, Farringdon Street (on the right), New Bridge Street (on the left), and Fleet Street (straight across). As mentioned earlier, this is where the Fleet River ran into the Thames.

There was a bridge here over the River Fleet, first referenced in 1197. The bridge was eventually replaced by New Bridge Street in 1765. 


Cross over Farringdon Street, and walk into Fleet Street. Shortly, on the right, you will come to 120 Fleet Street, once the headquarters of The Daily Express newspaper. 

THE DAILY EXPRESS BUILDING
The Daily Express Building, at 120 Fleet Street, is a Grade II listed building. It was designed in 1932 by Ellis and Clark for the Daily Express newspaper.

This building a good example of a "Streamline Moderne" design. This is an architectural and design style that emerged in the 1930s, evolving from Art Deco. Streamline Moderne uses curving forms, long horizontal lines, and a focus on speed and modernity. It is inspired by aerodynamic and sometimes nautical design.

The Daily Express Building features a black façade with rounded corners in vitrolite and clear glass, with chromium strips. It's foyer too, features flamboyant Art Deco design.

The building is Grade II listed. 


If you look across Fleet Street from the Daily Express Building, you can see down St. Brides Avenue to St Brides Church. 

ST BRIDE'S CHURCH
St Bride's is thought to be one of the most ancient church sites in London, dating back to the 7th century. It is possible that it was founded by Celtic monks, as it's patron saint is Bridget of Ireland. 

St Bride's, like many City churches, was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire in 1666. It took seven years to build, and was reopened in 1675. 

The famous "wedding cake" spire was added later, and was finished in 1703. The story is that in that year, Thomas Rich, a young baker, decided to make a cake for his own wedding. He was inspired by the new spire at St Bride's, and so designed the cake in a similar tiered style. Since which, the design has become standard for wedding cakes.   

Famous past parishioners of St Brides include John Dryden, John Milton, and Samuel Pepys.


Continue along Fleet Street to the next large white building. This is the former Daily Telegraph Building.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH BUILDING
The Daily Telegraph Building at 135 Fleet St. is an Art Deco style building. It has Egyptian motifs, which are often included in the Art Deco style of architecture.

The building was designed by Charles Ernest Elcock. The Telegraph used the building from 1928 until the 1980s. Made of Portland stone, the building is eight storeys tall and seven windows wide. There is a large Art Deco clock on the front. The building has been Grade II listed since 1983.


Continue about 60 metres along Fleet Street to Bolt Court, on your right. This passageway leads to Dr Johnson’s House and monument.

DR JOHNSON'S HOUSE
This is a Queen Anne style townhouse.  It was built at the end of the seventeenth century by a wool merchant called Richard Gough.

Inside, it has original architectural features like 18th-century floorboards, a central spiral stairwell, and "moving" panelled walls. 

Today it is Grade I listed, and is famous because Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) lived here from 1748 to 1759, while he was compiling his famous Dictionary of the English Language.

In WW2 the area was bombed. You can see a difference in the brickwork at the top of the house where the roof was repaired because of this.


Return to Fleet Street near Bolt Court..

Continue along Fleet Street about 100 metres, just before Fetter Lane on the left is 49-50 Fleet Street.

49-50 FLEET STREET
49-50 Fleet Street is a Grade II listed building, built in 1911. This 5-storey Portland Stone building was designed by Jack McMullen Brooks. It was originally built as barrister's chambers, it has now been converted into a hotel.

Continue along Fleet Street about 70 metres. On the right hand side of Fleet Street is the church, St Dunstan-in-the-West.

ST DUNSTAN-IN-THE-WEST
In the medieval version of this church, William Tyndale, who translated the Bible into English, gave lectures here. John Donne, the poet, was a vicar here, and Samuel Pepys mentions the church in his diary. The church narrowly escaped the Great Fire of London in 1666.

Although the church is of medieval origin, in the early 19th century, the medieval church of St Dunstan was removed to allow the widening of Fleet Street. The current church, which has an octagonal nave, was built in the 1830s on the original church's burial ground.

