e Charing bit, look to the river. It comes to us from the Old English word 'cierring', which means 'turning' — a likely reference to the sharp bend in the Thames at this point. The Cross relates to the final Eleanor Cross, a series of monuments marking the nightly resting places of the eponymous queen's body, following her death near Lincoln in 1290. The original London memorial has long vanished, but a Victorian pastiche can still be seen in the taxi rank of the station. Further references can be found in David Gentleman's wonderful murals down on the Northern Line platforms.
Previously called Charing Cross, then Charing Cross (Embankment), then Charing Cross Embankment, this station finally settled on its current name of Embankment in 1976. Its origins are fairly obvious. This was one of the stations built within Joseph Bazalgette's Victoria Embankment in the 1860s.
The rail station opened to the public in 1848, when the area was already known as Waterloo. The nearby bridge (or a former version thereof) was under construction at the time of the battle (1815). It was to have been called Strand Bridge, but the military victory immediately prompted calls for a 'Bridge of Waterloo'. The span opened two years later as the slightly snappier Waterloo Bridge, begetting Waterloo Road, the name of the wider area and — three decades later — the mainline station and later tube station.
See Charing Cross branch.
King's Cross St Pancras
The derivation of King's Cross is well known. Until the 19th century, the area was called Battle Bridge after a local crossing of the River Fleet. The modern name comes from an unpopular statue of the even more unpopular George IV, which malgraced the area between 183o and 1845. St Pancras was an early Roman saint, martyred for impersonating a glandular organ of the endocrine system (we imagine). Augustine supposedly brought relics of the martyr to England, inspiring several churches dedicated to the saint. London's still stands (though much rebuilt) and is often said to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in the country.
One of six tube stations named after pubs, Angel recalls a once-famous coaching inn at the junction of the Great North Road (A1) and Pentonville Road. It survived into the 20th century. The inn lives on in the name of the tube station (opened in 1901), in a Wetherspoon pub adjacent to the original site and, of course, on the Monopoly board.
Old street is, indeed, very old. The name was first recorded as Ealdestrate around 1200, Eldestrete in 1275, and le Oldestrete in 1373. In other words, it was already known as the 'old street' when Robin Hood was prancing about in Sherwood Forest. It's never been conclusively shown, but the route is probably Roman in origin — hence, almost 2,000 years old.
Named after a small gateway or postern in the city walls hereabouts. The 'moor' part indicates marshy ground without. This was possibly caused by the wall itself, which interrupted the flow of the River Walbrook, backing up the water.
We'll give you one guess. That's right.
No medals, either, for intuiting how this station next to London Bridge got its name. The mainline part does, however, bear the distinction of being the capital's oldest central terminus. It opened on 14 December 1836 — one of only three remaining pre-Victorian stations (Greenwich and Deptford, on the same line, are the others).
For much of the city's history, central London was simply the core of the Square Mile, plus a smaller settlement across the bridge known as the Borough of Southwark. Because London had no other notable suburbs, Southwark was effectively the only borough. You could get away with calling it 'the Borough' without fear of confusion. (Westminster, which grew upriver from the late Anglo-Saxon period, was not subject to the City and was considered a separate town.) The Borough name has survived into modern times and, thanks to the tube station and historic market, shows no sign of vanishing even though London now has dozens of boroughs.
Elephant & Castle
Any number of spurious explanations for t