| Brentford | |
|---|---|
 Skyline of Brentford town centre, facing south-west. | |
  Brentford Location withinGreater London | |
| Area | 5.87 km2 (2.27 sq mi) |
| Population | 27,907 (Syon, Brentford wards 2011)[1] |
| • Density | 4,754/km2 (12,310/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | TQ1878 |
| • Charing Cross | 8 mi (12.9 km) WNW |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRENTFORD |
| Postcode district | TW8 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
| 51°29′10″N0°18′36″W / 51.486°N 0.310°W /51.486; -0.310 | |
Brentford is a suburban town inWest London, England and part of theLondon Borough of Hounslow. It lies at theconfluence of theRiver Brent and theThames, 8 miles (13 km) west ofCharing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings which mark the start of theM4 corridor; in transport it also has two railway stations andBoston Manor Underground station on its north-west border withHanwell. Brentford has a convenience shopping and dining venue grid of streets at its centre. Brentford at the start of the 21st century attracted regeneration of its little-used warehouse premises and docks including the re-modelling of the waterfront to provide more economically active shops, townhouses and apartments, some of which comprisesBrentford Dock. A 19th and 20th centuries mixed social and private housing locality: New Brentford is contiguous with theOsterley neighbourhood ofIsleworth andSyon Park and the Great West Road which has most of the largest business premises.
The name is recorded asBreguntford in 705 in anAnglo-Saxon charter and means 'ford over theRiver Brent'.[2]: 10
The name of the river derives from *brigant-, aBrythonic word, meaning "high" or "elevated" (possibly in a holy sense). The river may also have been associated with the goddessBrigantia. The suffix '-ford' isOld English.[3] The ford was most likely located where the main road crossed the river.New Brentford is recorded asNewe Braynford in 1521 and was previously known asWestbraynford.Old Brentford is recorded asOld Braynford in 1476 and was previously known asEstbraynford.[3]
The settlement pre-dates the Roman occupation ofBritain, and thus pre-dates the founding of nearby London. Many pre-Roman artefacts have been excavated in and around the area in Brentford known as 'Old England'.Bronze Age pottery and burnt flints have been found at separate sites in Brentford. The quality and quantity of the artefacts suggests that Brentford was a meeting point for pre-Romanic tribes. One well knownIron Age piece from about 100 BC – AD 50 is the Brentford horn-cap[4] – a ceremonial chariot fitting that formed part of local antiquarian Thomas Layton's collection,[5] now held by theMuseum of London. TheCeltic knot pattern (the 'Brentford Knot') on this item has been copied for use on modern jewellery.
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An amateur local history and an inscription outside the County Court claim thatJulius Cæsar crossed the Thames here during his invasion of Britain in 54 BC, and fought a battle withCassivellaunus close by.[6] Cæsar describes the place as fortified with sharp stakes. The discovery of sharp stakes in the river-side atBrentford Dock in the early 20th century was taken byMontagu Sharpe as evidence of a fortified crossing-site, and Caesar's battle.[7] The stakes were removed as a hazard to river-traffic, and Sharpe's claims are not supported by further excavations.
Historically part ofMiddlesex, in the south-eastern corner ofElthorne Hundred, it has formed part ofGreater London since 1965.
In November 1642 a Royalist army advancing on London overcame a much smaller Parliamentarian force in battle at Brentford. The town was ransacked in the immediate aftermath of the engagement.[8]
A local town fair, the Brentford Festival, has been held in Brentford every September since 1900.[9][10]
The building ofBrentford Dock was started in 1855[11] and it was formally opened in 1859. Thedock yard is now amarina andhousing estate.[12]
A notable family from Brentford was the 18th-/19th-century architectural father and son partnership, the Hardwicks. Thomas Hardwick Senior (1725–1798) andThomas 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 theAdam Brothers during the construction ofSyon House. Hardwick Junior assisted in the building ofSomerset House and was known for his designs of churches in the capital. He was also a tutor ofJ. M. W. Turner and 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.
Brentford developed around the ancient boundary between the parishes ofEaling andHanwell. It was divided between the chapelry of Old Brentford to the east in Ealing and the chapelry of New Brentford in Hanwell to the west. Of the two areas, Old Brentford was significantly larger.
