River Colne Staines
River Colne
The Colne flows south eastwards and into the Thames. It is met by the Wraysbury River from the north west.
Sweeps Ditch flows south westwards
This posting covers only sites north of the river. South of the River is Egham/Staines The Hythe
Post to the north Staines Moor
Post to the west Lammas Lands and Egham Hythe
Post to the east Staines
Post to the south Thorpe Hay Meadow and Staines Penton Road
Bridge Street
When the street was built in 1832 it cut Church Street in half
Ashby House. This was built in 1989 as the headquarters of the Courage Brewery Company which became Scottish & Newcastle Brewery. Its clock tower is topped by a cockerel wind vane. It is likely to be replaced and/or refurbished to look like it’s been replaced,
Roman building. Evidence of this was found in 1986 along with a medieval ditch
Provident House. Built in the 1960s on the site of St.Mary’s Church Hall. It was used as a Job Centre until 2009.
China Star. The red brick building across dates from the 1840s and was built as a public school for girls but and changed in 1886 when it was set up as a Sunday School with funds from a charity under the will of Martha Romaine. China Star opened in the early 1960s as Ting Ting but the building is still owned by the local Parish
Baptist chapel was built here in 1837, which replaced another in Church Street. Demolished 1989
Church Street
Staines seems to have once been two islands built on gravel. One was in the High Street/ Market Square area; the other to the west included Church Street. This was Binbury Island first mentioned in 1336 as the high ground round the church. The line of Church Street may be earlier as there is evidence of a church in 685 and earlier. It is thought that the Roman road may have gone along the line of Church Street to a Thames crossing.
1-8 early 19th terrace
14 The Hobgoblin Public House, formerly known as Duke of Clarence, a 19th pub. It became part of the Wychwood Brewery in 2003 and was then renamed. At one time the pub had frontages in both Clarence and Church Streets. The Clarence Street side of the pub became a private dwelling in 1851 and was known as Colne House. Once linked by a small courtyard to The Bush in Clarence Street
Goring’s Square. This was the site of a slaughterhouse owned by the Goring family; butchers here from pre-1790.
16 This shop lies alongside the Colne; there is a flood marker on the wall.
21-27 Terrace of shops from the 17th built as houses and under one roof
29 -31 Three-storey 19th houses
Bridge over the River Colne. The Colne and Wraysbury meet slightly to the north of the bridge here. The Colne was also joined here by the, now dried up, Sweeps Ditch.
43 Two Rivers Pub. This was called The Phoenix until 2010. The beer garden at the back is at the confluence of the Colne and Wraysbury and there are paths and bridges to both. As the Phoenix the pub was licensed in 1790, although the present building is 19th. The sign outside referred to the reign of Edward VI
45-55 curved terrace of two-storey 19th shops with brick arches filled with fish- scale tiling.
46 The Cock on a 15th site although this building dates from 1832. A Stone and lead cornice runs along both frontages, with “The Cock Inn” in gold lettering on red background For many years the inn was owned by the Brandon Brewery of Putney and there are signs for their Fine Ales and Putney Stout signs outside. It was finally called “Jack Beard’s at The Cock” and closed in 2009. It is now offices.
57 Ashby Brewery site. The Brewery on was founded in 1796 by Quaker Thomas Ashby. It was incorporated in 1887 as Charles Ashby and Company Ltd and then in 1899 as Ashby's Staines Brewery Ltd. They took over a number of other breweries and were themselves eventually acquired by H & G Simonds in 1931. Brewing ended here in the 1950s. It was taken over by Courage in the 1960s and they continued with bottling into the 1970s
57-59 built 1737 in buff brick with later additions in 1784 when Thomas Ashby II acquired it, and in 1811 in 1797 a room here was being used as the Ashby Family Bank which was to grow, issue notes and open branches in the locality to be taken over by Barclays in 1904. There is a malt house at the back of 57. The buildings have been extended at the back and are now used as offices.
Brewery tower. This dates from 1903. It is a six storey tower with decorated ironwork and a flag pole at the top. Converted to offices in the 1960s and housing in the early 1990s. The top two stories are all that remain original.
72 -74 19th brick built properties. 72 is slightly older than 74 which was a bakery and still has its 1850 shop front and oven intact as well as a carriage door. These houses were used as brewery offices were here.
75, 77, 79 19th houses painted white with a coaching entrance through an arch.
96-104 only the front parts of these two buildings are original – these were two brick houses of 1823 built as separate houses for members of the Ashby family who occupied them until the death of Henry Ashby in 1880, when they were sold. They have now been partly rebuilt as offices. The cast iron spearhead railings are original.
Staines Business Park. On the site Harry H. Gardam (Engineering) Co. Ltd. This was founded in the 1870s on Ashby family land and fronted onto the Thames. They dealt in second-hand heavy steam and gas engines, many for export. By the mid 20th they began to make smaller goods for the food and chemicals industry. In 1976 they moved to the Poyle Trading Estate as Gardam Machinery Ltd ‘
101 Stainton House.
103 Bosun's Hatch. A small 18th red brick house.
111 - 113 The Beeches. Built in 1803 with later additions. It was owned by the Ashby family until 1952 and is now two houses.
114 18th house. The original interior was lost in 1990 during conversion to flats.
115 Corner Hall. This dates from 1620. It was owned by Quakers to Thomas and Sarah Finch and in 1772 it was bought by the first Thomas Ashby and remained in the family thenceforth. The wisteria which covers it was brought here from Japan in the 1870s.
124 The Bells. This pub was built in 1780 on the site of an older inn and some of the interior is 1630. It was once known as The Bell. It is now owned by Young’s Brewery. The stables are now in use as a function room. It claims to take its name from the bells of the nearby church.
127 Church Cottage. This was the verger’s house and could be 18th. This part of the road was called Binbury Row or Binbury Street from the 14th. In the 19th until the 1920s it was a private girls' school.
St Mary's Church. The high ground on which the present church stands is by tradition known as Nagen Stan, and as a druidal place of worship. Stan is Anglo-Saxon for ‘stone’. The first Christian church here was probably wattle and daub and a stone church said to have been built in 675 by St. Ermingeld, Abbess of Ely. Earliest written evidence for the present church is 1179. The living of the church was originally owned by the Abbot of Westminster, and the Vicar has to provide two candles for Westminster to be lit on the eve of Epiphany. Since the reign reformation the living has been vested in the Lord Chancellor. The church was rebuilt in 1828 after the collapse of the earlier building and subsequent blowing up of the remains. The new church was designed by J. B. Watson. The tower was built in 1631 and a plaque records that this has been attributed to Inigo Jones. The stone pinnacles were removed as unsafe in the 1940s. One window was presented by Kaiser Wilhelm when he visited his grandmother Queen Victoria and commemorates Augusta Maria Byng, his children’s nanny. The Trident Memorial Window commemorates the 1972 Staines Air Disaster in which 118 people died.
Churchyard. There is the chest tomb of George and Elizabeth Hawkins. He died in 1761 and the tomb carved fruit shield reliefs and memorial tablets with a skull with scythes. Lady Letitia Lade, who is said to have been the mistress of the Prince Regent, is buried here - she was also reputedly the mistress of highwayman. Jack Rann
Clarence Street
Named for Duke of Clarence who laid the foundation stone in 1828 and returned in 1832 as William IV to open it. Most of the buildings were built as private houses but most are shops with flats or offices above.
