Brentford
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brentford | |
Brentford shown within Greater London |
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OS grid reference | |
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London borough | Hounslow |
Ceremonial county | Greater London |
Region | London |
Constituent country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BRENTFORD |
Postcode district | TW8 |
Dialling code | 020 |
Police | Metropolitan |
Fire | London |
Ambulance | London |
European Parliament | London |
UK Parliament | Brentford & Isleworth |
London Assembly | South West |
List of places: UK • England • London |
Brentford is a suburb in 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.
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[edit] Today
Brentford is a suburban development subsumed into the conurbation of Greater London, although just outside the London postal district.
[edit] Etymology
Brentford, as the name suggests, was built on a fording point on the River Brent. 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.)
[edit] History
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. 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.
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. 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[1]. 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.[2][3] 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.[4]
[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.[5]
- 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. [6]
- 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 present and former residents
Dates are dates of residence in Brentford, where known
- Pocahontas 1616-17
- Sarah Trimmer 1762–1810
- J. M. W. Turner 1785-86
- Thomas Hardwick Junior, architect of the 18th & 19th century.
- Percy Bysshe Shelley 1802-04
- John Quincy Adams 1815-17
- John Macallan Swan, RA, Painter and Scultptor, born in Brentford 1847
- John Bardon, Character actor (born in Brentford, 1939)
- Anna Ford, BBC TV newscaster
- Kate Adie, BBC TV reporter
- Bob Friend, former BBC TV reporter and Sky News presenter
- Rat Scabies, former drummer of The Damned
- Nick Lowe, musician and producer
- Jake Riviera, co-founder of Stiff Records
- Stan Bowles, former England football player
- Annie Vernon, choreographer
- Christopher Dawes, author of Rat Scabies And The Holy Grail
- Ian Ridpath, astronomy author and occasional UFOlogist
- Robert Rankin, author of the The Brentford Trilogy
- Janey Godley, stand up comedian and abuse victim
- Lisa Burke, Sky News weather forecaster and science reporter
- Princess Amelia second daughter of George II, lived in Gunnersbury Park.
- Richard O'Sullivan, actor
[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.
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.
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[7])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 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).
[edit] Interests of inhabitants
The launching of Google Trends in 2006 drew world attention to Brentford because of Brentford's unexpected prominence as a source of internet searches for terms relating to pornography and many sexual fetishes. This unexpected prominence probably reflected the presence of an ISP routing centre near Brentford rather than the interests of the inhabitants of Brentford themselves.[8] However ... the Brentford football team appears to have generated a political party as a side effect, the A BEE C. Their political position on pornography on the Internet is not recorded.
[edit] Companies in Brentford
- Allianz Cornhill Animal Health
- Audi are currently building their European headquarters in Brentford on the site of the old Lucozade building.
- Brompton Bicycle (Headquarters), manufacturer of folding bicycles
- Carillion
- Datapoint (Headquarters)
- GlaxoSmithKline (Headquarters)
- E.M.Tool Designs (Ltd) (Headquarters)
- Heidelberg Graphic Equipment Ltd. (subsidiary of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG)[9]
- Kraft Foods International (European Union)
- MapMechanics - GIS Firm[10]
- Quilliam Property Services
- Sega
- Tie Rack Corporate Neckwear
- Waterstone's Booksellers Ltd (A division of HMV Group plc)
- WorleyParsons (London offices)
[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
- Northfields tube station
- Boston Manor tube station
- South Ealing tube station
- Gunnersbury tube station
[edit] Nearest railway stations
[edit] References and sources
- ^ The Thomas Layton Collection, Inscription on the Brentford Monument
- ^ '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
- ^ Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911 Edition
- ^ Brentford, The Environs of London: volume 2: County of Middlesex (1795), pp. 39-58 accessed: 30 May 2007
- ^ Brentford, The Environs of London: volume 2: County of Middlesex (1795), pp. 39-58. . Date accessed: 18 August 2007.
- ^ Defra:Foods and reservoir safety integration Vol 2: Appendix D pg 34. Accessed 2007-08-21
- ^ "[http://brentford.inuk.com/bd.htm HISTORY OF THE DOCKS BRENTFORD]". Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
- ^ Andrew Urquhart's Miscellany : WebTech : Archive : Flawed BBC Reporting On ‘Google Trends’
- ^ Heidelberg - Heidelberg UK
- ^ MapMechanics - Vehicle Routing & Scheduling - GIS Mapping Data - Territory & Field Force Planning
- The Archive Photographs Series, Brentford; Tempus Publishing Ltd., 1998, ISBN 0-7524-0627-2
- Brentford as it was; Hendon Publishing Co. Ltd., Second impression May 1993, ISBN 0-86067-082-1
- Brentford Past; Historical Publications Ltd., ISBN 0-948667-79-6
- Old Ordnance Survey Maps, Brentford 1894, The Godfrey Edition; Alan Godfrey Maps, ISBN 0-85054-509-9
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Brentford Football Club
- Bees United The Supporters Trust that owns Brentford FC
- Syon Park/Syon House/Duke of Northumberland
- Boston Manor Park
- Brentford's local website
- Brentford Dock residents' website
- Brentford, Chiswick & Isleworth Times online
- Kew Bridge Steam Museum
- The Musical Museum
- Gunnersbury Park Museum
- Museum of London page on the Brentford horn-cap showing the 'Brentford Knot' pattern
- Thomas Layton & his Collection
- GlaxoSmithKline's Global Headquarters at Brentford
- The Gillette Building, Brentford
- Fairly comprehensive amateur local history website on Brentford
- Brentford High Street project: people and properties 1840 - 1940
- Brentford Free Church
- Soul in Brentford
- The Brentford Biopsy
- The Brentford Pages - modelling the GWR Brentford Branch
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