Brentford has lots on offer, including many West London secrets… travel from the Middle Ages to the heart of industrial Victorian London, and on to 1925 and Art Deco heaven!
Walk the neighbourhood around St Lawrence’s 15th century tower. The building started life as a hospital and chapel in the 12th century. Virtually derelict since the 1960s, it has now been refurbished but is waiting for a new purpose.
Nearby is the recently-refurbished Boston Manor House – a fine Jacobean manor house from 1623 situated in its own park with a lake and ancient cedar trees. Interior rooms tell the story of the house through the ages.
More local history is available from passionate locals (Brentford Then and Now/Brentford through the Ages). On your way from Brentford Station, you can visit the Butts Conservation Area, with beautifully proportioned wide streets of 18th century houses and its name hinting at an earlier history when Henry VIII commandeered land north of the High Street for archery practice.
There is also the opportunity to a unique Art Deco building at the JCDecaux UK– Tour & Presentation, which includes how Foster + Partners worked on the building’s restoration and adaption. If that whets your appetite, there is also a walk with a local historian, where you can hear aboutother listed pieces of inter-war architecture (including some notorious losses) on Brentford & Great West Road Centenary walking tour.
From Kew Bridge to Boston Manor House is a 30-minute walk.