Thames Edge Court. On the site of the Regal Cinema
Cinema. This was built on the site of Bridge House and operated by Associated British Cinemas but called the Regal, opening in 1939. It was designed by W.R. Glen with a plain brick facade. It closed in 1970 and reopened a year later as two screens re-named ABC 1&2. It was Taken over by the EMI Group in 1979, and by the Cannon Group in 1986, and re-named Cannon and then re-named MGM. Following a management buy-out in 1998, it became the ABC again. Taken over by Odeon Theatres Ltd, it closed in 2001 and demolished
Bridge House. This was built 1832 on land remaining from the building of the Bridge and had gardens backing onto the Thames. In 1898 it was bought by Tom Taylor, a local boat-builder, who converted it to the Bridge House Hotel one of the first buildings in Staines with electricity. The hotel had open air dances and concerts in the riverside gardens. Taylor also built a boathouse here. The hotel closed in 1937 and was demolished and replaced by the Regal Cinema. The boatyard continued in business
Colne Lodge. This was across the Colne from Bridge House. It was built in 1868 and demolished in 1966. The replacement office block is also named Colne Lodge and houses a Pizza Express
Bridge over River Colne This was built in 1832 probably by John and George Rennie. It has since been widened. Circa 1832.It is in Brick and granite with cast-iron sections in the parapet
41 dates from 1835 and built as the Literary and Scientific Institution by William Mulling Higgins. From 1950-79 it was the town Library, and later occupied by the Showmen’s' Guild.
Bush Pub. This was once part of the Clarence Pub (now the Hobgoblin in Church Street) but by 1850 it was Colne House, and then a greengrocer's shop.
Footpath back to the Thames along the Colne,
Drake Avenue
Light industry and trading. Plastics, rope, etc
Boden Sheet Metal. After the Second World War there was an increased demand for metal repairs to vehicle. David Boden began to make pressings and installed presses at his factory in Staines
Edgell Road
35 Beehive Inn
Emsleigh Road
Emsleigh Centre. Shopping Mall, Opened in 1980 on a Spelthorne Council owned site,
Old Telephone Exchange. Nightclub in telephone exchange built 1929
Factory Path
Redevelopment has turned this into part of Mustard Mill Road
Fairfield Avenue
BT Telephone Exchange
Statue - The Swan Upper, which relates to the tradition of swan upping on the Thames
Friends Walk
Spelthorne Library and Museum. Opened here in a new building in 2006
Hale Street
Hale Mill. This mill was on the Colne and existed in the 13th, owned by John le Hale and Westminster Abbey. By 1755 it was owned by John Finch and remained in his family until 1868. Finch made mustard there but from 1826 it was occupied by a papier-mâché company.
Fibrous Slab Co. This and Charles Bielefeld’s paper mache works were at Hale Mill from 1826. This produced architectural decorative items and also building materials made of pulped and pressed fibres.
McDonalds. On the site of Hale Mill
Staines Lino. Linoleum was invented by Fredrick Walton a professional inventor, in 1855. He had become interested in devising a way of using the skin off paint. Following experiments he came up with an idea for what was then called floor cloth and set up a factory in Chiswick. The success of this led to a need for a larger works and in 1864 he established the Linoleum Manufacturing Company at Hale Mustard Mill in Staines. He later parted from the Staines works and set up a larger works in Greenwich for inlaid and patterned lino, although the basic lino continued to be made in Staines. By 1930 the factory covered an area of 45 acres on land which is now Two Rivers Shopping Centre and the Moormede Estate. It closed in 1970.
22, 24 & 26 Hale Cottage. A red brick house which backs onto the River Colne. It dates from 1835 and was once the home of the manager of the lino factory. It is now divided into three houses
Old School House. A British School for boys was founded in 1808. This may have been the building used as the Hale Street Mission Room. A British school for girls, was also here by 1831,
Baptist Church. This is next to the Wraysbury River and was opened in 1880, although the building is more modern. It is now Staines Baptist Fellowship
The Old Bakehouse. Behind the Baptist church, on the opposite side of the river,
Wraysbury River bridge. There is mention of a bridge over the more westerly of the two mill streams in 1503, named Moor Bridge. There are also sluices on the Colne and Wraysbury rivers.
Island Close
Housing on part of the site of the Gardam Machinery Works and wharf.
Kingston Road
5 Shops in a building from 1882 with a central moulded tablet of a relief of a swan, this was the Staines depot of Stannsfield and Co. of the Swan Brewery, Fulham.
Laleham Road
St Peters Church. Riverside Anglican church with a church hall alongside. It was built in 1894 to meet the demands of an increasing population. It replaced a succession of mission chapels. The eventual church was endowed by Sir Edward Clarke, and church designed by G. H. Fellowes Prynne in red brick with a crenellated tower with set-back spire.
6 Staines Riverside Club. This was previously Staines ex-Servicemen’s Club
Queen Victoria Jubilee Gardens. The gardens were opened in 1897 to commemorate the Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Lamp Post – this is cast iron with a ladder rest and barley sugar twist, on a stone base with inscription, which says– “This ground was purchased out of public subscriptions raised by the Staines Committee for the Commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. June 1897”. There are also benches made by the local Johnson & Sharp Foundry.
Railway Bridge. The bridge was built in 1856 on the London and Windsor Railway. There are three vertical rollers on the riverside face of the abutments. These are to prevent barge from fraying and damaging the bridge.
London Road
2 old Police Station. This is a 19th building opened officially in 1876. It has “Police” on a frieze above the door and a cast iron gutter with lions’ masks – this is said to be a common feature of Metropolitan Police Stations of that date.
Roman Frieze. Sculpture by Jeff Salter. Inspiration for this was taken from artwork decorating Roman pottery which was found locally.
Roman Horse. Sculpture by Belinda Rush Jansen. This is a bronze relief carving of a Roman horse and acknowledges Roman remains here,
Market Square
The weekly market has been held here since 1218 at least, when the Sheriff of Middlesex granted a Charter. When the current Town Hall was built the street was widened following demolitions and the need to realign the civic buildings with the new bridge which was upriver of its predecessor.
Staines Conservative Club. It was opened in 1887 as the Staines & Egham Constitutional Club. A plaque on its front says: “This Stone to commemorate the opening of the Staines and Egham Hythe Constitutional Club on 19th May 1887 was laid by Mrs Dixon Hartland and Mrs Hankey the wives of the members of Divisions of Uxbridge & Chertsey.” It is a brick building in vernacular style. The upper room is known as Victoria Hall.
5 - 7 19th building
War Memorial. This commemorates the dead of the Great War with corner statues -n– a soldier in field kit with a rifle; a sailor in day rig with signal flags; an airman in flying rig, and a marine in field kit with rifle stand on arms. There is also a statue of winged victory with a torch and wreath. It was relocated to here from Memorial Gardens in 2002. A plate listing those killed in the Second World War was added in 2003. There is also a water feature at its base named “Reflections”.
2 Cygnet House. This is now offices. It was built 1830 and was a shop selling hay and flour. Behind it in the early 20th was the Staines Printing Works with the offices of the Middlesex Chronicle.
