England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Staines St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Staines lies in the extreme southwest of Middlesex forming not only part of the border with neighbouring Buckinghamshire but also with Surrey, indeed it is to the latter county that Staines and other neighbouring parishes were transferred in 1965. Staines is located roughly 6 miles southeast of the Royal town of Windsor and about 4 miles southwest of Heathrow Airport. Staines sits on the former route of the A30 road which connects London with the South West of the country and is sited where that route crossed the Thames, on the banks of which Staines sits, the A30 now bypasses Staines to its north. At the time of this transcript Staines was a small to medium sized market town serving this largely rural area with the specialist services that could not be supported in the smaller villages, it provided a weekly market and in the wider parish was as farming dominated as the remainder of the area, a mixed regime with equal parts arable and pastoral. Modern developments have come in abundance to the area changing it totally, the railway lines from London to Reading & Windsor brought steady growth whilst the modern M25 sliced through to the west. The broad valley of the Thames proved irresistible for those seeking gravel for the spread of the capital and the area to the north of Staines is dominated by the now flooded pits that it created, nowadays a major water storage device for the capital. Finally the establishment of Heathrow Airport has boosted the growth of light industry and services in the area. Staines, itself has expanded markedly, in particular to the east and south engulfing the subsidiary parishes of Laleham and Ashford, its growth finally connecting it contiguously to the expanding influence of the ever-growing urban area of Greater London. Staines sits directly on the Thames which drains the parish eastwards through the capital to the North Sea. Staines is sited at around 15 metres above the sea in almost flat valley terrain, it is not until beyond Egham that land rises to around 60 metres or so. Staines parish was fairly typically sized for this area, covering just over 1,800 acres it would have seen a growing population during the period of this transcript, from a small market town of around 1,200 parishioners the town had grown to 6,000 by 1900 and to over 56,000 by the 1970s, a tremendous change making Staines unrecognisable to its former residents. Yet even in Domesday times Staines was already an important settlement, a population already big enough to place it in the top 20% of settlements at that time. Staines was a holding of Westminster Abbey offering an impressive 48 ploughs, meadows and woodland and no fewer than 6 mills, a wealthy holding indeed.

The Church

St Mary's church sits northwest of the centre of Staines and just south of the B376 which heads for nearby Wraysbury, the church sits at the junction of Vicarage Road and Church Street and opposite to The Bells inn. Little remains of this church that would recognisable to the folk married during this transcript as the church was largely rebuilt in the latter stages of the transcript period being completed in 1828. The two lower stages of the western brick, tower are all that remain from earlier periods being dated to c1631 by Pevsner. The rebuild took the style of the Early English Gothic with lancet windows used but set within a rather pasty-looking yellow brick. Whilst the church was essentially complete in Georgian times, a Victorian change also occurred when the eastern apse was added and the chancel roof replaced in 1885. Street parking is available on Vicarage Road allowing for an easy visit, the churchyard, surrounded by a mid-height wall, in yet more brick, has its main entrance formed by wooden gates set at the apex of the junction. Whilst the churchyard has many trees they are, thankfully, concentrated to the north and west allowing the favoured angles to the photographer.