What is the centre of London?

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Nic

Google is wrong, as usual. The geographical centre of London is reckoned as either the needle at Charing Cross, or Nelson's column on Trafalgar Square. The column was erected purposedly on that spot, but both are sufficiently close not to matter.

In the early 19th century.

Because, since London counted about 1.5 million citizens in 1840, and about 12 million now, the town has expanded a lot; and, from the maps in the sources, it did it more towards the south.

So the geographical centre of London is now south of the river, in Lambeth Borough, and quite probably somewhere in Bermondsey.

waycyber

JeffE

London is such a big city. It has Greater and Central regions.

I think we can safely say the that the whole of the central region is the centre.

Mr Fawlty

The name Charing Cross, now given to a mainline railway station and the surrounding district of central London, comes from the original hamlet of Charing, where King Edward I placed a cross in memorial to his wife, Eleanor of Castile. It is often regarded as the very centre of London: other districts tend to be referenced by their distance from it.

It was one of twelve places where Eleanor's coffin rested overnight during the funeral procession from Lincolnshire to her final resting-place at Westminster, half a mile away. At each of these, Edward erected an "Eleanor cross", of which only three now remain. The one which stands in front of Charing Cross railway station is a re-located Victorian "copy" (designed by architect Edward Middleton Barry) of the original, which was not nearly as large or ornate as the Victorian version.

The cross's original location was at the village of Charing, at the top of Whitehall, at the south of Trafalgar Square. The site is now occupied by the statue of King Charles I mounted on a horse. A plaque there reads:

"On the site now occupied by the statue of King Charles was erected the original Queen Eleanor's Cross a replica of which stands in front of Charing Cross Station. Mileages from London are measured from the site of the original cross"

Although it has been thought that the name Charing derived from Fr. chere reine (= "dear Queen"), it is more likely to stem from the Old English cearring, meaning a bend in the river. (At the site of the village of Charing, coming from Westminster, the Thames makes a dramatic 90-degree turn to the east._

In 1839 the Metropolitan Police District was extended to cover every parish within 15 miles of Charing Cross.

eflatsharp

It is normally regarded as being "Queen Eleanor's Cross" which is in the forecourt of Charing Cross station. Of course, over the passage of time, certain (usually non-English) map makers have chosen what THEY think is the centre, but this one is the historical centre, and I believe is still used by the AA when measuring distances from London.

rubydogsgreen

charing cross i think.

Part Time Cynic

Charing X

jude

the centre of London is actually the square mile, but other people are also correct, measurements by road / mule are judged from Charing Cross, on the Strand not Charing Cross station.

willows

Charing Cross -

dollsnbooks

the middle

Lawyer

CENTRAL POINT

Neil

Charing Cross is the centre for all road mileage calculations and has been so for hundreds of years. Any signs in the country tell you how far it is to London, but they mean to Charing Cross.

It is Charing Cross which stands in front of the station, not the station itself.

SilentRunning

Charing Cross me old beauty.

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