History
History of Brentford Dock Estate
History of Brentford Dock Estate
Official Opening
For the official opening of Brentford Dock Marina on 7 August 1980 Sir Horace Cutler, head of what was then the GLC (Greater London Council), sailed up river from County Hall on the Princess Freda.
The first photograph shows him cutting the blue ribbon draped across the lock gates. The second photograph shows him coming up the gangplank beneath the Marina clubhouse with Commodore W. E. Warwick, the first master of the QE2, and Barney Hayhoe, then MP for Brentford.
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Copy and photographs by Ian Ridpath, 48 Otho Court.
Further information to be provided
It is said that it is where the Brent joined the Thames that the armies of Julius Caesar and other invaders crossed the Thames.
The Grand Union Canal was constructed in the 18th century and the River Brent was finally converted into part of the British canal network in 1805.
Brentford Dock began construction in 1855 to a plan by Brunel as a freight link between river-borne traffic and the Great Western Railway's (GWR) rail network to the West Country and other parts of the United Kingdom. It was opened in 1859. It is interesting to note also that whilst under construction, stone, bronze and iron weapons along with roman coins were discovered in the dock basin, giving an indication as to how long there had been settlements in the area.
The finished site consisted of a large railway marshalling yard with various warehouses, workshops and goods sheds at the end of a special GWR passenger and freight 'Brentford Spur Line'. The original tracks were laid down to the wide 7ft gauge with parallel sleepers favoured by Brunel, although these were later replaced by the now standard 4ft 8in gauge used on modern railways today. The GWR passenger station was located westwards just off the main site on a raised embankment on the north side of Brentford high street.
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Maps of Brentford Dock's busiest period over the next 45 years reveals expansion of all the warehouses and goods sheds, refurbishment of tracks and construction of new sidings on the northern and southern part of the site, along with the addition of a sequence of mobile cranes to facilitate unloading of boats moored on the Thames. Click picture to enlarge in separate window |
Brentford Dock, 1894
In the 1950s and early 1960s, with the construction of the national motorway system and increased road traffic, much less use was made of the Thames and Grand Union Canal for transporting goods. Brentford Dock gradually slipped into disuse and disrepair and was finally closed in 1964.
Brentford Dock in 1966 showing the dock basin and some of the warehouses.
After lying derelict for 8 years, in 1972 construction work began on the site for an ambitious new housing estate. It was to comprise of 590 modern units designed to have as little impact as possible on their natural surroundings; building heights would be within the heights of the existing trees, they would be brick-built and where possible existing features such as the docks would be refurbished and become an integral part of the scheme. Interesting building shapes and well-planned gardens would create a pleasant environment to live in. Construction work on the project was completed six years later in 1978. The Brentford Dock that we see today was born.
Old Brentford Dock
The site at the High Street end of Dock Road bridge, vacated by Pharos Marine, used to be called Montgomery Wharf, as it was once a timber yard owned by the Montgomery family.
It became the Motor Repair Workshops of the Gas Light and Coke Company (which became North Thames Gas Board in 1949). All the Gas Board's vehicles and plant were overhauled and repaired there. The workshops employed blacksmiths, carpenters, electricians, engine fitters, mechanical fitters, painters and wheelwrights.
Frank Jiggins, who was a motor mechanic there from 1952 to 1970, took these pictures in the early 1960s when Brentford Dock was still a dockyard and later when it was being demolished.
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Brentford Dock from Kew Gardens. The horizontal white structure is the roof of the goods shed. This can also be seen in the picture of the weir below.
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Looking from Montgomery Wharf towards where Numa Court is today. The barge is alongside E.C. Jones' boatyard.
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The lock gates. The dock retaining wall to the left of the large building collapsed soon after the cranes that were above it had been removed. Rumour had it that the arches were dynamited for reasons unknown (many people heard loud bangs at the weekend).
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The wier and Dock Road bridge. The roof of the goods shed is visible above the bridge.
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Looking from Brentford Creek towards Kew Gardens and where Julius Court now stands.
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Looking towards Kew Bridge from where Julius Court now stands.
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By 1966 Augustus Close was a disused railway line. The sign was where Servius Court is today.
History of Brentford and the Surrounding Area
Brentford is often referred to as the former county town of Middlesex, mainly because throughout most of the 18th and 19th centuries county elections were held and declared here, at The Butts.
In fact, Brentford did not become a town in its own right until the 1870s, when New and Old Brentford were finally joined together, first under a local board of health and later, under Brentford Urban District Council.
The town is one of considerable antiquity; many Elizabethan and Jacobean houses survived well into the 19th century, when they were surrounded by the transport and industrial infrastructure of a new prosperity. Its antiquity is highlighted at the foot of Ferry Lane, where with splendid civic pride the Brentford council of 1909 erected a monument, commemorating four of the town's historic events:
- the council of the church held by Offa, King of Mercia, in 780-1;
- the defeat of Cnut and his Danish army, driven across the Thames by King Edmund Ironside in 1016;
- the Battle of Brentford in the Civil War; and
- the defence of a fortified ford by Cassivellaunus and his British tribesmen against Julius Caesar in 54 BC.
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This stone pillar now stands outside the County Court in the High Street. There is no firm evidence that Julius Caesar actually crossed here, though the existence of Roman settlements and an early ford makes it perfectly likely.
