Stephenson:Neal:Quicksilver:9:Charing Cross (Neal Stephenson)

From the Quicksilver Metaweb.

The decapitation took place on the side of the Banqueting House that faces north, in the direction of Charing Cross. In today's London, the place called Charing Cross is separated from the Banqueting House by a chunk of Whitehall about a quarter of a mile long, and so it seems wrong to say that the event took place in Charing Cross. However, at the time, Charing Cross was a broader piece of territory. More importantly, it was the only piece of territory from which an ordinary person might have been able to get a glimpse of the beheading of the King. So for Enoch to say this is a little bit imprecise, but within the normal limits of imprecision that people employ in conversation.