Like many of London's mainline
stations, Charing Cross station has a hotel attached — this one built in a
French renaissance style. The pointed stone monument on the forecourt is a
Victorian copy of the original Eleanor Cross which stood nearby. There were once
12 of these crosses leading down the country from Lincoln to Westminster Abbey
which marked the 12 day journey of the funeral cortege of Queen Eleanor in 1291.
Only three of the original crosses survive.