Staines Town Hall. This was designed by John Johnson, architect and District Surveyor of East Hackney, and was built in a Flemish Renaissance style from 1880 modelled on a building in Ipswich. It has a clock with the Roman numerals for eleven in the place of nine. The Magistrates Court was based her between from 1967 to 1976. It opened as an Arts Centre in 1993 but in 2004 it became a pub and it is now once again under consideration
Trafalgar Way Plaque. On the side of the Town Hall is a plaque which commemorate the 271 mile route taken by post-chaise by Ltnt John Richards Lapenotiere in 1805 from Falmouth to the Admiralty carrying the news of the Battle of Trafalgar. He took 37 hours and made 21 stops to change horses; the 20th stop being at the Bush Inn at Staines - behind the current Town Hall
The Blue Anchor Pub. The pub was in existence before 1700 but it is an 18th town house with a Chequered front in red and blue vitrified bricks. The pub front is 19th in wood with a cast iron balcony. There are the five false windows bricked up, it is said, to avoid Window Tax. In 1957 George III coins were found and floorboards marked ‘1498’. The pub closed in 2006 and became The Boundary – a wine bar. It is now a restaurant
Telephone boxes. K6 Designed 1935 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott
The Old Fire Engine Shed, at the back of the Town Hall was built 1880 and housed the Spelthorne’s museum from 1980 to 2003. It is in yellow brick with two archways inscribed "Fire Escape" and "Fire Engine". Painted terracotta bands and Doulton pottery ornamentation,
Memorial Gardens
Riverside gardens
Dove of Peace at the Methodist Church. A relief carving of the dove that symbolises peace.
The Origami Swans by Tom Brown in stainless steel. The swan is used because it appears in the Borough coat of arms.
The Swan Arches by Antony and Simon Robinson. Relief images on the legs of the arches were designed by children from Kingscroft Primary School and show local heritage Images.
Dancing Fountains with Five Swimmers. This sculpture is by David Wynne from 1980, and originally used as the centre-piece to the Elmsleigh Shopping Centre. There were complaints about the naked figures in and it was removed and later put here following some changes.
Methodist Church. The first chapel was erected in 1854 and the congregation moved to the present building in 1987
Moor Lane
Once led across Staines Moor to Colnbrook, but was closed off when the M25 was constructed.
Staines West Station. This building was originally Moor House, built in 1820 for Charles Finch, mustard maker, and owner of Pound Mill, which adjoined. In 1885 it was converted to railway station by the Staines and West Drayton Railway who wanted to save money. The front gardens of the house were at what is now the back of the building and provided space for tracks and a platform. This was a single line to join LSWR at Staines but it was taken over by GWR who insisted on single terminus. Financed by the town's business men, it provided a link between the main GWR line to Paddington, and the L. &SWR line to Waterloo. It had a long single platform with a canopy plus a loading dock, a run round road. It was renamed Staines West in 1949 and was closed in 1965. The line was removed in 1981 because of the M25. The station has since become offices. The station wall stands with the sign “Staines West”. There is also part of the platform and a section of rail embedded in the car park floor. Two of the cast iron supports for the canopy support car park lights and a buffer is against a wall next to the pavement.
A line was built across the river in to the works of the Staines Linoleum Company in 1887.
Mustard Mill Road
Mustard Mill Road. There are four roads going off the roundabout, all are named Mustard Mill Road. Up to the 1990s Mustard Mill Road was a loop around the Staines Central Industrial Estate but it is now a through road through the industrial and trading area.
Remains of the mill race for Pound Mill where mustard was processed.
Packhorse Path.
This ran from Station Path to Thames Street opposite the Packhorse Hotel but was stopped up in 1972 and is now under South Street.
Rhodes Hall built for the Scouts opposite the Packhorse Hotel. It was to be the group H.Q. for the next 50 years
Prospect Place
1–4 House built 1860 in red brick.
Richmond Road
33-39 typical Edwardian house
38 Hazlewood House. House built 1860. This was the home of Lepar, the organ builder. His workshop is still in the garden.
Riverside
Slipway. Horses towing barges were detached from them here and led to Staines Bridge in order to cross sides.
London Stone. This stone on the riverside is a replica. The original stone stood near here from 1285 marking the Corporation of the City of London’s limit of jurisdiction on the Thames. These rights were inaugurated in 1197 and held them until the Thames Conservancy was set up in 1857 as the highest point at which a tide could be detected. In the 18th the stone was to Lammas Park, and then replaced by a replica in 1986. In 2012 the replica was moved here which is nearer the original site. The original stone is in Spelthorne Museum. The is a stack of six layers of stones of varying dates with on the top the words “God preserve ye City of London AD 1285””
Staines Town Pier. This opened in 2002 and is used to moor boats for river cruises.
Footbridge over River Colne mouth. This was built in the 1980s to take the Thames Path over the mouth of the Colne
Heron carved from Portland Limestone by Simon Buchanan and called ‘The River Guardian”.
South Street
South Street. The road was built in the late 1970s as part of the development of the Elmsleigh Centre and provides a bypass around the south eastern edge of the town. It parallels in part the disused railway line which ran from Staines High Street Station to the line to Egham.
The West Curve – this is also called the ‘railway chord’. It ran from what was Staines High Street Station to join the line to Egham. After passenger services no longer ran on it remained in use for freight until the mid-1960s after which the embankment was removed. There is a large car park on much of it.
Bus Station. Set up as part of the Emsleigh development.
Staines and District Synagogue. Many Jewish families were evacuated to Staines in the Second World War and Services were held in their houses. In 1952 the foundation stone was laid for a synagogue but in it was compulsorily purchased to allow for the development of the Elmsleigh Shopping Centre. A synagogue on a new site was consecrated in 1976.
Sweeps Ditch goes underground in a pipe across South Street. It then goes in a straight line for 300m under the south side of South Street to feed an older channel between the Elmsleigh Shopping Centre car park and the railway.
Staines Bridge
From Roman times until about 1410, Staines had what was probably the only bridge above London - both Saxons and Normans built bridges here and the earliest reference is in 1228. It is the only point above London on which there is a suitable stable soil on which to place a bridge. Until the 19th bridges crossed the river behind the old Town Hall. In the Civil War the bridge was cut, and replaced by a ferry but it was rebuilt in 1683 and a three span stone bridge was opened in 1797, which collapsed within a month because of poor foundations. In 1802 a cast iron single span bridge was opened following a display in Hyde Park - it had been designed by Thomas Wilson and developed cracks in the radial members. It re-opened in 1807, heavily supported by a wooden framework and steel plates. It was decided to build the next new bridge near the confluence with the Colne. It was designed by John and George Rennie and built in Aberdeen granite by Joliffe and Banks. It was opened by William IV and Queen Adelaide in 1832. Tolls were charged until 1871 –in the Middle Ages river boats had also been charged. . It was widened 1958 by removing stone parapets and there is now a modern reinforced concrete footpath with metal railings over the parapets.
Staines High Street
The High Street it lies directly on top of the Roman Road. Excavations since the 1960's have added to knowledge about the Roman Garrison at the bridge about 70 AD. It extended on either side of the High Street extending as far as South Street. Evidence has been found of trade with Europe. Until the 20th fairs were held here and in the Middle Ages, an Annual horse and cattle Fair was held in May from 1228, and later, Fairs took in July and September. ‘Middle Row'- At the widest part of the road, opposite Debenhams, there was, until 1802, a row of cottages down the centre of the street. These cottages marked the site of ancient market-stalls.
2-8 The George owned by Wetherspoons and opened in 1996. It is named after the Old George Inn which traded her from at least the 15th to the late 18th. Tesco occupied this site in the 1930s and after the Second World War opened Staines’ first supermarket here in 1957. In 1995, before the site was redeveloped, evidence was found of Iron Age and early Roman occupation, plus a 13th chalk lined well and at least three medieval hearths
24-26 Baroosh – this was the Angel Hotel on the site of one of the earliest inns here. A plaque dates it to the 16th but it is thought to date from 1309. The front is modern. It has a coach entrance but was remodelled in the 1920s with false timber framing
58-62 three storey block of shops with living accommodation over built 1889 in “Commercial Jacobethan”, Built on the site of Westbourne House owned by a member of the Ashby family.
65-67 Nat West Bank. A purpose built bank premises of 1920/30’s with a posh ground floor
71 Barclays Bank has since been rebuilt, but still occupies its original site.
116 The Garibaldi Public House. “Tudorbethan” pastiche. Originally a timber built beer house in a row of cottages. These were demolished and replaced by brick buildings. Closed in 2010
118 Originally 16th but altered in the 18th and 20th. Remains of 16th gable at rear of shop and there is a well inside at the back. Building work has revealed a possibly 16th chimney and oven.
Johnson Johnson & Sharp’s Iron Foundry was east of the Blue Anchor. This began in a small ironmongers founded by the Ashby Family in 1790. In 1869, it was bought by Jesse Collins who had a number of managers and from 1889 the business was Johnson & Company although this name changed over the years. They produced street furniture.
Statue of two workmen carrying a roll of lino. This is by David Annad and is called Roll Out The Lino. There is a poem on the steel rod by Richard Price and Leona Medlin - Release Every Pattern - “Roll out the lino from Staines to the world! Release every pattern from chessboard to twirl! In every hopeful kitchen let life unfurl, bathrooms are artrooms from soapsuds to swirl! Roll out the lino from Staines to the world!”
Bush Inn. A bush was the medieval 'sign' of a tavern. It was an important staging inn with good accommodation and stabling. The Middlesex Militia had a permanent billet in the stable block. It was demolished to make way for Clarence Street, and the name was transferred to a new building linked by a small courtyard to the Clarence in Church Street.
Metropolitan Drinking Fountain. This is a 19th stone drinking fountain which was moved here from Moor Lane in 2002 but until the 1950s had been in the Market Square. Originally it was a granite fountain, with a dog trough and cattle trough Bough through local subscription and transferred to Staines UDC in 1898. The dog trough has gone
Mosaic – the Borough Arms by Gary Drostle The coat of arms of the Borough is surrounded by a Roman guilloche pattern
Mosaics - By Gary Drostle. These are on Gateways at either end of the street and on four lamp-posts outside Elmsleigh Shopping Centre and feature mosaic panels illustrating local history.
Majestic Cinema. This was the second of an independent chain. It had a ‘Venetian scheme of decoration’ by W. E. Greenwood. The architect was S.B. Pritlove. It was taken over by County Cinemas in 1932 and by Odeon Theatres in 1939. It closed in 1961 and was demolished
New Empire Cinema. This opened in 1912 and was still extant in 1940 but had closed by 1944. The original decorative ceiling was revealed when the building was demolished in 1997
Staines High Street Station. This was opened in 1884 by the London & South Western Railway and closed in 1916. It was at the western end of a double-track triangle with Staines Junction station at its one end and the line to Egham at the other. It was on an embankment and had wooden platforms on wooden stilts with Steps from Mill Mead on one side and Factory Path on the other.
The Iron Bridge. 20th railway bridge plated and riveted construction of simple design, The Original bridge of 1848 was of arched cast iron and the stone wall plates are still visible under the present box bridge.
White Lion Inn. The name is a reference to the badge of Edward IV. This pub stood where the one way system goes into South Street and was demolished in 1956. It had been used as a court house and included a couple of cells
Friends Meeting House. This stood behind shops on the south side of the street and west of the Masonic Hall into the 1970s.
Station Path
Sweeps Ditch
This is a man-made stream which at one time was the western and northern boundary of Town Island. When the Elmsleigh Centre was built in the 1970s it could no longer receive water from the Colne and so in 1982 a pump house was installed but the stream now goes below ground.
Thames Street
Sweeps Ditch goes underground in a pipe across Thames Street
Railway obelisk 1856. Marker for the Coal and Wine Tax boundaries. In Cast-iron.
Congregational Church. Built in 1830 and now demolished
Staines Community Centre
Masonic Hall. Staines Masonic Hall was established in 1927 60 Lodges and Orders who use the centre and its facilities.
Thames Lodge Hotel 19th buildings abutting highway. It was known for some time as the Pack Horse Inn.
42 – 44 now part of the hotel complex and formerly known as “Hook On” and “Shoot Off” cottages. Hook On' and ‘Shoot Off. Two small cottages - The towpath terminated here so horses had to be unhitched, and walked around over Staines Bridge. The barges were tied up the cottages. And then hauled up river by a team of men and re-hitched to the horses.
Tilly's Lane
Water Nymphs, Sculpture by Mrs C Bigger. A stainless steel sculpture of two water nymphs said to bring wealth and prosperity to the area.
Brick carving by Mr McKenna. Two ladies as the Colne and Wraysbury Rivers and a man who is Old Father Thames plus The Staines civic coat of arms represented by a swan.
Two Rivers Centre
The Two Rivers Shopping and Leisure Centre dates opened in 2002. It has shops, cafés, restaurants, a multiplex cinema and a health club, with large open air car parks. Mustard Mill Road divides it in two, the River Colne flows through it and the Wraysbury River flows around its boundaries. It stands on the site of much of the shopping centre The Staines Linoleum Factory
Brick carving. This shows two 2 boats coming together as the Two Rivers.
Time Continuum by David Backhouse. A sculpture which symbolises the life of Staines from Roman times to 2000. It is a simple sundial with figures which cast shadows at midday.
Water Sprites by David Backhouse. Sculpture of two river sprites for waterways which converge on the site.
Sweeps ditch stone – this and 15 plaques shoe the route of Sweeps ditch
Waters Drive
Gardens with memorial to the 1972 air crash where 118 people died
Wraysbury Road
Malthouse The redbrick building which is a 19th malt house which once formed part of the Ashby Brewery. It has five small windows and two doors to the front. Now used as offices.
Mill Cottages five cottages built 1880. They take their name from Pound mill
Pound Mill Sculpture in front of the Old Station placed here in 2006. It is by John Atkin.
Pound Mill. On the Wraysbury River existed in 1682, and in 1747 acquired by John Finch. The name came from the nearby parish pound By the early 19th Pound Mill was a flour mill but mustard was the main business and this continued as Finch, Rickman & Company. Pound Mill Was sold in 1900, but continued to work until 1912 having been sold to Coleman’s of Norwich. In 1916 part of the machinery was dated 1712.
The pound was sold in 1824 with the workhouse,
Footbridge over the Wraysbury River. Under it is a weir on the site of the waterwheel for Pound Mill.
Sources
Art Journal
Brewery History. Web site
British History on Line. Web site
British Listed Buildings. Web site
Cinema Treasures. Web site
Disused Stations. Web site
London County Council. Sewage leaflet
London Transport. Country Walks
Middlesex Churches
Middlesex County Council. History of Middlesex
National Archives. Web site
Penguin. Surrey
Pevsner and Cherry. Surrey
Robbins. Middlesex
Spelthorne Access. Web site
Spelthorne Council. Web site
Staines Historical Walks. Web site.
Staines Masonic Centre. Web site
Staines Town Society. Staines Town Trail.
Stevenson. Middlesex
Surrey Industrial Archaeology
Walford. Village London.