Above the entrance to the old parochial school, on the right hand side of the church, is a statue of Queen Elizabeth I, dating from 1586. It was taken from the old Ludgate, which was demolished in 1760. The statue (made by a William Kerwin) dates from 1586, It is thought to be the oldest outdoor statue in London. In the porch below, are three other statues which were also originally on the Ludgate. It's thought that they represent King Lud and his two sons. King Lud, was once thought to be a pre-Roman figure, who according to legend founded London. He is now thought to be mythical.



Over the road from St Dunstan, at 37 Fleet Street, is C. Hoare & Company. 

C. HOARE & COMPANY
This is the UK's oldest privately-owned bank.  It has been at this location from 1690. The present building dates from 1829, when the original building was replaced. The new building, designed by Charles Parker, cost around £21,000. It has been described as: ‘a sober 19th-century business house, Italian in type but Grecian in austerity… with a handsome room to receive the noblesse.’

In 1897, from temporary balconies on this bank, the bank staff and some of its customers watched Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee procession.


Next door to St Dunstan is 187 Fleet Street 

187 FLEET STREET
This building was designed by John Shaw Jr., and completed in 1834 as the headquarters of the Law Life Assurance Society.

The building is a good example of Shaw's Jacobean Revival style of architecture. 

Currently, the building houses the chambers of a number of barristers, led by Gideon Cammerman KC as Head of Chambers.

On the other side of the road, about 15 metres down is Ye Olde Cock Tavern.

YE OLDE COCK TAVERN
Ye Olde Cock Tavern is a Grade II listed public house at 22 Fleet Street.

It was originally sited across the road from its current site, dating from about 1554. It opened in its current spot in 1888, using the fittings from the original tavern. It is thought to have the narrowest frontage of any London pub. 

In his diary, Samuel Pepys said: "April 23, 1668. To the Cock alehouse and drink and eat a lobster, and sang..."

In the 1990s a fire broke out and destroyed many of the original ornaments. The building has since gone through a restoration.


35 metres further down the Strand is a double fronted Tudor building, called "Prince Henry's Room".

PRINCE HENRY'S ROOM
Prince Henry's Room is situated on the first floor at the front of No. 17 Fleet Street, London. The house is one of the few surviving buildings in the City of London dating from before the Great Fire of London in 1666. It is a Grade II listed building.

The site was once owned by the Templars, but after the dissolution of the Order of St John, the building was rebuilt in 1610 and became a tavern called Prince's Arms and later the Fountain Inn. It was visited by Samuel Pepys on 14 October 1661, who wrote "In the afternoon Captain Ferrers and I walked abroad to several places; among others, to Mr. Pim's my Lord's tailors and there he went out with us to the Fountain tavern and did give us store of wine." 

Other things the building has been used for include: 
  • One of Cardinal Wolsey's homes.
  • The management offices for the Duchy of Cornwall in the time of Charles I.
  • In the early 19th century, "Mrs Salmon's Waxworks" was held in the front part of the house, whilst the tavern continued in the rear.
  • In 1975, the room hosted a Samuel Pepys exhibition
  • The building now houses the offices of the Delegation of the Catalonian Regional Government to the UK.
Prince Henry's Room is currently only viewable when special events are held there. 


Over the road from Prince Henry's Room, on the corner of Fleet Street and Chancery Lane is a red sandstone, highly decorated building, built in 1883, 193 Fleet Street.

193 FLEET STREET
Previously, in the early to mid 17th century, on this site was a house where Izaak Walton, the famous author of The Complete Angler, lived for some time.

The current building has been there since 1883. It is grade II listed.

In a niche above the entrance there is a sculpture of ‘Kaled’. This was a character from the narrative poem "Lara", written by Lord Byron. It is a copy of a sculpture by Giuseppe Grandi (1873) which is now in Milan’s Academy of Modern Art.

Above the sculpture, on the second floor, there is an Art Nouveau bas-relief of the street name. 

On the corner of the building, also on the second floor, is a broken pediment. Above this are two griffins and a wrought-iron signpost. The three golden spheres of a pawnbroker sign used to hang here.

