Staines-upon-Thames

A neolithic causewayed camp has been found at the south of Yeoveney on Staines Moor. This had later prehistoric, Roman, and Saxon occupation.[5]

At the site of Majestic House excavations in 2013 revealed evidence of intermittent human activity over many centuries.[6] Residual flint artefacts of Mesolithic and Neolithic date, and a small number of Neolithic/Bronze Age features including postholes, were found.[6] The most significant prehistoric evidence was the remains of a ring ditch of that era, a monument type rarely recorded locally.[6] A small Iron Age artefact assemblage was found, as was evidence for drainage ditches from those Mesolithic/Neolithic times.[6] Drainage and boundary ditches formed much of the evidence for later activity on the site, which is east of the later centre of the town but close to the line of the Roman road.[6] Roman occupation debris and agricultural features of 2nd–3rd century AD date were found, and there was a suggestion of continuity of occupation into the 4th century AD. There was no evidence for Saxon or early medieval activities, but the remains of later medieval rectilinear buildings, a well and ditches were found.[6] Ellis (2013) draws a map of this site at the heart of a town island, rather a perennially non-marshy, rounded (penannular) zone that has five archaeological sites.[6]

There has been a crossing of the Thames at Staines since Roman times. The emperor Claudius invaded Britain in AD 43. Staines had the zone mentioned above, likely remaining settled, at that time. Within a decade, some sort of first Staines Bridge would have been needed for the Roman road much later known in places as the Devil's Highway, elsewhere as the stone ('stane') street between Londinium (London) and Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester).

Pontibus, Latin for "at the bridges" in the early 3rd-century Antonine Itinerary, has long been guessed to refer to Staines, but that may be wrong since the Itinerary's mileages actually point some distance away (possibly to the south end of Virginia Water Lake). More than one bridge might have traversed Church Island.[7] Ad Pontem was an altogether different place.

The London Stone between the River Thames and Staines Town Hall

The Middlesex section of the Domesday Book records the manor "Stanes" as a property held by Westminster Abbey. It was stated to have 19 hides of land and had 6 mills worth £3, 4s, 0d; 2 weirs worth 6s, 8d; 24 ploughs; meadows for 24 ploughs; and some cattle. It rendered £35.[8]

A boundary stone on the bank of the River Thames dated 1280 still remains, indicating the western limit of the City of London's jurisdiction over the Thames. Although familiarly known as the 'London Stone', it is not to be confused with the more famous – and probably more ancient – London Stone in Cannon Street in the City of London.

The Blue Anchor in the old Market Square: an 18th-century Queen Anne or early Georgian former pub

The barons assembled at Staines before they met King John at Runnymede in 1215, and Stephen Langton held a consecration there shortly after the sealing of Magna Carta. Kings and other important people must have passed through the town on many occasions: the church bells were rung several times in 1670, for instance, when the king and queen went through Staines.[9] Between 1642 and 1648 during the Civil War, there were skirmishes on Staines Moor and numerous troop movements over Staines Bridge. The parish remained largely agricultural until the mid-19th century.[9]

St Mary's parish church, which was rebuilt in 1828

In the 19th century the Church of England lost all its secular maintenance and relief functions, of its vestries. However, as local government became unparished, the parish boundary of Laleham remains used in road signs and official naming, notable as its housing has become widely contiguous.

Ashford, receiving from Staines the River Ash, had its boundary running north from the mid-part of Kingston Road, south of which lay part of Laleham which zig-zagged further west.[10]

Laleham remains, as it was in the mid-19th century, a long tranche beginning east of the north-south Sweep's Ditch which runs south to the tip of the Penton Hook peninsula of the River Thames. Spelthorne Borough Council is one of the few Surrey districts divided completely equally in terms of number of councillors per wards yet the population of Laleham is insufficient to elect three councillors. Laleham does share a post town, and has a large sports ground named after Laleham and Staines. It instead forms one half of the ward Riverside [Staines] and Laleham, parts A and D of Spelthorne's 009 division in the United Kingdom Census 2011.[11]

Stanwell in 1896 lost 70 acres (28 ha) with 122 houses, to Staines, north of London Road.[11][12]

Staines was a regular staging post with coaching inns. It was used for an overnight horse change on The Trafalgar Way in 1805, announcing the victory over the combined French and Spanish fleet and the death of Nelson.[13] Samuel Lewis mentions the place in his 1848 Topographical Dictionary of England, saying that "The town, which has been much improved of late, consists principally of one wide street, containing several good houses, terminating at the river."[14]

Statue in the High Street commemorating Staines' history of making linoleum

The town was a major producer of linoleum after the formation of the Linoleum Manufacturing Company in 1864 by its inventor, Frederick Walton. Linoleum became the main industry of the town and was a major employer in the area until the 1960s. In 1876 about 220 and in 1911 about 350 people worked in the plant. By 1957 it employed some 300 people and in 1956 the factory produced about 2675 m² of linoleum each week. The term 'Staines Lino' became a worldwide name but the factory was closed around 1970 and is the site is now occupied by the Two Rivers shopping centre, completed about 2000. A bronze statue of two lino workers in Staines High Street commemorates the Staines Lino Factory. The Spelthorne Museum has a display dedicated to the Linoleum Manufacturing Company.