The Colne flows south eastwards and into the Thames. It is met by the Wraysbury River from the north west.
Sweeps Ditch flows south westwards
This posting covers only sites north of the river. South of the River is Egham/Staines The Hythe
Post to the north Staines Moor
Post to the west Lammas Lands and Egham Hythe
Post to the east Staines
Post to the south Thorpe Hay Meadow and Staines Penton Road
Bridge Street
When the street was built in 1832 it cut Church Street in half
Ashby House. This was built in 1989 as the headquarters of the Courage Brewery Company which became Scottish & Newcastle Brewery. Its clock tower is topped by a cockerel wind vane. It is likely to be replaced and/or refurbished to look like it’s been replaced,
Roman building. Evidence of this was found in 1986 along with a medieval ditch
Provident House. Built in the 1960s on the site of St.Mary’s Church Hall. It was used as a Job Centre until 2009.
China Star. The red brick building across dates from the 1840s and was built as a public school for girls but and changed in 1886 when it was set up as a Sunday School with funds from a charity under the will of Martha Romaine. China Star opened in the early 1960s as Ting Ting but the building is still owned by the local Parish
Baptist chapel was built here in 1837, which replaced another in Church Street. Demolished 1989
Church Street
Staines seems to have once been two islands built on gravel. One was in the High Street/ Market Square area; the other to the west included Church Street. This was Binbury Island first mentioned in 1336 as the high ground round the church. The line of Church Street may be earlier as there is evidence of a church in 685 and earlier. It is thought that the Roman road may have gone along the line of Church Street to a Thames crossing.
1-8 early 19th terrace
14 The Hobgoblin Public House, formerly known as Duke of Clarence, a 19th pub. It became part of the Wychwood Brewery in 2003 and was then renamed. At one time the pub had frontages in both Clarence and Church Streets. The Clarence Street side of the pub became a private dwelling in 1851 and was known as Colne House. Once linked by a small courtyard to The Bush in Clarence Street
Goring’s Square. This was the site of a slaughterhouse owned by the Goring family; butchers here from pre-1790.
16 This shop lies alongside the Colne; there is a flood marker on the wall.
21-27 Terrace of shops from the 17th built as houses and under one roof
29 -31 Three-storey 19th houses
Bridge over the River Colne. The Colne and Wraysbury meet slightly to the north of the bridge here. The Colne was also joined here by the, now dried up, Sweeps Ditch.
43 Two Rivers Pub. This was called The Phoenix until 2010. The beer garden at the back is at the confluence of the Colne and Wraysbury and there are paths and bridges to both. As the Phoenix the pub was licensed in 1790, although the present building is 19th. The sign outside referred to the reign of Edward VI
45-55 curved terrace of two-storey 19th shops with brick arches filled with fish- scale tiling.
46 The Cock on a 15th site although this building dates from 1832. A Stone and lead cornice runs along both frontages, with “The Cock Inn” in gold lettering on red background For many years the inn was owned by the Brandon Brewery of Putney and there are signs for their Fine Ales and Putney Stout signs outside. It was finally called “Jack Beard’s at The Cock” and closed in 2009. It is now offices.
57 Ashby Brewery site. The Brewery on was founded in 1796 by Quaker Thomas Ashby. It was incorporated in 1887 as Charles Ashby and Company Ltd and then in 1899 as Ashby's Staines Brewery Ltd. They took over a number of other breweries and were themselves eventually acquired by H & G Simonds in 1931. Brewing ended here in the 1950s. It was taken over by Courage in the 1960s and they continued with bottling into the 1970s
57-59 built 1737 in buff brick with later additions in 1784 when Thomas Ashby II acquired it, and in 1811 in 1797 a room here was being used as the Ashby Family Bank which was to grow, issue notes and open branches in the locality to be taken over by Barclays in 1904. There is a malt house at the back of 57. The buildings have been extended at the back and are now used as offices.
Brewery tower. This dates from 1903. It is a six storey tower with decorated ironwork and a flag pole at the top. Converted to offices in the 1960s and housing in the early 1990s. The top two stories are all that remain original.
72 -74 19th brick built properties. 72 is slightly older than 74 which was a bakery and still has its 1850 shop front and oven intact as well as a carriage door. These houses were used as brewery offices were here.
75, 77, 79 19th houses painted white with a coaching entrance through an arch.
96-104 only the front parts of these two buildings are original – these were two brick houses of 1823 built as separate houses for members of the Ashby family who occupied them until the death of Henry Ashby in 1880, when they were sold. They have now been partly rebuilt as offices. The cast iron spearhead railings are original.
Staines Business Park. On the site Harry H. Gardam (Engineering) Co. Ltd. This was founded in the 1870s on Ashby family land and fronted onto the Thames. They dealt in second-hand heavy steam and gas engines, many for export. By the mid 20th they began to make smaller goods for the food and chemicals industry. In 1976 they moved to the Poyle Trading Estate as Gardam Machinery Ltd ‘
101 Stainton House.
103 Bosun's Hatch. A small 18th red brick house.
111 - 113 The Beeches. Built in 1803 with later additions. It was owned by the Ashby family until 1952 and is now two houses.
114 18th house. The original interior was lost in 1990 during conversion to flats.
115 Corner Hall. This dates from 1620. It was owned by Quakers to Thomas and Sarah Finch and in 1772 it was bought by the first Thomas Ashby and remained in the family thenceforth. The wisteria which covers it was brought here from Japan in the 1870s.
124 The Bells. This pub was built in 1780 on the site of an older inn and some of the interior is 1630. It was once known as The Bell. It is now owned by Young’s Brewery. The stables are now in use as a function room. It claims to take its name from the bells of the nearby church.
127 Church Cottage. This was the verger’s house and could be 18th. This part of the road was called Binbury Row or Binbury Street from the 14th. In the 19th until the 1920s it was a private girls' school.
St Mary's Church. The high ground on which the present church stands is by tradition known as Nagen Stan, and as a druidal place of worship. Stan is Anglo-Saxon for ‘stone’. The first Christian church here was probably wattle and daub and a stone church said to have been built in 675 by St. Ermingeld, Abbess of Ely. Earliest written evidence for the present church is 1179. The living of the church was originally owned by the Abbot of Westminster, and the Vicar has to provide two candles for Westminster to be lit on the eve of Epiphany. Since the reign reformation the living has been vested in the Lord Chancellor. The church was rebuilt in 1828 after the collapse of the earlier building and subsequent blowing up of the remains. The new church was designed by J. B. Watson. The tower was built in 1631 and a plaque records that this has been attributed to Inigo Jones. The stone pinnacles were removed as unsafe in the 1940s. One window was presented by Kaiser Wilhelm when he visited his grandmother Queen Victoria and commemorates Augusta Maria Byng, his children’s nanny. The Trident Memorial Window commemorates the 1972 Staines Air Disaster in which 118 people died.
Churchyard. There is the chest tomb of George and Elizabeth Hawkins. He died in 1761 and the tomb carved fruit shield reliefs and memorial tablets with a skull with scythes. Lady Letitia Lade, who is said to have been the mistress of the Prince Regent, is buried here - she was also reputedly the mistress of highwayman. Jack Rann
Clarence Street
Named for Duke of Clarence who laid the foundation stone in 1828 and returned in 1832 as William IV to open it. Most of the buildings were built as private houses but most are shops with flats or offices above.