New Brentford was first described as thecounty town ofMiddlesex in 1789, on the basis that it was the location of elections of knights for the shire (orMembers of Parliament (MPs)) from 1701.[19] 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 (seecounty town of Middlesex).[14]
TheLondon Borough of Hounslow was formed in 1965, under theLondon Government Act 1963, by the merger of the areas of theMunicipal Borough of Brentford and Chiswick, theMunicipal Borough of Heston and Isleworth andFeltham Urban District ofMiddlesex.
| Ward | Detached | Semi-detached | Terraced | Flats and apartments | Caravans/temporary/mobile homes/houseboats | Shared between households[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brentford | 150 | 826 | 1,425 | 3,511 | 17 | 25 |
| Syon (most homes in the ward are in New Brentford) | 147 | 806 | 1,488 | 3,299 | 33 | 17 |
| Ward | Population | Households | % Owned outright | % Owned with a loan | hectares[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brentford | 14,353 | 5,954 | 15 | 23 | 315 |
| Syon | 13,554 | 5,790 | 16 | 28 | 272 |
In Brentford, those who ethnically identify asBAME (Black, Asian and minority Ethnic) was 33.9% in the Brentford ward and 34.2% in the Syon ward at the 2011 UK census. The median age of the population was 32 years in Brentford ward and 34 years in Syon ward. Both wards have about equal proportions of household types, with flats/maisonettes/apartments forming a majority in both wards.[20]
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Syon House, the Greater London residence of theDuke of Northumberland, is a large mansion and park inSyon ward, described above, that has long been shared withIsleworth. Some of its seasonally marshy land is now a publicnature reserve. The estate has a hotel (Hilton London Syon Park), visitor centre and garden centre.
Syon Abbey, demolished and replaced (with reworked gatehouses) by the newer mansion, had the largest abbey church in England in theMiddle Ages.
The location of Syon Abbey in the park was unknown until archeological investigations in the grounds in 2003 (for the television seriesTime Team) and 2004 revealed the foundations of the abbey church. It was larger thanWestminster Abbey is now, but no above-ground structure remains. There were complex reasons for its destruction.
TheLondon Butterfly House in Syon Park was aninsectarium like a largeglasshouse containing abutterfly zoo. Visitors could see butterflies and moths flying about, feeding, and emerging fromchrysalises. 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 October 2007 and the Butterfly House closed on 28 October.
Boston Manor House, built in 1622, is aJacobeanmanor house, noted for its fine plasterwork ceilings.
Syon Park House (demolished in 1953, and not to be confused with Syon House itself) housed the 'Syon Park Academy' where the poetPercy Bysshe Shelley was educated between the ages of 10 and 12 before moving on toEton. A Royal Mail depot stands on the site now. This may also be the site of the dwelling wherePocahontas lived inBrentford End between 1616 and 1617.
In 1909 a monument was made out of two stone pillars that used to support lamps on the old Brentford bridge over the Grand Union Canal. The monument originally stood at the end of Ferry Lane; after being covered in coal unloaded from boats, it was moved further up the lane in 1955. In 1992 it was moved again to its present site at the junction of Brentford High Street and Alexandra Road, outside the County Court. The monument commemorates four major events in Brentford's history: the supposed crossing of the Thames byJulius Caesar in 54 BC; the council of Brentford by KingOffa of Mercia in 781; the defeat of KingCanute by KingEdmund Ironside at the firstBattle of Brentford in 1016; and the secondBattle of Brentford in 1642.[25]
Built in 1868 from Kentishragstone, Saint Paul's Church is one of Brentford's two currentAnglicanparish churches, and a distinct landmark. Itsspire is clearly visible. The architect was H. Francis andJames Montgomrey was a principal subscriber and chairman of the building committee.[16] In 1959 and 1961 the parishes of the nearby churches of Saint George and Saint Lawrence were amalgamated with Saint Paul.[26]
Inside the church is a painting by local artistJohann Zoffany calledChrist's Last Supper. It was originally intended to be installed inSt Anne's Church, Kew, but the local people objected, and therefore in 1887 it was installed in Saint George's Church instead. When that church was closed in 1959, the painting was transferred to its present location in Saint Paul's Church.[27]
Brentford's other Anglican parish church, Saint Faith's, is a comparatively recent building, dating from 1906 to 1907. Designed inGothic Revival style, by G F Bodley and D G Hare, it was described by the poetJohn Betjeman:
St Faith's displays all the splendour of Bodley in its simplicity and strength. It rises like a great ship over the housetops and inside the view from the west end leads you naturally to the altar and up to the roof.[28]
There has been a church on the site of Brentford's former parish church of Saint Lawrence since the 12th century, but the tower dates from the 15th century, and the remainder of the church was rebuilt in 1764 from brick. There were a number of interesting monuments in the church, including one dedicated to a Maurice de Berkeley, dating from 1189, who was buried in the original church. The church was closed in 1961 and the monuments removed, and the parish was united with Saint Paul's.[29] The church has now been in a derelict state for more than half a century but the graveyard still holds the Ronalds vault whereHugh Ronalds and numerous members of his family are buried.[30] Awar memorial stood outside the church until 2009, when it was moved to Brentford Library.[31]
St John the Evangelist Church, opened in 1866, was built for Irish railway construction workers, by an architect named Jackman.