The Lagonda car factory was on the site of Sainsbury's supermarket in Egham Hythe.[15]

The town was the site of the Staines air disaster in 1972, at the time the worst air crash in Britain until the Lockerbie disaster of 1988. (Since the Lockerbie crash was a terrorist act in Scotland, the Staines crash remains England's worst air disaster, and Britain's worst air accident.) The crash was commemorated in June 2004 by the opening of a dedicated garden near the crash site, created at the request of relatives, and the unveiling of a stained glass window at St Mary's Church, where a memorial service was held.[16]

Staines Urban District coat of arms

In 1894 the Local Government Act 1894 created the Staines Urban District. This status conferred additional powers and responsibilities compared with the few Rural Districts in Middlesex County Council. In 1965, under the London Government Act 1963, Middlesex, apart from the Staines, Sunbury-on-Thames and Potters Bar Urban Districts, became part of Greater London. Staines and Sunbury were transferred to Surrey and Potters Bar to Hertfordshire. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the Staines Urban District was combined with Sunbury-on-Thames Urban District to form the present-day borough of Spelthorne. Staines remains associated with the historical county of Middlesex through certain cultural and sporting affiliations, and until 1996 for postal purposes.

The town changed its official name to "Staines-upon-Thames" on 20 May 2012.[17]

On 15 December 2011, Spelthorne Borough Council resolved by 25 votes to 4[17] with 6 abstentions (including all the councillors for Staines ward itself)[18][19] to change the name of the town to Staines-upon-Thames, to try to boost the local economy by promoting its riverside location, and reportedly to discourage association with Sacha Baron Cohen’s fictional character Ali G, as well as rock band Hard-Fi, who described Staines as "a ghost town".[17][20]

The name change proposal originated with Spelthorne Business Forum.[21] 428 responses to a public consultation were in favour and 234 opposed,[22] but there were some public objections,[23] including one from Staines Town Football Club which attempted to present 134 signatures to the council, but they were not received.[17][22] Adopting the name change, the council resolved to call on residents, businesses and public organisations to use the name Staines-upon-Thames, and to call on Surrey County Council and Runnymede Borough Council to use Staines-upon-Thames for all official business.[18] Following a day of celebrations in the town, including a regatta on the river, the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, Dame Sarah Goad DCVO, formally changed the name on 20 May 2012 at 2 pm.[20] Royal Mail adopted the new name in mid-2013,[4] having previously stated that the name would remain as Staines on the Postcode Address File.

Motorcycle speedway racing was staged at a stadium in Wraysbury Road. Events in 1938 and 1939 are well-known, but it is possible that a venue was active from at least 1931, for a team named Staines raced at Caxton Speedway (near Cambridge, 1931 – 1933 inclusive). The stadium was also used for greyhound racing, as well as 'novelty' events such as cheetah racing.

Staines Stadium was famous from 1955 to 1960 during the early days of stock car racing in England, and featured in the 1955 feature film Stock Car among others.[33]

Other sports formerly held in Staines include: boxing (there were weekly programmes off the High Street in the 1930s, and local hearsay suggests bare-knuckle events were held at the Crooked Billet earlier in the 20th century); wrestling (bouts were included in boxing programmes of the 1930s); motorcycle football (a club existed in the 1960s; and American football (a short-lived team called Staines Removers entered the Budweiser League in 1988, but failed to start the season, although they did play some friendly matches at their base on The Lammas).

There were proposals to build a new railway line, Airtrack, connecting the South West Main Line and/or London Gatwick to Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 station. As part of these proposals, the former Staines High Street railway station was to be rebuilt by Two Rivers Shopping Centre and the High Street in the direction of Wraysbury railway station, using a generally unused arc from north to south in the town centre, towards Weybridge on the South West Main Line. In 2011 the Department for Transport announced it had decided that this would not proceed because extra trains would delay road traffic using the level crossing at Egham. The existing Staines station would have an additional platform built instead on the relevant arc.