The first floor has lots Renaissance-style scrollwork and carvings. There are decorative carvings too on the arches above the second storey windows.

Continue walking to the statue of a Dragon.

The Dragon is part of a memorial showing the original site of the Temple Bar Gate, which was the ceremonial entrance to the City of London. You saw the gate earlier in it's current position at Paternoster Square.

Continue walking about 120 metres, until you reach The Royal Courts of Justice on your right. This is where Fleet Street ends and the Strand begins.

THE STRAND
This road is called "The Strand" because it was historically located on the shore of the Thames River. The name "Strand" comes from the Old English word "strond," which meant "beach" or "riverbank". Before the Victoria Embankment was built, the river's shoreline was further inland, making this area a prime location for palatial residences facing the river. 


THE ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE
The Royal Courts of Justice, one of the largest courts in Europe, was designed by George Edmund Street, who died before it was completed. It is built in the 1870's, using grey stone, in the Victorian Gothic Revival style.  The Royal Courts of Justice was opened by Queen Victoria in 1882.

The building is acknowledged as one of the foremost examples of High Victorian Gothic Revival design.

The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner, described the building as "an object lesson in free composition, with none of the symmetry of the classics, yet not undisciplined where symmetry is abandoned".


Continue walking, about 70 metres, to reach St Clement Danes Church.

ST CLEMENT DANES CHURCH
The St. Clement part of the name commemorates the first century Christian martyr. Clement served as Bishop of Rome in AD 91, but was banished to work in the Crimean quarries by Emperor Trajan, along with many others who refused to worship the heathen gods.

The Danes part of the church name comes from the fact that in the late 9th century, Alfred The Great granted Danish settlers who were married to English women an area between London and Westminster to establish their community. When they moved into the area they built a church here, and called it St Clement Danes.

The current St. Clement Danes church was designed by Sir Christopher Wren.

St Clement Danes is the Central Church of the Royal Air Force.  It is a living memorial to all those Royal Air Force men and women who have died whilst serving.

Outside the front of the church there are sculptures. These include two made by Faith Winter in the 1990s:

- Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding, who was responsible for preparing the British Air Force for the Battle of Britain in 1940 by recognising the importance of radar.

- Sir Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris, Commander-in-Chief of Bomber Command from 1942 to 1945 and was responsible for the flattening of Dresden, Germany. In the fight for freedom and the Battle of Britain, Bomber Command lost 55,000 men.


Continue along the Strand. Stop with Australia House to your right.

AUSTRALIA HOUSE
The building of Australia House started in 1913, but shipping problems caused by the First World War delayed completion. It was officially opened by King George V in a ceremony on 3 August 1918. 
It was designed in a Beaux Arts-style by A. Marshall Mackenzie and A.G.R. Mackenzie. Beaux-Arts architecture is a grand and ornate architectural style that emerged in the late 19th century, primarily from the teachings of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Beaux-Arts is characterized by formal symmetry, classical Greek and Roman influences, and elaborate decorative elements.

The cost of the land was and the building of Australia house was about 1 million pounds, equivalent to about 83.5 million pounds today.

The building was built over a 900-year-old sacred well drawing from the an offshoot of the River Fleet, a subterranean London river. The water in the well is clear and has been tested as safe to drink.


Carry on walking along the Strand keeping the church, St Mary le Strand, on your left. When you are level with St Mary le Strand, on your right is the rear entrance to Bush House.

BUSH HOUSE
This is the entrance to the south wing of Bush House, a Grade II listed building (the main entrance is in Kingsway). 

It was conceived and built as a major new trade centre by an American industrialist Irving T. Bush. It was erected in stages between 1925-1935, and declared "The most expensive building in the world". It has an Art Deco exterior, and interior decoration.

Bush wanted the building to establish America and Britain as pillars of international trade. If you look at the decoration in the pediment above the entrance you can see lists of famous Americans (left side) and famous Britons (right side).

In 1941 Bush House became the headquarters of the BBC World Service. Broadcasting from Bush House lasted until summer 2012.

