Staines means “stones” and it is thought to come from a group of nine stones mentioned in a twelfth century charter of Chertsey Abbey which delineated the boundaries of the Abbey lands, and was reported in Up Pontes by Christine Lake. The settlement of Staines is very ancient, with evidence of habitation from Mesolithic times; the Romans had an fairly important town here called “Ad Pontes” (“by the bridges”) as it was the place where the London to Silchester road crossed the Thames and Colne, and was about half-way between them (a day’s march from each). There are the remains of an old bridgehead at The Hythe; this is not the Roman one (there were also Saxon and Norman bridges here) but may be on the same site. Stukeley says that the whole town was bounded by a ditch. The charter says this: