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ADPONTES- HISTORY PAGE |
STAINES HISTORY
* 4000 - 4000 to 3000 BC Neolithic settlement of
the Thames Valley
* 1700 - Bronze Age burial ground-
Sunbury
* 750 - Iron age
settlement of area
* 10 -
British tribe Atrebates rules the area
* 43 -
Claudius invasion of Britain to help King Verica of the Atrebates
*
43 - First Staines Bridge built by the
Roman Army
* 406 - Roman
occupation ends
* 600 - 400 a.d. to
600 a.d. Saxon migration to area
* 1086 - Domesday Book mentions Staines
* 1215 - King John at Runnymede to sign
the Magna Carta
* 1228 - First annual fair held in
Staines- granted by Henry III
* 1285 - The 'London Stone' mark boundry
of City of London
* 1603 - Sir Walter Raleigh was
committed at Staines
* 1642 - and 1648 skirmishes in Civil
War on Staines Moor
* 1671 - Staines bridge destroyed in
Civil War and replaced with ferry
* 1791 - a new stone bridge was built
* 1803 - The Lucan (Lord Lucan) family
moved into Laleham
* 1815 - Penton Hook lock constructed
* 1832 - Modern Staines Bridge
officially opened by King William IV
* 1848 - Railroad arrives in Staines
* 1851 - Staines Boat Club established
* 1864 - Opening of the Staines Linoleum
Company
* 1890 - Staines Hockey Club was formed
* 1892 - Staines Town Football Club
formed as Staines Albany
* 1894 - St. Peter's Church was built
* 1902 - Twin back-to-back Staines
Reservoirs built
* 1906 - The British car maker Lagonda,
was founded
* 1925 - Queen Mary Reservoir opened
* 1935 - Le Mans 24-hour race won by a
4.5 litre Lagonda car built in Staines
* 1955 - Queen Elizabeth II opens
Heathrow Terminal 2
* 1956 - Vulcan bomber crashes at
Heathrow
* 1965 - Staines West Railway station
closed
* 1969 - Staines 'supershow' in the lino
factory with Led Zeppelin
* 1972 - British European Airways
Trident One jet airliner crashed on 18 June
* 1975 - Staines FC plays in Rome in
front of a crowd of 70,000
* 1980 - The Elmsleigh Centre shopping
complex opened by HM The Queen
* 1985 - Staines section of M25 opened
* 1990 - Spelthorne Leisure Centre in
Knowle Green, Staines opened
* 1996 - Planning permission granted for
new "Two Rivers"
* 2002 - Ali G Indahouse filmed in
Staines
* 2005 - Hard-Fi's debut album
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The Victorian Era in Staines- June 1837 to January 1901
Staines
developed rapidly during Victorian times and an interesting display can
be seen at Spelthorne Museum (details below this article), representing
part of a Victorian kitchen in a small house or cottage.
The
advent of the railways were a significant reason for this intense and
rapid development of Staines. Staines Central Station, on the
London-Windsor line was opened in 1848, and the Wokingham branch,
joining the Windsor line at Staines with a bridge over the river, was
opened in 1856. A station in the High Street (near the Garabaldi) was
opened- closed later in 1916. Staines & West Drayton Railway at
Staines West was opened in 1885. So in Victorian times there were three
stations in Staines - Staines West, Staines East (the station we now
call Staines Station) and Staines
'Central'[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/]
The linoleum
factory was one of several industries in Staines that grew and
prospered as a result of the emerging rail networks. The factory
covered an area some 35 acres north of the High Street and was
established in 1862. This is the area now used as the Two Rivers
shopping centre.
St. Peter's Church was built in 1894.
Victorian Staines
1837: Coronation of Victoria
1848: Railway line from Waterloo to Ashford and Staines opened
1862:
Opening of the Staines Linoleum Company, founded by businessman
Frederick Walton, to produce his new invention of Linoleum floor
covering.
1864: It is thought that Charles Dickens may have visited Staines and Laleham area whilst writing "Our Mutual Friend"
1872:
a local commission was appointed to clear the Market Square area, build
the (current) Town Hall, and establish a market. A school board of five
members was formed for Staines in 1885. It took over all the existing
elementary schools in
the area and built 'the new school' in 1896.
1878:
First horse race meeting held at Kempton Park Racecourse, with a
specially built railway station opened later in the same year
1897: Sunbury Clock erected in celebration of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee
1881:
Population of Staines is 2,486. (according to the
www.workhouses.org.uk) The Staines Workhouse had a total of 339
residents ranging in ages from just 1 year old (at age 3 years a child
would recieve schooling) to over 90 years old. The Staines workhouse
was on the site of the Ashford Hospital, Stanwell.