Bush House is now part of the Strand Campus of King's College London.


Over the road from the south wing of Bush House is St Mary le Strand Church.

ST MARY LE STRAND CHURCH
The site now occupied by the current church was formerly occupied by a great maypole, which was used as the focus for May Day festivities in the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1717, Sir Isaac Newton bought the maypole and transported it to Sir Richard Child's Wanstead House, now Wanstead Park. It was used to support Newton's telescope, which at that time was the largest in the world.

The current St Mary le Strand was the first of the twelve new churches built in London under the "Commission for Building Fifty New Churches", at a cost of some £16,000. It was designed in the Baroque style by architect James Gibbs. The position of the church near to what was a very busy road was a problem, because of the traffic noise. So, Gibbs designed the ground floor without windows so as to help keep the noise of traffic out. Construction began in February 1714.

It was consecrated for use in 1 January 1724, by Edmund Gibson, Bishop of London. Bonnie Prince Charlie is alleged to have renounced his Roman Catholic faith in the church to become an Anglican during a secret visit to London in 1750. John Dickens and Elizabeth Barrow, the parents of Charles Dickens, were married here in 1809.

The extravagant Baroque ornamentation of the exterior was criticised at the time. Matters were not helped when one of the decorative urns surmounting the exterior of the church fell off, and killed a passer-by during a procession in 1802.


About 40 metres further along the Strand, on the left, is Somerset House. You can enter the quadrangle to explore it further.

SOMERSET HOUSE
Somerset House is built on the site of a Tudor palace called "Old Somerset House", originally belonging to the Duke of Somerset. 

The present Somerset House was designed by Sir William Chambers, in the Palladian style, and begun in 1776. The footprint of the building matches that of the old palace. This ranged from its front gateway in the Strand, to what was originally a slope down to the river at the rear. 

Somerset House was further extended in the Victorian era, with outer wings to the east and west in 1831 and 1856.

Until the Victoria Embankment was built in the late 1860s, Somerset House stood directly on the banks of the River Thames. It was built to be a grand public building, housing various government and public-benefit society offices. Its present tenants are a mixture of various organisations, generally centred around the arts and education.

You may want to go throught the arches in the front of Somerset House to see the square inside it.


Continue along the Strand for about 400 metres to the Strand Palace hotel on the right.

STRAND PALACE HOTEL
The hotel was built on the site of Exeter Hall, the venue for many great gatherings of activists for various causes, most notably the anti-slavery movement.

Exeter Hall was demolished in 1907, and the Strand Palace Hotel was opened in 1909 and was refurbished in the Art Deco style during the 1930's. 

After the second world war, the hotel had several improvements made to it. For example, private bathrooms were installed in all guest rooms in 1958. Some of the Art Deco features were lost, for example the Art Deco entrance and foyer were removed in 1969, and is now owned by the Victoria & Albert museum. 



If you continue along the Strand, at the side of the Strand Palace Hotel is Exeter Street. At the other end of Exeter Street, you can see another Art Deco building, now offices.

Facing the junction of Exeter Street and the Strand is the main entrance to the Savoy Hotel, in Savoy Court.

THE SAVOY HOTEL 
The Savoy Hotel opened in 1889. 

After World War I it was decided to modernise the hotel. Influenced by the new “arte moderne”, now known as Art Deco movement, lots of new exterior and interior Deco features of the hotel were added. In late 1929 the Savoy’s iconic stainless steel “Savoy” sign, which runs the width of Savoy Court, was revealed.


Continue walking down the Strand for about 130 metres. On the right is the Adelphi Theatre.

THE ADELPHI THEATRE
The first theatre was founded here was in 1806. It was called the Sans Pareil ("Without Compare"), by a merchant called John Scott and his daughter Jane.

Jane wrote more than fifty stage pieces for the theatre in an range of genres: melodramas, pantomimes, farces, comic operettas, historical dramas, and adaptations, as well as translations. 

