Charing Cross Mural

A black and white mural covers the walls of the Northern line platform of the Charing Cross tube station near London’s Trafalgar Square. It depicts, in comic book form, scenes of medieval life. But this is not a whimsical artistic flight of imagination— the images actually reference the historical origins and name of what is now one of London’s busiest public transport hubs.

The name Charing Cross derives from the old English word “ceirring,” which translates into the modern English language as “river-bend,” a reference to the bend in the nearby River Thames. The reference to a cross recalls the Eleanor Crosses that dotted the city as a memorial to a dead queen.