Thames Edge Court. On the site of the Regal Cinema
Cinema. This was built on the site of Bridge House and operated by Associated British Cinemas but called the Regal, opening in 1939. It was designed by W.R. Glen with a plain brick facade. It closed in 1970 and reopened a year later as two screens re-named ABC 1&2. It was Taken over by the EMI Group in 1979, and by the Cannon Group in 1986, and re-named Cannon and then re-named MGM. Following a management buy-out in 1998, it became the ABC again. Taken over by Odeon Theatres Ltd, it closed in 2001 and demolished
Bridge House. This was built 1832 on land remaining from the building of the Bridge and had gardens backing onto the Thames. In 1898 it was bought by Tom Taylor, a local boat-builder, who converted it to the Bridge House Hotel one of the first buildings in Staines with electricity. The hotel had open air dances and concerts in the riverside gardens. Taylor also built a boathouse here. The hotel closed in 1937 and was demolished and replaced by the Regal Cinema. The boatyard continued in business
Colne Lodge. This was across the Colne from Bridge House. It was built in 1868 and demolished in 1966. The replacement office block is also named Colne Lodge and houses a Pizza Express
Bridge over River Colne This was built in 1832 probably by John and George Rennie. It has since been widened. Circa 1832.It is in Brick and granite with cast-iron sections in the parapet
41 dates from 1835 and built as the Literary and Scientific Institution by William Mulling Higgins. From 1950-79 it was the town Library, and later occupied by the Showmen’s' Guild.
Bush Pub. This was once part of the Clarence Pub (now the Hobgoblin in Church Street) but by 1850 it was Colne House, and then a greengrocer's shop.
Footpath back to the Thames along the Colne,
Drake Avenue
Light industry and trading. Plastics, rope, etc
Boden Sheet Metal. After the Second World War there was an increased demand for metal repairs to vehicle. David Boden began to make pressings and installed presses at his factory in Staines
Edgell Road
35 Beehive Inn
Emsleigh Road
Emsleigh Centre. Shopping Mall, Opened in 1980 on a Spelthorne Council owned site,
Old Telephone Exchange. Nightclub in telephone exchange built 1929
Factory Path
Redevelopment has turned this into part of Mustard Mill Road
Fairfield Avenue
BT Telephone Exchange
Statue - The Swan Upper, which relates to the tradition of swan upping on the Thames
Friends Walk
Spelthorne Library and Museum. Opened here in a new building in 2006
Hale Street
Hale Mill. This mill was on the Colne and existed in the 13th, owned by John le Hale and Westminster Abbey. By 1755 it was owned by John Finch and remained in his family until 1868. Finch made mustard there but from 1826 it was occupied by a papier-mâché company.
Fibrous Slab Co. This and Charles Bielefeld’s paper mache works were at Hale Mill from 1826. This produced architectural decorative items and also building materials made of pulped and pressed fibres.
McDonalds. On the site of Hale Mill
Staines Lino. Linoleum was invented by Fredrick Walton a professional inventor, in 1855. He had become interested in devising a way of using the skin off paint. Following experiments he came up with an idea for what was then called floor cloth and set up a factory in Chiswick. The success of this led to a need for a larger works and in 1864 he established the Linoleum Manufacturing Company at Hale Mustard Mill in Staines. He later parted from the Staines works and set up a larger works in Greenwich for inlaid and patterned lino, although the basic lino continued to be made in Staines. By 1930 the factory covered an area of 45 acres on land which is now Two Rivers Shopping Centre and the Moormede Estate. It closed in 1970.
22, 24 & 26 Hale Cottage. A red brick house which backs onto the River Colne. It dates from 1835 and was once the home of the manager of the lino factory. It is now divided into three houses
Old School House. A British School for boys was founded in 1808. This may have been the building used as the Hale Street Mission Room. A British school for girls, was also here by 1831,
Baptist Church. This is next to the Wraysbury River and was opened in 1880, although the building is more modern. It is now Staines Baptist Fellowship
The Old Bakehouse. Behind the Baptist church, on the opposite side of the river,
Wraysbury River bridge. There is mention of a bridge over the more westerly of the two mill streams in 1503, named Moor Bridge. There are also sluices on the Colne and Wraysbury rivers.
Island Close
Housing on part of the site of the Gardam Machinery Works and wharf.
Kingston Road
5 Shops in a building from 1882 with a central moulded tablet of a relief of a swan, this was the Staines depot of Stannsfield and Co. of the Swan Brewery, Fulham.
Laleham Road
St Peters Church. Riverside Anglican church with a church hall alongside. It was built in 1894 to meet the demands of an increasing population. It replaced a succession of mission chapels. The eventual church was endowed by Sir Edward Clarke, and church designed by G. H. Fellowes Prynne in red brick with a crenellated tower with set-back spire.
6 Staines Riverside Club. This was previously Staines ex-Servicemen’s Club
Queen Victoria Jubilee Gardens. The gardens were opened in 1897 to commemorate the Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Lamp Post – this is cast iron with a ladder rest and barley sugar twist, on a stone base with inscription, which says– “This ground was purchased out of public subscriptions raised by the Staines Committee for the Commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. June 1897”. There are also benches made by the local Johnson & Sharp Foundry.
Railway Bridge. The bridge was built in 1856 on the London and Windsor Railway. There are three vertical rollers on the riverside face of the abutments. These are to prevent barge from fraying and damaging the bridge.
London Road
2 old Police Station. This is a 19th building opened officially in 1876. It has “Police” on a frieze above the door and a cast iron gutter with lions’ masks – this is said to be a common feature of Metropolitan Police Stations of that date.
Roman Frieze. Sculpture by Jeff Salter. Inspiration for this was taken from artwork decorating Roman pottery which was found locally.
Roman Horse. Sculpture by Belinda Rush Jansen. This is a bronze relief carving of a Roman horse and acknowledges Roman remains here,
Market Square
The weekly market has been held here since 1218 at least, when the Sheriff of Middlesex granted a Charter. When the current Town Hall was built the street was widened following demolitions and the need to realign the civic buildings with the new bridge which was upriver of its predecessor.
Staines Conservative Club. It was opened in 1887 as the Staines & Egham Constitutional Club. A plaque on its front says: “This Stone to commemorate the opening of the Staines and Egham Hythe Constitutional Club on 19th May 1887 was laid by Mrs Dixon Hartland and Mrs Hankey the wives of the members of Divisions of Uxbridge & Chertsey.” It is a brick building in vernacular style. The upper room is known as Victoria Hall.
5 - 7 19th building
War Memorial. This commemorates the dead of the Great War with corner statues -n– a soldier in field kit with a rifle; a sailor in day rig with signal flags; an airman in flying rig, and a marine in field kit with rifle stand on arms. There is also a statue of winged victory with a torch and wreath. It was relocated to here from Memorial Gardens in 2002. A plate listing those killed in the Second World War was added in 2003. There is also a water feature at its base named “Reflections”.
2 Cygnet House. This is now offices. It was built 1830 and was a shop selling hay and flour. Behind it in the early 20th was the Staines Printing Works with the offices of the Middlesex Chronicle.
