[Illustration: NEW CHURCH, BUILDING AT STAINES.]
Who has journeyed on the Exeter road without noticing the town of STAINES,
with its host of antiquarian associations--as the _Stana_ (Saxon) or
London Stone,[1] its ancient bridge, for the repair of which three oaks
out of Windsor Forest were granted by the crown in the year 1262, besides
_pontage_ or temporary tolls previous to the year 1600.--Dr. Stukeley's
conjectures respecting the _Via Trinobantica_ passing here--and the _old_
parish church, the situation of which appeared to denote the site of the
more ancient town of Staines. It is here too, that the tourist begins to
imagine himself _in rure_, after he has been whirled through the brick and
mortar avenues of _Kensington_, and _Hammersmith_, and the unsightly
lane-street of _Brentford_,[2] with all its cockney reminiscences of
equestrianism and election squabbles; _Hounslow_ and its by-gone days of
highway notoriety and powder-mill and posting celebrity, and _Bedfont_,
with its yew trees tortured into peacock shapes, and the date 1704. Then,
who does not recollect and venerate the convivial celebrity of this route,
its luxurious inns, and their "thrones of human felicity;" along which
Quin, Dr. Johnson or Shenstone could scarcely have accomplished a stage a
day!
In our days, hundreds of London tourists breakfast at the _Bush_, although,
after sixteen miles' ride, their appetites do not require this stimulant
any more than do the glories of the _Bush_ cellars after dinner.
But we must pass on to the church. The _old_ building was in the Gothic or
pointed style, with lancet windows, &c., but much disfigured by
churchwardens' repairs, although the great Inigo Jones is said to have
built its square, brick tower. At length, a considerable portion of this
ancient structure fell in one Sunday morning, during the service, but, as
the newspapers say, "fortunately no lives were lost." The inhabitants then
resolved to rebuild nearly the whole, and the design of Mr. J.B. Watson
was adopted. The foundation stone was laid March 31, in the present year,
and the building is to be completed by Christmas next. The church is
intended to contain 1,100 persons. The length of the interior, 65 feet;
width, 47 feet; height to ceiling, 25 feet. The chancel is to be rebuilt
at the expense of the impropriators. The lower part of Inigo Jones's tower
is to remain, and the whole is to be raised 23 feet. These repairs, with
the enclosure of the churchyard, will not exceed 4,000_l_.; and the
progress of the undertaking is highly creditable to the taste and
execution of all the parties concerned.
As one act of public spirit generally leads to another, the erection of a
new stone bridge is projected at Staines; it is to be nearer the church
than the present bridge, and will afford a better view of the new
structure. An elegant stone bridge was erected here in 1796, but two of
the piers sinking, the bridge was taken down, and an iron one substituted;
this failed, and has since been supported by wooden piles and frame-work.
[1] This is a boundary stone which marks the extent of the jurisdiction
possessed by the City of London over the western part of the River
Thames. It stands on the margin of the river, in the vicinity of
Staines church, and bears the date of 1280. On a moulding round the
upper part is inscribed "GOD preserve the City of London, A.D. 1280."
[2] George II. used to say when riding through Brentford, with his heavy
guards, "I do like dis place, 'tis so like Yarmany."
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