The original station building was built on the site of Hungerford Market and opened on 11 January 1864. The station has a single span wrought iron roof arching over the six platforms on its relatively cramped site. A year later the Charing Cross Hotel opened on 15 May 1865, and gave the station an ornate front in the French Renaissance style. At the same time, a replica of the Eleanor Cross was erected in the station forecourt, based on the original 13th century Whitehall Cross that had been demolished in 1647. Distances in London are officially measured from the original site of the cross in Whitehall, now the statue of Charles I, and not from this replica cross.