Brentford

Lore & Background

The name is recorded as Breguntford in 705 in an Anglo-Saxon charter and means ford over the River Brent. The river name derives from * brigant-, a Brythonic word meaning 'high' or 'elevated'. The settlement pre-dates the Roman occupation of Britain. Many pre-Roman artefacts have been excavated, including Bronze Age pottery and burnt flints. An Iron Age piece from about 100 BC – AD 50 is the Brentford horn-cap, now held by the Museum of London. An amateur local history and an inscription outside the County Court claim that Julius Cæsar crossed the Thames here in 54 BC, but this is not supported by further excavations. In November 1642 a Royalist army advancing on London overcame a much smaller Parliamentarian force in battle at Brentford; the town was ransacked. A local town fair, the Brentford Festival, has been held every September since 1900. The building of Brentford Dock started in 1855 and it was formally opened in 1859. A notable family from Brentford was the 18th-/19th-century architectural father and son partnership, the Hardwicks.

In Their Own Story

The turnstiles at Griffin Park used to rattle like old bones in November. You could hear the rain hitting the corrugated roof before you even saw the pitch, and the smell — wet wool, Bovril, the particular must of a West London Tuesday — would hit you at the halfway line. I remember being nine, dragged by my dad through the fog, his hand on my shoulder, the beaver on his scarf barely visible in the grey. We were in the Kop, or what passed for one, and the man two rows ahead of us had been coming since 1953. He didn't cheer. He *thrummed*. A low, continuous sound, like the stadium itself was breathing. And when we lost — and God knows we lost a lot in those years — he didn't leave. He just turned to the man beside him and said, quiet as a prayer, 'Same time next week.' That was Brentford. Not the roar. The return.

Reader's Guide

Brentford lies 8 miles (13 km) west of Charing Cross. It has two railway stations and Boston Manor Underground station on its northwest border. The Great West Road (opened 1925) runs through the area. Syon House, the Greater London residence of the Duke of Northumberland, is a large mansion and park in Syon ward. The Brentford Festival is held every September.

Did You Know?

• Brentford is recorded as Breguntford in a 705 Anglo-Saxon charter.
• The Brentford horn-cap, an Iron Age ceremonial chariot fitting, is held by the Museum of London.
• Brentford Dock was formally opened in 1859 and is now a marina and housing estate.
• Brentford Football Club was founded in 1889 by a rowing club seeking a winter sport.