Staines Town Hall. This was designed by John Johnson, architect and District Surveyor of East Hackney, and was built in a Flemish Renaissance style from 1880 modelled on a building in Ipswich. It has a clock with the Roman numerals for eleven in the place of nine. The Magistrates Court was based her between from 1967 to 1976. It opened as an Arts Centre in 1993 but in 2004 it became a pub and it is now once again under consideration
Trafalgar Way Plaque. On the side of the Town Hall is a plaque which commemorate the 271 mile route taken by post-chaise by Ltnt John Richards Lapenotiere in 1805 from Falmouth to the Admiralty carrying the news of the Battle of Trafalgar. He took 37 hours and made 21 stops to change horses; the 20th stop being at the Bush Inn at Staines - behind the current Town Hall
The Blue Anchor Pub. The pub was in existence before 1700 but it is an 18th town house with a Chequered front in red and blue vitrified bricks. The pub front is 19th in wood with a cast iron balcony. There are the five false windows bricked up, it is said, to avoid Window Tax. In 1957 George III coins were found and floorboards marked ‘1498’. The pub closed in 2006 and became The Boundary – a wine bar. It is now a restaurant
Telephone boxes. K6 Designed 1935 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott
The Old Fire Engine Shed, at the back of the Town Hall was built 1880 and housed the Spelthorne’s museum from 1980 to 2003. It is in yellow brick with two archways inscribed "Fire Escape" and "Fire Engine". Painted terracotta bands and Doulton pottery ornamentation,
Memorial Gardens
Riverside gardens
Dove of Peace at the Methodist Church. A relief carving of the dove that symbolises peace.
The Origami Swans by Tom Brown in stainless steel. The swan is used because it appears in the Borough coat of arms.
The Swan Arches by Antony and Simon Robinson. Relief images on the legs of the arches were designed by children from Kingscroft Primary School and show local heritage Images.
Dancing Fountains with Five Swimmers. This sculpture is by David Wynne from 1980, and originally used as the centre-piece to the Elmsleigh Shopping Centre. There were complaints about the naked figures in and it was removed and later put here following some changes.
Methodist Church. The first chapel was erected in 1854 and the congregation moved to the present building in 1987
Moor Lane
Once led across Staines Moor to Colnbrook, but was closed off when the M25 was constructed.
Staines West Station. This building was originally Moor House, built in 1820 for Charles Finch, mustard maker, and owner of Pound Mill, which adjoined. In 1885 it was converted to railway station by the Staines and West Drayton Railway who wanted to save money. The front gardens of the house were at what is now the back of the building and provided space for tracks and a platform. This was a single line to join LSWR at Staines but it was taken over by GWR who insisted on single terminus. Financed by the town's business men, it provided a link between the main GWR line to Paddington, and the L. &SWR line to Waterloo. It had a long single platform with a canopy plus a loading dock, a run round road. It was renamed Staines West in 1949 and was closed in 1965. The line was removed in 1981 because of the M25. The station has since become offices. The station wall stands with the sign “Staines West”. There is also part of the platform and a section of rail embedded in the car park floor. Two of the cast iron supports for the canopy support car park lights and a buffer is against a wall next to the pavement.
A line was built across the river in to the works of the Staines Linoleum Company in 1887.
Mustard Mill Road
Mustard Mill Road. There are four roads going off the roundabout, all are named Mustard Mill Road. Up to the 1990s Mustard Mill Road was a loop around the Staines Central Industrial Estate but it is now a through road through the industrial and trading area.
Remains of the mill race for Pound Mill where mustard was processed.
Packhorse Path.
This ran from Station Path to Thames Street opposite the Packhorse Hotel but was stopped up in 1972 and is now under South Street.
Rhodes Hall built for the Scouts opposite the Packhorse Hotel. It was to be the group H.Q. for the next 50 years
Prospect Place
1–4 House built 1860 in red brick.
Richmond Road
33-39 typical Edwardian house
38 Hazlewood House. House built 1860. This was the home of Lepar, the organ builder. His workshop is still in the garden.
Riverside
Slipway. Horses towing barges were detached from them here and led to Staines Bridge in order to cross sides.
London Stone. This stone on the riverside is a replica. The original stone stood near here from 1285 marking the Corporation of the City of London’s limit of jurisdiction on the Thames. These rights were inaugurated in 1197 and held them until the Thames Conservancy was set up in 1857 as the highest point at which a tide could be detected. In the 18th the stone was to Lammas Park, and then replaced by a replica in 1986. In 2012 the replica was moved here which is nearer the original site. The original stone is in Spelthorne Museum. The is a stack of six layers of stones of varying dates with on the top the words “God preserve ye City of London AD 1285””
Staines Town Pier. This opened in 2002 and is used to moor boats for river cruises.
Footbridge over River Colne mouth. This was built in the 1980s to take the Thames Path over the mouth of the Colne
Heron carved from Portland Limestone by Simon Buchanan and called ‘The River Guardian”.
South Street
South Street. The road was built in the late 1970s as part of the development of the Elmsleigh Centre and provides a bypass around the south eastern edge of the town. It parallels in part the disused railway line which ran from Staines High Street Station to the line to Egham.
The West Curve – this is also called the ‘railway chord’. It ran from what was Staines High Street Station to join the line to Egham. After passenger services no longer ran on it remained in use for freight until the mid-1960s after which the embankment was removed. There is a large car park on much of it.
Bus Station. Set up as part of the Emsleigh development.
Staines and District Synagogue. Many Jewish families were evacuated to Staines in the Second World War and Services were held in their houses. In 1952 the foundation stone was laid for a synagogue but in it was compulsorily purchased to allow for the development of the Elmsleigh Shopping Centre. A synagogue on a new site was consecrated in 1976.
Sweeps Ditch goes underground in a pipe across South Street. It then goes in a straight line for 300m under the south side of South Street to feed an older channel between the Elmsleigh Shopping Centre car park and the railway.
Staines Bridge
From Roman times until about 1410, Staines had what was probably the only bridge above London - both Saxons and Normans built bridges here and the earliest reference is in 1228. It is the only point above London on which there is a suitable stable soil on which to place a bridge. Until the 19th bridges crossed the river behind the old Town Hall. In the Civil War the bridge was cut, and replaced by a ferry but it was rebuilt in 1683 and a three span stone bridge was opened in 1797, which collapsed within a month because of poor foundations. In 1802 a cast iron single span bridge was opened following a display in Hyde Park - it had been designed by Thomas Wilson and developed cracks in the radial members. It re-opened in 1807, heavily supported by a wooden framework and steel plates. It was decided to build the next new bridge near the confluence with the Colne. It was designed by John and George Rennie and built in Aberdeen granite by Joliffe and Banks. It was opened by William IV and Queen Adelaide in 1832. Tolls were charged until 1871 –in the Middle Ages river boats had also been charged. . It was widened 1958 by removing stone parapets and there is now a modern reinforced concrete footpath with metal railings over the parapets.
Staines High Street
The High Street it lies directly on top of the Roman Road. Excavations since the 1960's have added to knowledge about the Roman Garrison at the bridge about 70 AD. It extended on either side of the High Street extending as far as South Street. Evidence has been found of trade with Europe. Until the 20th fairs were held here and in the Middle Ages, an Annual horse and cattle Fair was held in May from 1228, and later, Fairs took in July and September. ‘Middle Row'- At the widest part of the road, opposite Debenhams, there was, until 1802, a row of cottages down the centre of the street. These cottages marked the site of ancient market-stalls.
