Visit Brentford Places

Welcome to Visit Brentford Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Brentford

  

Brentford Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Brentford

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Brentford history

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Toponymy

The name was recorded as Breguntford in 705 in an Anglo-Saxon charter and means ‘ford over the River Brent’ The name is recorded as ‘Breguntf’ in a charter from 705 .

Early Brentford

Bronze Age pottery and burnt flints have been found in separate sites in Brentford . Brentford was a meeting point for pre-Romanic tribes . The settlement pre-dates the Roman occupation of Britain .

Local fair

Brentford Festival has been held in Brentford every September since 1900 . A local town fair, the Brentford festival, is held in the city every September every year . It is the first of its kind in the town of Brentford, London .

Brentford Dock

Brentford Dock was started in 1855 and formally opened in 1859 . The dock yard is now a Marina and housing estate . Brentford is now the site of Brentford Marina and a Marina .

The Hardwick family

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 . Both father and son did a great deal of remodelling and rebuilding on the church .

Timeline

54 BC Brentford is a likely site of a battle recorded by Julius Cæsar . The battle is likely to have taken place in 54 BC .

Brentford landmarks

The Syon estate

Syon House is the residence of the Duke of Northumberland . The estate has a hotel (Hilton London Syon Park), visitor centre and garden centre . Some of its marshy land is now a public nature reserve .

Brentford Monument

In 1909 a monument was made out of two stone pillars that used to support lamps on the old Brentford bridge over the Grand Union Canal . The monument commemorates four major events in Brentford’s history: the supposed crossing of the Thames by Julius Caesar in 54 BC .

Saint Paul’s Church

Built in 1868 from Kentish ragstone, Saint Paul’s Church is one of Brentford’s two current Anglican parish churches . The architect was H. Francis and James Montgomrey was principal subscriber and chairman of the building committee .

Saint Faith’s Church

Brentford’s other Anglican parish church, Saint Faith’s, is a comparatively recent building, dating from 1906 to 1907 . Designed in Gothic Revival style by G F Bodley and D G Hare, it was described by the poet John Betjeman: St Faith’s displays all the splendour of Bodley in its simplicity and strength .

Saint Lawrence’s Church

There has been a church on the site of Brentford’s former parish church of Saint Lawrence since the 12th century . The tower dates from the 15th century, but the remainder of the church was rebuilt in 1764 from brick . The church was closed in 1961 and the monuments were removed, and the parish was united with Saint Paul’s .

Saint John the Evangelist’s Church

The church, opened in 1866, was built for Irish railway construction workers . It was built by an architect named Jackman, named after Jackman .

Saint George’s Church

An unconsecrated chapel was built from subscriptions raised from 57 prominent inhabitants on the site in 1762; previously the parish was part of Ealing . The old chapel was demolished in 1886 and eventually replaced by the current building designed by A. W. Blomfield . It was closed in 1959 and used as the home for the Musical Museum from 1963 until the Museum moved to new premises .

On the periphery

Gunnersbury Park Museum contains artefacts and former furnishings of the Rothschild family . The Rothschild family were culturally and financially pre-eminent across France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and North America .

Others

Brentford Public Library is a Carnegie library built by the architect Nowell Parr and opened in 1904 . Outside the library is Brentford War Memorial, accompanied by three smaller war memorials .

Brentford geography / climate

Nearest places:

You can visit Brentford places with Walkfo Brentford to hear history at Brentford’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Brentford has 297 places to visit in our interactive Brentford map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Brentford, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Brentford places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Brentford & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 297 audio facts unique to Brentford places in an interactive Brentford map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Brentford Places Map
297 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Brentford historic spots	Brentford tourist destinations	Brentford plaques	Brentford geographic features
Walkfo Brentford tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Brentford

  

Best Brentford places to visit

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Brentford has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Brentford’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Brentford’s information audio spots:

St Mary’s Church, Acton, London St Mary’s Church is a Church of England parish church in Acton in the London Borough of Ealing . The present church was designed by Horace Francis and constructed 1865–1867 . The church was listed Grade II in 1981 .

Old Pack Horse The Old Pack Horse is a Grade II listed public house in Chiswick, London . It is located on the corner of the High Road and Acton Lane .

Chiswick Empire The Chiswick Empire opened in 1912 and closed and was demolished in 1959 . George Formby, Laurel and Hardy, Chico Marx, Peter Sellers and Liberace performed there .

Compass Box Compass Box Whisky was founded in 2000 by American entrepreneur John Glaser, a former marketing director at Johnnie Walker . Jill Boyd began blending whisky for Compass Box in 2017 and was joined by James Saxon in 2019 .

Ealing Common Ealing Common is a large open space (approx 47 acres) in Ealing, West London . It is the largest open space in the world, with an area of 47 acres .

Ealing Grove Ealing Grove was a mansion and estate in Ealing, Middlesex, west London . It was adjacent to the Ealing House estate, but distinct from it, and stood amongst trees .

Castlebar Hill Castlebar Hill is 167 feet (51 m) high . In the 18th century, it was the location of Castle Beare, a grand mansion or country seat .

City of Westminster Cemetery, Hanwell City of Westminster (Hanwell) Cemetery is a cemetery located in Hanwell, Ealing, west London . It is owned and managed by the City of London’s Parks Service .

Isleworth Cemetery Isleworth Cemetery is a cemetery in Isleworth, London Borough of Hounslow, in west London, England . It is located in the Isleworth area of west London .

Syon Park Syon Park is the garden of Syon House, the London home of the Duke of Northumberland . It was landscaped by Capability Brown in the 18th century . It is Grade I listed by English Heritage under the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953 for its special historic interest .

Visit Brentford plaques