55-688: London Museum of Water & Steam is an independent museum founded in 1975 as the Kew Bridge Steam Museum . It was rebranded in early 2014 following a major investment project. