Brentford

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This article is about the London suburb. For other uses, see Brentford (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 51°29′10″N 0°18′36″W / 51.4861°N 0.3101°W / 51.4861; -0.3101

Brentford
Brentford skyline.JPG
Skyline over Brentford town centre
Brentford is located in Greater London
Brentford

 Brentford shown within Greater London
OS grid reference TQ177778
London borough Hounslow
Ceremonial county Greater London
Region London
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town BRENTFORD
Postcode district TW8
Dialling code 020
Police Metropolitan
Fire London
Ambulance London
EU Parliament London
UK Parliament Brentford & Isleworth
London Assembly South West
List of places: UK • England • London

Brentford is a suburban area of the London Borough of Hounslow at the confluence of the River Thames and the River Brent in West London, situated 8 miles (12.9 km) west south-west of Charing Cross.

Contents

[edit] History

Further information: History of London

Brentford, as the name suggests, was built on a fording point on the River Brent, known to locals as 'Brenda's Patch'. The town is named as Bregentforda at the time of the Council of Brentford 781 and as 'Bregentforda' and 'Brentforda' in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 1016. The root 'Bregent-', naming the river is thought to originate from the name of the Celtic goddess 'Brigantia', tutelary goddess of the Brigantes tribe (whose territory was considered to be 150 miles north of Brentford, though the cult of the goddess spread across a wide area of Europe.)

The settlement pre-dates the Roman occupation of Britain, and thus pre-dates the founding of London itself. Many pre-Roman artifacts have been excavated in and around the area in Brentford known as 'Old England'. Bronze Age pottery and burnt flints have been found in separate sites in Brentford. The quality and quantity of the artefacts suggests that Brentford was a meeting point for pre-Romanic tribes where part of tribal rituals included the ceremonial casting of weapons into the river[citation needed]. One well known Iron Age piece from about 100 BC - AD 50 is the Brentford horn-cap[1] - a ceremonial chariot fitting that formed part of local antiquarian Thomas Layton's collection,[2] now held by the Museum of London. The Celtic knot pattern (the 'Brentford Knot') on this item has been copied for use on modern jewellery.

The Thames Lock on the Grand Union Canal at Brentford

It has been suggested that Brentford was also a main fording point on the River Thames, and was the point where Julius Cæsar crossed the Thames during his invasion of Britain[citation needed]. It is asserted, without strong evidence, on the Brentford Monument, that a documented battle fought at this time between Cæsar's forces and Cassivellaunus took place at Brentford.[3] There are, however, two other historically accredited battles of Brentford in 1016 and 1642.

New Brentford was first described as the county town of Middlesex in 1789, on the basis that it was the location of elections of knights for the shire (or Members of Parliament) from 1701.[4][5] In 1795 New Brentford (as it was then) was "considered as the county-town; but there is no town-hall or other public building" causing confusion that remains to this day.[6]

[edit] Timeline

  • 54 BC Brentford is a likely site of a battle recorded by Julius Cæsar between Julius Cæsar and local king, Cassivellaunus.
  • 781 Council of Brentford recording settlement of a dispute between King Offa of Mercia, and the Bishop of Worcester
  • 1016 Battle of Brentford between the invading Canute and Edmund Ironside
  • 1431 Relocation of Syon Abbey to Brentford from Twickenham
  • 1539 Destruction of Syon Abbey by King Henry VIII
  • 1616 - 1617 Pocahontas, the Native American 'Princess', lived in Brentford
  • 1642 Battle of Brentford during the English Civil War
  • 1682 A very violent storm of rain, accompanied with thunder and lightning, caused a sudden flood, which did great damage to the town of Brentford. The whole place was overflown ; boats rowed up and down the streets, and several houses and other buildings were carried away by the force of the waters.[7]
  • 1717 Brentford Turnpike Trust founded to maintain the road between Kensington and Hounslow
  • 1805 Start of operations of the Grand Junction Canal (later the Grand Union Canal)
  • 1815 - 1817 John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the USA, lived in Brentford
  • 1828 William Corder was arrested on Wednesday April 23 at Everley Grove House, Ealing Lane in Brentford, for the notorious Red Barn Murder.
  • 1841 Brentford was flooded, caused by the Brent Reservoir becoming overfull so that the overflow cut a breach in the earth dam. Several lives lost.[8]
  • 1849 Start of operations of the Hounslow Loop line, providing service to Kew Bridge, Brentford Central and Syon Lane stations in the Brentford area.
  • 1859 Start of operations of the Great Western & Brentford Railway company linking Brentford Dock to the Great Western Railway main line at Southall. Additional passenger station named 'Brentford Town' later constructed just north of Brentford High Street.
  • 1884 Start of operations of Boston Manor Underground station (then known as Boston Road).
  • 1889 Brentford Football Club founded by a rowing club seeking a winter sport.
  • 30 May 1925 - Great West Road officially opened by King George V. Later the Brentford section became known as the Golden Mile due to the large number of factories that relocated there to take advantage of the good communications. The factories provided high employment and stimulation to the local economy.
  • 1 January 1929 - Grand Junction Canal bought by the Regent's Canal and amalgamated with other canals to form the Grand Union Canal.
  • 1965 Opening of elevated section of M4 motorway

The road which is now Brentford High Street served as the main road to the South West of Britain for many centuries, and even now, the M4 motorway and the Great West Road pass approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the original main road through Brentford.

[edit] Notable people

Dates are dates of residence in Brentford, where known

[edit] The Hardwicks

A notable family from Brentford was the 18th/19th century architectural father and son partnership, the Hardwicks. Thomas Hardwick Senior (1725-1798) and Thomas Hardwick Junior (1752-1829) were both from Brentford and are buried in the old church of St Laurence. Hardwick Senior was the master mason for the Adam Brothers during the construction of Syon House. Hardwick Junior assisted in the building of Somerset House and was known for his designs of churches in the capital. He was also a tutor of J.M.W Turner whom he helped start Turner's illustrious career in art. Both father and son did a great deal of remodelling and rebuilding on the church of St Laurence.

[edit] Places of interest

Syon House, the London residence of the Duke of Northumberland.

Syon Abbey, now razed to the ground, was the largest abbey church in England.

Syon House is built upon part of the site of Syon Abbey. The exact location of Syon Abbey was unknown until archeological investigations in the grounds of Syon House (Syon Park) in 2003 (by Time Team) and 2004 revealed the foundations of the abbey church. It was larger than Westminster Abbey is now, but no above-ground structure remains. For more details on the abbey and the reasons for its destruction, see its own entry - Syon Abbey.

The London Butterfly House in Syon Park was an insectarium like a large glasshouse containing a butterfly zoo. Visitors could see butterflies and moths flying about, feeding, and emerging from Chrysalises. There was also a colony of large ants (kept with the butterflies), a small tropical bird aviary, and a small gallery of reptiles, amphibians, insects and spiders. The lease on the current site expired in Oct 07 and the Butterfly House closed on 28 October 2007.

Front of Boston manor House

Boston Manor House, built in 1622, is a Jacobean manor house, noted for its fine plasterwork ceilings.

Gunnersbury Park Museum is the local museum for the Boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow and situated in Gunnersbury House. It contains many archaeological finds including hundreds of flints, plus Roman and Viking weapons found in Brentford. It also has displays of costumes and changing displays on other subjects of local interest. The house was formerly occupied by the Rothschild family and although they did not leave any contemporary furniture or fittings, some of the decorative schemes have been well preserved.

The Weir, public house, formerly 'The White Horse' was where the artist J. M. W. Turner lived for one year at the age of ten. He is regarded as having started his interest in painting while living there. Later on in life, he lived nearby in Isleworth and Twickenham.

The Pool of Brentford Lock with new developments and GSK building in background

Syon Park House (demolished in 1953), not to be confused with Syon House, housed the 'Syon Park Academy' where the poet Shelley was educated between the ages of 10 and 12 before moving on to Eton. A Royal Mail depot stands on the site now. This may also be the site of the dwelling where Pocahontas lived in Brentford End between 1616 and 1617.

Brentford Dock, a freight terminus of the Great Western Railway, built at the confluence of the River Thames and River Brent, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built between 1855 and 1859. A spur line from the GWR at Southall was constructed to the Brentford Dock railway station to facilitate easy transferral of freight from lighters and barges on the Thames to GWR-served destinations in the west of the United Kingdom. The dock was redeveloped as residential accommodation in the early 1970s, and little industrial archeology remains. However, Dock Road still retains some of its original fan pattern cobblestone road bed and examples of Brunel's broad-gauge 'bridge section' rail can be seen there.

The Brentford Dock flats (Originally named the Tiber Estate[9])were built alongside formerly important transport infrastructure as Brentford is the terminus of the Grand Union Canal, originally the Grand Junction Canal. This waterway is still in use for leisure traffic.

The 1000 Great West Road Building, an office building located in Brentford on the M4 motorway featured in Hard-Fi 's Living for the Weekend Music Video

Brentford Public Library

Brentford Public Library is a Carnegie library.

Brentford Public Baths (1896) are a Grade II listed example of late Victorian architecture.

Kew Bridge Steam Museum houses the world's largest working beam engine.

The Musical Museum houses a large collection of mechanical musical instruments, such as player pianos.

Griffin Park is home to Brentford Football Club and Chelsea Football Club Reserves (from 2002 until 23 September 2005 it was the home of the London Broncos rugby league club - subsequently they were renamed Harlequins Rugby League and transferred to The Stoop).

Houseboats on the Thames at Brentford, from Kew Bridge

[edit] Companies in Brentford

[edit] Town twinning

[edit] Transport and locale

[edit] Nearest places

NW: Osterley North: Ealing NE: Gunnersbury
West: Isleworth Brentford East: Chiswick
SW: Syon Park South: Richmond SE: Kew

[edit] Nearest tube stations

[edit] Nearest railway stations

[edit] References and sources

  1. ^ http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/archive/lbl/pages/moreObjResult.asp?id=4542&code=O1760&terms=horn+cap&search=&whichobj=&go=Go museumoflondon.org.uk
  2. ^ http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/archive/lbl/pages/toursCollectors1.asp museumoflondon.org.uk
  3. ^ The Thomas Layton Collection, Inscription on the Brentford Monument
  4. ^ 'Ealing and Brentford: Growth of Brentford', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 113-20 accessed: 30 May 2007
  5. ^ Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911 Edition
  6. ^ Brentford, The Environs of London: volume 2: County of Middlesex (1795), pp. 39-58 accessed: 30 May 2007
  7. ^ Brentford, The Environs of London: volume 2: County of Middlesex (1795), pp. 39-58. . Date accessed: 18 August 2007.
  8. ^ Defra:Foods and reservoir safety integration Vol 2: Appendix D pg 34. Accessed 2007-08-21
  9. ^ [http://brentford.inuk.com/bd.htm "HISTORY OF THE DOCKS BRENTFORD"]. http://brentford.inuk.com/bd.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-07. 
  10. ^ Heidelberg - Heidelberg UK
  11. ^ MapMechanics - Vehicle Routing & Scheduling - GIS Mapping Data - Territory & Field Force Planning
  12. ^ http://www.sister-cities.org/icrc/directory/Europe/UK sister-cities.org

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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