Monument to Battle of Brentford 1723. There were also Battles of Brentford in 1016 and 1462. Click the picture to enlarge it. |
Brentford retains two splendid monuments from the 17th century, reflections of earlier prestige.
Boston Manor was built in 1622 for Lady Mary Reade, extended in 1670 after being bought by an East India merchant, James Clitherow. A stately brick building, its finest rooms are on the first floor, with an especially remarkable plaster ceiling c.1623 in the great chamber. The house was bought by the council in 1924, and its grounds, leading down to the Brent, became a public park. However the Great West Road separated them from the town proper.
In the heart of Brentford, and deserving to be better known, are The Butts, a street and square of red brick houses developed from the 1680s, probably by William Parish, landlord of the Red Lion Inn. The result is one of the most attractive settings in west London. The houses bear comparison, in their more modest way, with their contemporaries around Salisbury cathedral close, and their leafy gardens provide some echo of the 'seat of paradise' the area was once considered to be. The square was once a market place, and parliamentary elections were declared here from 1701, including those contested by John Wilkes in the 1760s. Today some of its former grandeur is being restored thanks to funds made available by the EU.
The Butts date from Brentford's grandest years, when shops as fine as any in London lined the High Street. Three large coaching inns - the Harrow, the Red Lion and the Three Pigeons - emphasised the town's strategic position on the road westward from London, and fine houses were built on the other side of The Half Acre from The Butts. But as the traffic increased, the High Street became less attractive.
Industry began to arrive in the latter half of the 18th century. The first industries tended to rely on Brentford's corn market, with numerous malthouses, normally attached to inns, as well as breweries and distilleries. Several of the former still survived into the 1890s, and at least three breweries were still active, including one in Boston Manor Road and another in Catherine Wheel Yard. This particular industry went into decline locally as Fuller, Smith & Turner bought the independent breweries and sold off the premises. Only the Royal brewery survived beyond the turn of the century.
Tanning was another traditional industry shown on the map, while the presence of so many market gardens led naturally to jam-making.
Soap-making, too, was long established locally, with a factory dating from 1764 or before, By the early 19th century Brentford was the major manufacturing centre for hard soap in the region, and the Thames Soap Works grew throughout much of the century, until they were acquired by Lever Bros in 1916.
The town's largest industry, its celebrated gas works (removed in 19??) was off the map to the east, but its mention serves to remind us of the amazing variety of smells that must have hung in the air. The gas works were (removed in 19??) .
It was, of course, the town's position at the mouth of the river Brent that gave it importance, just as it had since Roman times. Wharves were being developed by the 17th century and probably before, and half a dozen are listed here, stretching along the river bank.
At the end of the 18th century produce from the local market gardens was being loaded for destinations as far afield as Hungerford, while timber, corn and coal were major imports. The latter was given added significance with the completion, in 1805, of the Grand Junction Canal, following the course of the Brent for part of its route, and making it possible to bring coal and manufactured goods from the Midlands.
Whether it brought affluence to Brentford is a moot point. Canal-boat children were a constant worry for local philanthropists and a school was established for them in the 1890s, initially in Isleworth but later in The Butts and, during the 1950s, in the old St Lawrence's school.
The railways effectively ended Brentford's days as a coaching town, but brought no golden age of their own. The loop line was opened in 1849, but has never given the town a more than mediocre service. Of greater interest, historically, was the Great Western & Brentford Railway's branch, opened in 1859, principally a freight line-passenger trains ran only from 1860 to 1915 and from 1920 to 1942. A site at Old England had been purchased from a timber merchant, James Montgomery (who also gave his name to one of the wharves), and here Brunel designed a covered dock where goods could be trans-shipped between railway and river, so providing a link between the GWR and the Port of London. This survived until 1964.
The area once covered by railway sidings has now become the Brentford Dock Development. Brentford End, the area west of the Brent and part of Isleworth parish, calls for little comment except to remark on the nurseries and market gardens that dominated the scene; this was the traditional industry of the area, which was especially famous for its strawberries. Private schools were also a feature of Isleworth - the young Shelley studied for a while at Syon Park House.
Within a few years Brentford High Street had been widened, to make way for the trams, some of the older houses and old inns had begun to disappear, though parts of Troy Town survived until the 1950s. The Great West Road, about 150 yards north of the Loop Line and running broadly parallel with it, brought modern industries to the area in the 1920s. However, the character of Brentford survived, with its small, back-street industries, its wharves and boat-building yards. Too many waterside areas have been sanitised today, not least in nearby Isleworth, but that has not happened here. For the historian with open eyes, the waterfront at Brentford, with its echoes of the past, is well worth the exploration.
Sources: History of Brentford and surrounding area - (extract) Alan Godfrey.
Principal sources & further reading:
Andrea Cameron: Brentford As It Was (Hendon Publishing, 1983)
Victoria County History of Middlesex, Vols lll (Isleworth) and Vll (Brentford), 7962 and 7982.
Combine history with exercise! Two Brentford walks by Diana Willment of Numa Court have been updated and republished.
Walk A: The River Thames and Old Brentford
Walk B: The Grand Junction Canal and New Brentford
Available @ £1 each from:
- SPL Marine Chandlery (Thames Locks, Dock Road)
- Kew Bridge Steam Museum
- Leisure Shop in Treaty Centre, Hounslow High Street
- Local Libraries
- Local History Societies
Copyright © 2001 - 2008 Neil O'Dwyer. All rights reserved.
