Staines in 1839
Staines is in Spelthorne hundred, 16 miles from Hyde-park Corner, on the road to Salisbury and Exeter. The parish contains an area of 1,710 acres, with a population of 2,486. The principal street extends half a mile along the road, and leads to the Thames. Many of the houses in the main street are good. A new stone bridge has been built over the river. The church is a neat modern structure, with a square embattled tower, and there are some dissenting places of worship.
The market-house is a small building near the bridge. The market is on Friday, and there are two yearly fairs. There are several flour-mills near the town. The living is a vicarage united with the chapelries of Laleham and Ashford, of the joint annual value of £425, with a glebe-house. There were, in 1833, one infant-school, with 90 children ; a school of industry for 26 girls, a Lancasterian school with 80 boys, and a national school with 40 ; one other day-school with 30 boys, three boarding-schools with 86 children, and three Sunday-schools, with 193 children of both sexes. There is also a Literary and Scientific Institution. |