Market Place, Kingston upon Thames - 020 8547 5592 shs@surreycc.gov.uk

Staines-upon-Thames is one of those places that everyone has heard of but no-one knows where it is. FYI, it is a suburban town on the River Thames in the borough of Spelthorne in Surrey, England. Before 1 April 1965 it was in the historic county of Middlesex. Known to the Romans as Pontes or Ad Pontes, then as Stanes and subsequently Staines, the town officially adopted its longer current name on 20 May 2012. However the upon-Thames suffix is still often dropped in common usage.

The town is within the western bounds of the M25 motorway, 17 miles (27 km) west south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is within the London Commuter Belt of South East England, Greater London Urban Area and adjoins part of the Green Belt. Passing along the edge of the town and crossing Staines Bridge is the Thames Path National Trail.

Parts of the large Staines upon Thames post town are whole villages: Laleham, Stanwell and Wraysbury. The post town includes, due to the long association of Staines Bridge with a medieval causeway (levee) on the opposite bank of the river, half of a large locality of a neighbouring town, Egham, namely Egham Hythe, which contains a significant business area within the county, and some of the town's oldest listed buildings. The historic parish at no points exceeds 13 feet (4.0 m) above river level. It has no remaining woods, but a large number of parks, leisure centres, a football club which has reached the conference level and some multinational research/technology company offices. London Heathrow Airport is centred 3 miles (4.8 km) north and the railway station is a main stop on the London Waterloo to Reading Line.

The name Staines derives from Middle English stanes, from Old English stanas ("stones").

The original manor of Staines became derelict and was demolished. Staines Bridge spans the Thames with a three arch structure completed in 1832. Until the 14th century, Staines was the tidal limit, but this is now downstream at Teddington - a replica London Stone exists in the Lammas Recreation Ground.

The administrative offices of Spelthorne Borough Council are by one of the town's more linear parks. In the early 2000s, a public landscape area was constructed by the riverside conservation area with seating and sculptures to enhance the waterfront as a place to walk. The 'Town Hall' is a stuccoed Victorian blend of Italian and Flemish styles in a small market square, converted into an Art Centre in the 1990s, and later turned into a pub (now closed). Elaborate Georgian shophouses line Clarence Street (named after William, Duke of Clarence who became William IV). Church Street and Lammas Lane house the oldest properties clustered around the parish church of St Mary. Most neighbourhoods have green spaces such as (Staines Moor, Shortwood Common, Knowle Green, Leacroft, the Lammas and the sports fields and farms on the borders of Laleham. The last two are riverside parks with picnic areas and playgrounds. Many of the parks belonged to former grand houses, see Laleham for Lord Lucan's 'Laleham House' which became a Roman Catholic Abbey for a century. Since the late 20th century, listed luxury apartments in the post town have been created there and at Duncroft Manor.