An unconsecrated chapel was built from subscriptions raised from 57 prominent inhabitants on the site in 1762; previously the parish was part of Ealing. The old chapel was demolished in 1886 and eventually replaced by the current building designed byA. W. Blomfield. The painting of the Last Supper by Zoffany was transferred to the new church. It was closed in 1959 and used as the home for the Musical Museum from 1963 until the Museum moved to new premises. It is now (2017) being converted into flats.
Gunnersbury Park Museum is in Gunnersbury House, narrowly in Gunnersbury (the north-west of Chiswick) containingartefacts and former furnishings of theRothschild family, who were culturally and financially pre-eminent across France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and North America.
Kew Gardens is visible from the scattering of high rise buildings towering over the town and some of the mid rise ones.
The Weir public house, formerly 'The White Horse', was where the artistJ. 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 he lived inIsleworth andTwickenham.
Brentford Dock came to single use and engineered enlargement as a freight terminus of theGreat Western Railway. It was designed byIsambard Kingdom Brunel and built between 1855 and 1859 at the confluence of the River Thames and River Brent – part of the land wasJames Montgomrey's Montgomrey's Wharf.[16] A spur line from the GWR at Southall was constructed to the Brentford Dock railway station to facilitate easy transferral of freight fromlighters andbarges on the Thames to GWR-served destinations in the west of the country. The dock was redeveloped as residential accommodation from the early 1970s, and littleindustrial archaeology remains. However, Dock Road still retains some of its original fan patterncobblestone road bed and examples of Brunel's broad-gauge 'bridge section' rail can be seen there.
TheBrentford Dock flats (originally named theTiber Estate)[32] were built alongside formerly important transport infrastructure as Brentford is the terminus of theGrand Union Canal, originally the Grand Junction Canal. This waterway is still in use for leisure traffic as part of theGrand Union Canal.
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Brentford Public Library is aCarnegie library, built by the architectNowell Parr and opened in 1904.[33] Outside the library is the Brentford War Memorial,[34] accompanied by three smaller war memorials.[35][36] There is alsoJim Pooley's bench honouringRobert Rankin's writing connection with the borough.[37]
Brentford Baths (1896), also by the architectNowell Parr, is a Grade IIlisted example of lateVictorian architecture.
TheLondon Museum of Water & Steam houses the world's largest workingbeam engine, and its narrow cuboid tower is an emblem of the town.
TheMusical Museum houses a large collection of mechanical musical instruments, such asplayer pianos and aWurlitzer organ.
The Butts Estate, a Georgian square and associated conservation area, contains several Grade II listed buildings some dating back to 1680.[38] In the Butts is located St Mary's Convent, a grade II listed building from the late 18th century, now a convent and residential care home, Maryville Care Home.[39]
Brentford F.C. is a professional Englishfootball club, based in Brentford, and currently playing in thePremier League.The club was founded in 1889 by members of the defunct Brentford Rowing Club and plays its home games at theGtech Community Stadium, having played atGriffin Park between 1904 and 2020. The club has a long-standing rivalry with near neighbours,Fulham andQPR.[40] The Stadium was also used by the formerPremiership Rugby sideLondon Irish.
Griffin Park is also the former home ofChelsea Football Club Reserves. From 2002 until September 2005, it was the home of theLondon Broncosrugby league club – subsequently they were renamedHarlequins RL and transferred toThe Stoop).
Nearest London Underground stations:
Nearest railway stations:
The phrase 'like two kings of Brentford' refers to former enemies who are now good friends. It appears in:
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Brentford's industrial status and the Great West Road are notable facets ofAldous Huxley's 1932 novelBrave New World. Set in London in AD 2540 (632 A.F.—"AfterFord"), the influential dystopia anticipates changes inreproductive technology, sleep-learning,psychological manipulation, andclassical conditioning that combine to change society profoundly.
TheBBC Three sitcomPeople Just Do Nothing is set in and around Brentford.[44]
The Brentford Trilogy, a (ten-book) series of "far-fetched fiction" novels byRobert Rankin, humorously chronicle the lives of a couple of drunken middle-aged layabouts, Jim Pooley and John Omally, who confront the forces of darkness in the environs of western Greater London, usually with the assistance of large quantities of beer from their favourite public house, The Flying Swan. Several of Rankin's other books are also set in or reference Brentford.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Vol 2: Appendix D pg 34. Accessed 21 August 2007People Just Do Nothing is a mockumentary set in Brentford, West London.
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