Lying
sixteen miles from London, the bustling market town of Staines formed
the entrance to Middlesex from the great western road. The town chiefly
consisted of one street lined by buildings which "rarely quit a
mediocrity of character, unless to sink beneath it". The name of
Staines likely originates from the Saxon word Stana, a stone,
and historians believe the name alludes to a boundary stone which marks
the extent of the jurisdiction possessed by the city of London over
the western part of the Thames. This boundary stone, which bears the
date 1280, stands on the margins of the river, close to Staines church,
pictured above.