1889: Gothic
Revival architecture; The campus of the Royal Holloway college was
founded in 1879 by the Victorian entrepreneur, Thomas Holloway and was
a women-only institution- officially opened in 1886 by Queen
Victoria.The campus is
dominated by its original building, the
Founder's Building, (designed by William Henry Crossland) which is
modelled on Château de Chambord in The Loire.
1889: Jerome K Jerome mentions Penton Hook and Runnymede
[ Château de Chambord in The Loire]
Spelthorne Museum:
Victorian kitchen layout at Spelthorne Museum
1 Elmsleigh Road, Staines TW18 4PM
Phone: 01784 461 804
SEE THIS ARTICLE AS A PDF FILE
WEB ACCESSIBILITY - RE-SIZE OR PRINT TEXT TO SIZE
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THE
STORY OF STAINES BRIDGE
Staines
Bridge
"COLONIA CLAVDIA VICTRICENSIS"
Staines bridge owes its existence to the Romans. In fact, the original
name for the area we now know as Staines was Ad pontes-
'at the Bridges'. The Roman invasion of Britain, commanded by General
Aulus Plautius on behalf of Emperor Claudius, came about after an
appeal from an ousted tribal ally-the exiled King Verica of the British
Atrebates. At that time, Britain was governed by Celtic tribes like the
Atrebates and the more dominant Catuvellauni. Although the tribes
already had strong trading and political links with the Roman Empire,
tensions were growing and inter-tribal conflict meant that the Romans
could use the excuse to invade.
The tribes had always been aware of the importance of a river crossing
at the area we now know as Staines (the 'stones') where the Thames
meets the Colne. The river itself connected with the important trading
routes of the Icknield and the Ridge-Way and so could be used for trade
and safe transport. The river is shallow at this crossing point and the
bed is gravel. There had been a thriving community here since at least
750BC. Whoever had control over the causeway at 'the stones' would have
the Thames Valley, with its flat and easy travelling country, open to
them.
[ London
to Bath Roman Road ]
General Aulus Plautius quickly made progress with four legions (one
commanded by the future Emperor 'Vespasian') and the British defending
forces were pushed back to the Thames. Eleven tribes of South East
Britain surrendered to Claudius and the Romans prepared to move further
West in the same year, taking the crossing point at the stones (Ad
Pontes) at Staines. They quickly established a fortified settlement at
Ad Pontes to protect the bridge. It is generally thought that this
first Roman 'Pont' was probably a rough earthwork causeway supported by
stone.
The Roman 'Ad Pontes' bridge soon became a vital part of the Roman Road
that connects London to the West. Although this road does not have a
common name ( unlike, for example, 'Stane Street' that runs to
Chichester) it does connect, in a straight line, a route from Staines
to the London Wall via Hounslow, Brentford, Shepherds Bush and Holborn.
If you have driven down the A30, A315 or even Oxford Street, you have
used this old Roman route.
[ Claudius
denarius ]
How long this first Roman bridge survived is not known but the position
of a river crossing-point on this important main road from London to
the southwest, and its proximity of the settlement to Windsor and the
seat of soveriegn power, led to the town being involved in national
affairs (not least the signing of the Magna Carta.) The need for a more
permanent wooden bridge could not be overlooked and a wooden structure
was built in 1222.This first recognisabe bridge was constructed using
piles of oak driven into the bed of the river and covered with planks.
There were four more wooden bridges built after this very first
attempt- all failed to survive for very long. Eventually, in 1796, when
the first modern stone bridge was built at the present site.
This bridge, made of three semicircular arches of stone, from the
design of the celebrated Paul Sandby, lasted only five years, when it
was replaced by a very elegant bridge of one arch, of 180 feet span,
constructed of cast iron, from the design of Thomas Wilson. This
bridge, like its predecessors, did not last long and had to be closed
to the public after just one month! His Majesty King George the Third
was said to have been among the last to pass over it.
The current bridge with three arches was designed by George Rennie and
construction started in 1827 (it was opened in 1832 by their Royal
Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Clarence - later William IV.) George
Rennie constructed the Grosvenor Bridge over the Dee at Chesterand and
was the 'less-famous' son of John Rennie the Elder, the Scottish civil
engineer who designed the famous London Bridge that now can be found at
Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The Staines railway bridge - spanning the
Thames parallel to the road bridge, was opened in 1856.
[ Staines
New Bridge- 1827 ]
There is now support for an elegant pedestrian/cycle bridge to be
constructed beside the existing bridge (like the popular Hungerford
footbridge) to ease traffic flow and provide a safer more enjoyable
route for pedestrians.
Sources:
http://www.lakehavasu.com
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/
http://www.rotherhamweb.co.uk/m
[ London
Bridge at Lake Havasu City, Arizona ]
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Bizet’s rich and timeless score contains some of
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of
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ROYAL ALBERT HALL
KENSINGTON GORE, SW7 2AP
Feb 2009
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