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Brentford is a place in in the London Borough of Hounslow on the River Thames in west London.
Nearest places:
Nearest tube stations: Nearest railway stations: - Brentford railway station
- Kew Bridge railway station
- Syon Lane railway station
Brief history
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 (who didn't live in Brentford).
The settlement pre-dates the Roman occupation of Britain, and thus pre-dates the founding of London itself. Many pre-Roman artefacts have been excavated in and around the area in Brentford known as 'Old England'. 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.
It has been suggested that Brentford was also a main fording point on the River Thames, and was the point where Julius Caesar crossed the Thames during his invasion of Britain. It has been asserted, without strong evidence, that a documented battle fought at this time between Caesar's forces and Cassivellaunus took place at Brentford. There are, however, two other historically accredited battles of Brentford in 1016 and 1642
Timeline - 54 BC Brentford is a likely site of a battle recorded by Julius Caesar between Julius Caesar and local king, Cassivellaunus.
- 781 Council of Brentford recording settlement of a dispute between Offa, king 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
- 1642 'Battle of Brentford' during the English Civil War.
- 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)
- 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).
- 1925 30th May - 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.
- 1965 Opening of elevated section of M4 motorway
The main road to the South West of Britain passed through Brentford for many centuries, and even now, the M4 motorway passes approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the original main road through Brentford.
Places of interest Syon House, the London residence of the Duke of Northumberland.
Syon Abbey, now rased 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 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
Boston Manor House, built in 1622, is a Jacobean manor house, noted for its fine plasterwork ceilings.
The Wier, 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.
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.
Brentford Dock, a freight terminus of the Great Western Railway, built at the confluence of the River Thames and River Brent, designed by Brunel, and built between 1855 and 1859. A spur line from the GWR at Southall was constructed to the dock 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.
Brentford Dock was built alongside previous 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.
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
Brentford is home to a football club Brentford F.C.. The ground is named Griffin Park.
Sources - The Archive Photographs Series, Brentford; Tempus Publishing Ltd, 1998, ISBN 0752406272
- Brentford as it was; Hendon Publishing, 1983
- Old Ordnance Survey Maps, Brentford 1894, The Godfrey Edition; Alan Godfrey Maps, ISBN 0850545099
- Author's personal knowledge of area.
External links - Syon Park/Syon House/Duke of Northumberland (http://www.syonpark.co.uk)
- Boston Manor House (http://www.hounslow.info/bostonmanor)
- Local web site (http://www.brentford.org.uk)
- Kew Bridge Steam Museum (http://www.kbsm.org/)
- The Musical Museum (http://www.musicalmuseum.co.uk/)
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