98 



THE BATH ROAD 



side. A fine avenue of elms shades the road, and 

 ahead is the cramped street of Colnbrook witli its 

 mellowed red-brick houses and bright red-tiled roofs. 

 Colnbrook street is narrow to a degree, and it is 

 surprising how the many coaches that used to come 



THE COUNTY BOUNDARY. 



tearing through at all hours of day and night 

 managed to escape accidents. There is reason for 

 this narrowness, for Colnbrook was originally built 

 upon a stone causeway across the marshes of the 

 Colne, and nowhere else were there to be found solid 

 foundations. The original causeway may possibly 

 have been Roman, for this is said to have been the 

 station of Ad Pontes, described by Antoninus in 

 his Itineraries. Staines, however, is more likely 

 the site of it. 



Colnbrook is probably the best example of a 

 decayed coaching -town now to be found in the 



