All too often in London we find ourselves in the middle of somewhere with an interesting sounding name but never get around to finding out what it means.

For example, you might have wondered why on earth the big transport hub of Charing Cross is called Charing Cross.

Millions of us probably pass through the mainline station and connected London Underground stations each year without knowing what it means.

READ MORE: The hidden disused London Underground platforms only Tube drivers get to see

With National Rail connections to Dover, Hastings, Ramsgate, Tunbridge Wells, Dartford, Lewisham and Hayes, it's incredibly well connected and offers easy links to other central London stations such as Waterloo and London Bridge.

A View of the New Hungerford Market in Westminster in 1833 where Charing Cross station was later built

It's also, of course, linked to the London Underground station of the same name, with Northern Line links north and south to High Barnet and Kennington as well as important north-south Bakerloo Line connections.

In short, many of us couldn't do without this station.

So let's take a look at what its name is all about.

The history of Charing Cross

The station's story begins in 1859 on the site of the old Hungerford Market - a produce market that dated back to 1862.

The Charing Cross Railway Company was formed in 1859 and the plan was to build a station as the terminus of the South Eastern Railway which connected London to the South East of England.

It was a tough task, as the line had to be taken through a heavily built-up area and a new bridge - Hungerford Bridge - had to be built over the Thames replacing an earlier suspension bridge structure.

The new station was designed by Sir John Hawkshaw and featured an impressive single span wrought iron roof, 510 feet (155 m) long and 164 feet (50 m) wide.

However, it collapsed in 1905 and had to be rebuilt, leading to huge doubts about the safety of the original design.

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The grand new station first opened in 1864 and in 1865 the Charing Cross Hotel also opened its doors. This gave the street-facing front of the station a beautiful ornate look.

It had balconies overlooking the main station - and don't forget this was the age of steam, so it would have been an impressive sight.

The fact the station was in such a congested area, and perhaps on the wrong side of the river, led to many plans to re-site it and move it to the south of the river but none ever came to fruition.

Instead, Charing Cross was continually modernised to become the station we know and love today.

Coloured chromolithograph by the Kell Brothers after their original drawing, showing an interior view of Charing Cross station

So let's get to it. What does its name actually mean?

From Cherryngescrouche to Charing Cross

Well, it's said that back in Medieval times King Edward set up a stone commemorative cross near the courtyard of the main-line station to mark the last resting place of the funeral procession for his wife Eleanor as it passed from Harby to Westminster.

Eleanor of Castile had married Edward I as part of a political deal to give the English king control over what is now Gascony in France.

Apparently their marriage was a close one, and Eleanor accompanied Edward on his many wars - including on the ninth crusade where an old (now discredited) story claims she sucked out the poison when he was hit by a poison arrow.

When she died - aged just 49 at Harby in Lincolnshire - Edward demanded that a stone cross should bet set up at every place his horses stopped on his journey back to London.

For this famously warlike King it was a heartfelt gesture.

The cross he set up in London was referred to as the stone cross of Cherryngge, or 'Cherryngescrouche' in the 14th Century.

Also, there was a little village here known as Cyrringe, first recorded around the year 1000. The name probably comes from the Old English 'cierring' meaning 'turning' or 'to turn'.

It's hard to imagine modern day Charing Cross as a village
It's hard to imagine modern day Charing Cross as a village

This probably refers to the nearby bend in the River Thames here.

So, the name Charing Cross comes from a memorial to a much-mourned medieval queen and a 1,000 year-old village. Who knew?

Unfortunately, Oliver Cromwell destroyed the cross in 1645, as he did with so much English history. A statue of King Charles I now stands where the cross once did.

But still, to this day, it is still used as a marker point for the centre of London for distances by road.

Our thanks to Cyril M Harris for his wonderful little book, 'What's In A Name'.