In 1819, the theatre was reopened under its present name, which was adopted from the Adelphi Buildings opposite to it. In its early years, the theatre was best known for melodrama, called Adelphi Screamers. This original theatre building was demolished, and on 26 December 1858, The New Adelphi Theatre was opened here, seating 1,500 people, with standing room for another 500. 

The present Adelphi Theatre opened here on 3 December 1930, redesigned in the Art Deco style by Ernest Schaufelberg, and named the 'Royal Adelphi Theatre'. In 1940 the theatre's name was changed back to 'The Adelphi'. 


Off the Strand, opposite to the Adelphi Theatre, is Adam Street. Walk down Adam Street, pausing as you pass John Adam Street on your right.

THE ADELPHI BUILDINGS
John Adam Street is named after the Adam Brothers, a family of Scottish architects, who developed the Adelphi housing complex here in the late 1700s. In Ancient Greek, "Adelphi" means brothers. The Adam Brothers are remembered through street names near here like John Adam Street, Adam Street, and Robert Street. The buildings on the right of John Adam Street here are part of the original 18th century development.


When you have passed John Adam Street, continue down Adam Street. On your right is the Adelphi Building. 

Some of the original Adelphi houses were demolished in the early 1930s, and replaced in 1938 with this Art Deco style Adelphi office building. The new building was designed by the architectural firm of Collcutt & Hamp. 

Continue walking down Adam Street. Just before you reach the end, go down the steps on your left. When you get to street level, turn right and look up at the riverside frontage of the Art Deco Adelphi.

Among things to notice are, the Portland stone facade, the bronze work, the Art Deco-style etched glass panels, and the sculptures by Gilbert Ledwood. 

Facing the building are the Victoria Embankment Gardens. Go through the gate into the gardens, turn right and walk along the gardens, with the buildings on your right, the river on your left.

THE VICTORIA EMBANKMENT GARDENS
Between 1865 and 1870 the northern embankment of the Thames with a sewer beneath it was built by Sir Joseph Bazalgette. In 1874, public gardens were created on the reclaimed embankment land on the inward side of the roadway which was named Victoria Embankment. 

The gardens are currently managed by the City of Westminster.


Continue walking along the gardens. On the right your will come to the York Watergate.

THE YORK WATERGATE
The mansions which were once along the Strand were built there partly because they had direct access from their rear gardens to the River Thames, then a much-used transport artery. The surviving York Watergate (also known as Buckingham Watergate), built by George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham in about 1626 as a ceremonial landing stage on the river, is now marooned 150 yards (137 m) from the river, within the Embankment Gardens, due to substantial riverside land reclamation following the construction of the Thames Embankment. 


Walk behind the Watergate on to Watergate Walk. Turn left and walk to the junction with Villiers Street.  Turn right, and walk to the top of Villiers Street, where it meets the Strand.

On the left is Charing Cross Station, on the left.

CHARING CROSS STATION
The Charing Cross railway station opened in 1864, and was fronted on the Strand by the Charing Cross Hotel (now called the Clermont Hotel). The hotel was erected in 1865,  commissioned by the South Eastern Railway Company.

In the forecourt of Charing Cross station and the Charing Cross Hotel is a larger (21 metres high) and more ornate copy of the original Eleanor Cross which used to stand near here. This copy was erected in 1865, and was commissioned by the South Eastern Railway Company.

The original Eleanor crosses were a series of twelve tall and lavishly decorated stone monuments. These were erected in a line down part of the east of England. King Edward I had them built between 1291 and about 1295 in memory of his wife Eleanor of Castile. They mark the places that the body of Eleanor rested, as it was transported to Westminster Abbey for internment. One of these original Eleanor crosses used to stand where the Statue of Charles I on the traffic island at the top of Whitehall now is. 

‘Charing’ was the name of a village here, thought to be a corruption of ‘La Chère Reine’ meaning ‘The Dear Queen’. There is discussion about if this refers to Queen Eleanor or the Virgin Mary, as the area was already called Charing before 1290. Another idea is that the name Charing came from the old English word 'cierring', which meant 'turning', either referring to he curve in the River Thames near here, or this turning point in the road when journeying between the cities of Westminster and London.


End of walk

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