The neighbouring districts are Elmbridge, Runnymede, Windsor and Maidenhead, Slough, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames, the latter three being London boroughs.

[4] The new district was named after the medieval hundred of Spelthorne, which had covered the area plus adjoining parts of modern Greater London.

[11] In 2014 a campaign group of local business leaders called for the borough – along with others close to the capital – to be transferred from the county of Surrey to Greater London.

[47] The borough council estimates it has 3.0 square kilometres (750 acres) of parks, including, from Shepperton upstream, the Thames Path.

The final great reduction of private parks was that of the early 20th century, a sale of Laleham manor demesne by the Earl of Lucan.

Of recognised high importance to nature is Staines Moor, which alongside Sheepwalk Lake and wetlands, Shepperton are the sites of special scientific interest (SSSI).

Sunbury and Staines town hubs are within 6 miles (10 km) of top UK attractions such as Windsor Castle, Thorpe Park, Hampton Court, Twickenham Rugby Stadium and Kew Gardens.

[citation needed] Staines is the borough's main station, being served by South Western Railway services to London Waterloo, Reading and Windsor & Eton Riverside.

[51] A January 2005 enhanced base map study by the Office for National Statistics managed to classify 50.8 square kilometres (19.6 sq mi), 99% of land in Spelthorne.

Fishing is open to all, subject to rod licensing,[53] from the Thames Path National Trail and adjoining islands in Laleham and Staines as well as at lakes in Shepperton and Ashford.

One of the more than 720 nationwide 5,000-metre running competitions of the major organiser is around the rugby union club in its borders, which has a small nature reserve it owns to one end.

The stated proportion of land that is absorbed by domestic dwellings tends to be housing with gardens forming suburbs to London and otherwise has mid rise urban town centres with exceptional offices (in Staines-upon-Thames) and apartments (in Sunbury-on-Thames) which are high rise, including a minority of the social housing.

The bulk of the rest is mostly narrow buffering land being arable farming, horse-grazing meadows and sheep grazing on the reservoir embankments and fringes with Green Belt legal status.