Staines-upon-Thames is a town on the River Thames in Surrey, England. Historically part of Middlesex. At or near Roman Pontibus, it became Stanes and then Staines. The town is inside the M25 motorway, 17 miles (27 km) south-west of Charing Cross. It is within the London Commuter Belt and the 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 entire villages: Laleham, Stanwell and Wraysbury. The post town includes, owing to the long association of Staines Bridge with a medieval causeway (levee) on the opposite bank of the river, half of a large part 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 longstanding parish boundaries are those of a strip parish that ranges from 12 to 17m above sea level. It has no remaining woods, but has many parks, leisure centres, a football club which has reached Conference level and some multinational research/technology company offices. The centre of Heathrow airport is 3mi to the north-east and Staines railway station is a main stop on the London Waterloo to Reading line and Windsor & Eton Riverside line.
