New Brentford

“NEW BRENTFORD, a parish in the borough of Brentford, hundred of Elthorne , county Middlesex. [Not named on some 2003 maps - at Boston Manor.] It is part of Brentford, a market town , comprising the parish of New Brentford (also called West or Great Brentford), and the parish of Old Brentford (also called East Brentford), in the county of Middlesex, 7 miles to the W. of Hyde Park Corner. Old Brentford became a parish in 1828, being formerly in the parish of Ealing, and hundred of Ossulstone.

Brentford is a station on a loop line of the London and Southampton railway, and is connected with the Great Western railway by a branch line 4 miles long from Southall. The town is situated on the northern bank of the river Thames, which is here crossed by a handsome stone bridge of seven arches, erected in 1789, and connecting Brentford with Kew. The two parts of the town are separated by the main road to Hanwell and the small river Brent, which, after being joined by the Grand Junction canal near Hanwell, falls into the Thames at this place. Brentford, formerly called Braynford, is an ancient town, and takes its name from, the river and a very ancient ford across it, where now the bridge stands. The present bridge, a neat stone structure, was built about 1824, on the site of one which had existed here from a very early period, for the maintenance of which a toll was granted by Edward I. A battle was fought at Brentford in the year 1016, in which the Danes, having been compelled to retire from London, were defeated with great loss by Edmund Ironside. Another battle took place here during the civil war of the 17th century, in which the royalist forces, led by Ruthen, Earl of Forth, defeated the forces of the parliament, led by Colonel Hollis. Ruthen was afterwards created Earl of Brentford for his services on this occasion. In 1445 a chapter of the order of the Garter was held at Brentford. About the same time a friary, or hospital, for a master and several brethren, was founded in a chapel at Old Brentford, by John Somerset, chancellor of the exchequer and the king's chaplain, the site of which was given at the Dissolution to Edward, Duke of Somerset. Six Protestant martyrs suffered death at the stake here in 1558. The town consists chiefly of one street, narrow, irregularly built, and about a mile in length. Its situation on the great western road, the Grand Junction canal, and the railways, has made Brentford an important thoroughfare, and the seat of a good trade. Here are several extensive manufactories and works, including a soap-factory, saw-mills, an ale brewery, gas and water works; but the extensive distillery formerly situated here has recently been removed to Hammersmith. The water-works now belong to the Grand Junction Company, which has a chimney 150 feet in height, and a stand-pipe above 200 feet high. The market-gardens of the neighbourhood give employment to many of the workpeople.