 In the Middle Ages , the Strand became the principal route between the separate settlements of the City of London ( the civil and commercial centre ) and the royal Palace of Westminster ( the national political centre ) . In the archaeological record , there is considerable evidence of occupation to the north of Aldwych , but much along the former foreshore has been covered by rubble from the demolition of the Tudor Somerset Place , a former royal residence , to create a large platform for the building of the first Somerset House , in the 17th century . The landmark Eleanor 's Cross was built in the 13th century at the western end of the Strand at Charing Cross by Edward I commemorating his wife Eleanor of Castile . It was demolished in 1647 by the request of Parliament during the First English Civil War , but reconstructed in 1865 . 