2-8 The George owned by Wetherspoons and opened in 1996. It is named after the Old George Inn which traded her from at least the 15th to the late 18th. Tesco occupied this site in the 1930s and after the Second World War opened Staines’ first supermarket here in 1957. In 1995, before the site was redeveloped, evidence was found of Iron Age and early Roman occupation, plus a 13th chalk lined well and at least three medieval hearths
24-26 Baroosh – this was the Angel Hotel on the site of one of the earliest inns here. A plaque dates it to the 16th but it is thought to date from 1309. The front is modern. It has a coach entrance but was remodelled in the 1920s with false timber framing
58-62 three storey block of shops with living accommodation over built 1889 in “Commercial Jacobethan”, Built on the site of Westbourne House owned by a member of the Ashby family.
65-67 Nat West Bank. A purpose built bank premises of 1920/30’s with a posh ground floor
71 Barclays Bank has since been rebuilt, but still occupies its original site.
116 The Garibaldi Public House. “Tudorbethan” pastiche. Originally a timber built beer house in a row of cottages. These were demolished and replaced by brick buildings. Closed in 2010
118 Originally 16th but altered in the 18th and 20th. Remains of 16th gable at rear of shop and there is a well inside at the back. Building work has revealed a possibly 16th chimney and oven.
Johnson Johnson & Sharp’s Iron Foundry was east of the Blue Anchor. This began in a small ironmongers founded by the Ashby Family in 1790. In 1869, it was bought by Jesse Collins who had a number of managers and from 1889 the business was Johnson & Company although this name changed over the years. They produced street furniture.
Statue of two workmen carrying a roll of lino. This is by David Annad and is called Roll Out The Lino. There is a poem on the steel rod by Richard Price and Leona Medlin - Release Every Pattern - “Roll out the lino from Staines to the world! Release every pattern from chessboard to twirl! In every hopeful kitchen let life unfurl, bathrooms are artrooms from soapsuds to swirl! Roll out the lino from Staines to the world!”
Bush Inn. A bush was the medieval 'sign' of a tavern. It was an important staging inn with good accommodation and stabling. The Middlesex Militia had a permanent billet in the stable block. It was demolished to make way for Clarence Street, and the name was transferred to a new building linked by a small courtyard to the Clarence in Church Street.
Metropolitan Drinking Fountain. This is a 19th stone drinking fountain which was moved here from Moor Lane in 2002 but until the 1950s had been in the Market Square. Originally it was a granite fountain, with a dog trough and cattle trough Bough through local subscription and transferred to Staines UDC in 1898. The dog trough has gone
Mosaic – the Borough Arms by Gary Drostle The coat of arms of the Borough is surrounded by a Roman guilloche pattern
Mosaics - By Gary Drostle. These are on Gateways at either end of the street and on four lamp-posts outside Elmsleigh Shopping Centre and feature mosaic panels illustrating local history.
Majestic Cinema. This was the second of an independent chain. It had a ‘Venetian scheme of decoration’ by W. E. Greenwood. The architect was S.B. Pritlove. It was taken over by County Cinemas in 1932 and by Odeon Theatres in 1939. It closed in 1961 and was demolished
New Empire Cinema. This opened in 1912 and was still extant in 1940 but had closed by 1944. The original decorative ceiling was revealed when the building was demolished in 1997
Staines High Street Station. This was opened in 1884 by the London & South Western Railway and closed in 1916. It was at the western end of a double-track triangle with Staines Junction station at its one end and the line to Egham at the other. It was on an embankment and had wooden platforms on wooden stilts with Steps from Mill Mead on one side and Factory Path on the other.
The Iron Bridge. 20th railway bridge plated and riveted construction of simple design, The Original bridge of 1848 was of arched cast iron and the stone wall plates are still visible under the present box bridge.
White Lion Inn. The name is a reference to the badge of Edward IV. This pub stood where the one way system goes into South Street and was demolished in 1956. It had been used as a court house and included a couple of cells
Friends Meeting House. This stood behind shops on the south side of the street and west of the Masonic Hall into the 1970s.
Station Path
Sweeps Ditch
This is a man-made stream which at one time was the western and northern boundary of Town Island. When the Elmsleigh Centre was built in the 1970s it could no longer receive water from the Colne and so in 1982 a pump house was installed but the stream now goes below ground.
Thames Street
Sweeps Ditch goes underground in a pipe across Thames Street
Railway obelisk 1856. Marker for the Coal and Wine Tax boundaries. In Cast-iron.
Congregational Church. Built in 1830 and now demolished
Staines Community Centre
Masonic Hall. Staines Masonic Hall was established in 1927 60 Lodges and Orders who use the centre and its facilities.
Thames Lodge Hotel 19th buildings abutting highway. It was known for some time as the Pack Horse Inn.
42 – 44 now part of the hotel complex and formerly known as “Hook On” and “Shoot Off” cottages. Hook On' and ‘Shoot Off. Two small cottages - The towpath terminated here so horses had to be unhitched, and walked around over Staines Bridge. The barges were tied up the cottages. And then hauled up river by a team of men and re-hitched to the horses.
Tilly's Lane
Water Nymphs, Sculpture by Mrs C Bigger. A stainless steel sculpture of two water nymphs said to bring wealth and prosperity to the area.
Brick carving by Mr McKenna. Two ladies as the Colne and Wraysbury Rivers and a man who is Old Father Thames plus The Staines civic coat of arms represented by a swan.
Two Rivers Centre
The Two Rivers Shopping and Leisure Centre dates opened in 2002. It has shops, cafés, restaurants, a multiplex cinema and a health club, with large open air car parks. Mustard Mill Road divides it in two, the River Colne flows through it and the Wraysbury River flows around its boundaries. It stands on the site of much of the shopping centre The Staines Linoleum Factory
Brick carving. This shows two 2 boats coming together as the Two Rivers.
Time Continuum by David Backhouse. A sculpture which symbolises the life of Staines from Roman times to 2000. It is a simple sundial with figures which cast shadows at midday.
Water Sprites by David Backhouse. Sculpture of two river sprites for waterways which converge on the site.
Sweeps ditch stone – this and 15 plaques shoe the route of Sweeps ditch
Waters Drive
Gardens with memorial to the 1972 air crash where 118 people died
Wraysbury Road
Malthouse The redbrick building which is a 19th malt house which once formed part of the Ashby Brewery. It has five small windows and two doors to the front. Now used as offices.
Mill Cottages five cottages built 1880. They take their name from Pound mill
Pound Mill Sculpture in front of the Old Station placed here in 2006. It is by John Atkin.
Pound Mill. On the Wraysbury River existed in 1682, and in 1747 acquired by John Finch. The name came from the nearby parish pound By the early 19th Pound Mill was a flour mill but mustard was the main business and this continued as Finch, Rickman & Company. Pound Mill Was sold in 1900, but continued to work until 1912 having been sold to Coleman’s of Norwich. In 1916 part of the machinery was dated 1712.
The pound was sold in 1824 with the workhouse,
Footbridge over the Wraysbury River. Under it is a weir on the site of the waterwheel for Pound Mill.
Sources
Art Journal
Brewery History. Web site
British History on Line. Web site
British Listed Buildings. Web site
Cinema Treasures. Web site
Disused Stations. Web site
London County Council. Sewage leaflet
London Transport. Country Walks
Middlesex Churches
Middlesex County Council. History of Middlesex
National Archives. Web site
Penguin. Surrey
Pevsner and Cherry. Surrey
Robbins. Middlesex
Spelthorne Access. Web site
Spelthorne Council. Web site
Staines Historical Walks. Web site.
Staines Masonic Centre. Web site
Staines Town Society. Staines Town Trail.
Stevenson. Middlesex
Surrey Industrial Archaeology
Walford. Village London.
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