 to derive from Caldicot, from the Anglo-Saxon for 'cold cottages', though no one can really explain what that means.
Charing cross section
Did you know that Mornington Crescent is named after the Duke of Wellington's brother? Richard Wellesley, though forever in the shadow of his younger sibling, was no slouch. He served as Foreign Secretary, Governor General of India and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was also the eldest son of a peer, and so succeeded to the title of Earl of Mornington. Mornington was also great-great-great grandfather of Elizabeth II. This tiny tube station really does have hidden connections... even before we consider its status as the ultimate insider joke on Radio 4.
The station was built on land owned by the Dukes of Grafton, whose ancestral home is Euston Hall in Suffolk, situated near the village of Euston. The village name was first recorded in Domesday Book, suggesting an Anglo-Saxon origin, and perhaps deriving from 'Efe's Tun', a farmstead belonging to a person called Efe.
Another station deriving from a personal name, though this one's unusual in being (a) not Anglo-Saxon, and (b) female. Anne Warren (1737–1807) was the wife of Charles Fitzroy, first Baron Southampton, who owned and developed the land.
To continue the run of stations named after people, this one remembers John Goodge who built up the land here — formerly known as Crab Tree Field — from 1746.
Tottenham Court Road
Curiously, the names of Tottenham in north London and Tottenham Court Road are not directly related. TCR was formerly the road that led to the manor of Tothele, later Tottenhall, situated roughly where this road intersects the Euston Road. Like Tottenham, the manor was named after a local land holder called something like Tota.
The square was developed in the 1670s on land belonging to the Earl of Leicester. His title ultimately derives from the Ligore, a Celtic tribe about which little is known, who occupied the area around Leicester before the Romans built their town (cester).
A name of two halves. For the 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 