_London from Mediæval to Modern Times_ Mediæval London was almost entirely within the walls; but outside the walls, to the west, there was a connecting line of mansions on the river front leading to the village of Charing and on to Westminster, which is almost of equal antiquity with London itself. When the body of Queen Eleanor arrived at its last stage the funeral procession stopped a fair way from Westminster Abbey. One might have expected that the body would have remained under the shadow of its last resting-place, and we are, therefore, led to inquire why the village of Charing was chosen. The only answer to the question that can be given is, that here, on the site of Northumberland House, now occupied by Northumberland Avenue, there then stood a Hospital and Chapel of St. Mary, belonging to the Priory of Rouncevall (Roncesvalles), or De Rosida Valle, in the diocese of Pampelon, in Navarre. At the death of Eleanor this house was a comparatively recent establishment, having been founded by William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, in the reign of Henry III., but it probably afforded sufficient accommodation for the funeral procession for one night. The house was suppressed as an alien priory in the reign of Henry V., but restored in that of Edward IV. for a fraternity. In the Year Books of Henry VII. the master, wardens, brethren and sisters of Rouncevall are mentioned, and these continued until the general suppression. The Cross, which gives its name to the place, was erected in the years 1291-1294, and is supposed to have been the handsomest of the series. As good a copy of the original as our imperfect information allows is to be seen within the railings of the South-Eastern Railway terminus. Westminster is of unknown antiquity, and was long known, from its wild growth of underwood, as Thorney, before the Abbey and the Palace arose to give the place a name which marked its position in relation to London and St. Paul's. There is but little authoritative history before Edward the Confessor and the consecration of the Abbey Church in 1065, but the history since that time is so considerable, and of so important a character, that it is impossible to do more than refer in these few words to what is universally acknowledged by all Englishmen to be the most hallowed building in the country.