28 Facts About Staines

Staines is close to Heathrow Airport and is linked to the national motorway network by the M25 and M3.

The first bridge across the Thames at Staines is thought to have been built by the Romans and there was a settlement in the area around the modern High Street by the end of the 1st century CE.

Industrialisation of Staines began in the mid-17th century when Thomas Ashby established a brewery in the town.

The current Staines Bridge, designed by George Rennie, was opened in 1832 by William IV and the first railway line through Staines opened in 1848.

Deverel–Rimbury pottery from the Church Lammas lands indicates that the Staines area was settled in the Bronze Age and a roundhouse from the same period has been identified at Laleham.

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Since Staines is located on the low-lying floodplain of the Thames, it is likely that historical flooding events have destroyed much of the archaeological evidence of pre-Roman human activity in the town centre.

Staines declined towards the end of the 2nd century, possibly as a result of an increased incidence of winter flooding.

Staines was one of the properties granted to the Abbey and remained in its possession until the Reformation.

Since it was relatively close to Westminster, Staines acted as a home farm, providing for the abbot's personal household.

Westminster Abbey was dissolved in 1540 and Staines then became a possession of the Crown, allowing Henry VIII to extend his Windsor hunting grounds further to the east.

Reforms during the Tudor period reduced the importance of manorial courts and the day-to-day administration of towns such as Staines became the responsibility of the vestry of the parish church.

The pound lock at Penton Hook, a tight meander downstream of Staines, was constructed in 1815, but the weirs were not added until 1846.

In 1856, Staines became a junction when the line across the Thames to Ascot was opened.

Staines West was the terminus of a single-track branch from the Great Western Main Line, constructed by the Staines and West Drayton Railway Company.

The route of the motorway north of Staines was constrained by the Wraysbury Reservoir to the west and Staines Moor to the west.

Staines became a centre for linoleum manufacture in 1864, when Frederick Walton, the inventor, opened the first factory to produce the floor covering on the Hale Mill site, to the north of the town centre.

Staines is divided between three wards, each of which elects three councillors to Spelthorne Borough Council.

The Staines UDC purchased the first diesel engine for the brigade in 1926, which was replaced by a Leyland terrier pump escape engine in 1935.

Staines is linked by a number of bus routes to surrounding towns and villages in north Surrey, south west London and east Berkshire.

The British Boys' School in Staines was founded in 1808 and the girls' school was in existence by 1832.

John Wesley made his first visit to Staines in 1771 and, by the early 19th century, there was a small congregation of Methodists in the town.

Several artists have been inspired to paint Staines Bridge, including William Bernard Cooke and Arthur Melville .

Staines is the hometown of the fictional Ali G, created by the actor and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.

Staines believes his neighbourhood is a rough ghetto, when in fact it's this lovely, leafy, middle-class suburb outside Windsor, where swans swim under the beautiful bridge.

William Shakespeare mentions Staines in Act II Scene 3 of Henry V, when the Hostess asks her husband, who is travelling to Southampton, if she can accompany him as far as the town.

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The stadium closed in 1960, when the A30 Staines bypass was constructed through part of the site, and was demolished in 1965.

Staines Moor is the largest area of alluvial meadow in Surrey and was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1984.

Staines Park at Knowle Green, to the east of the town centre, is a 4.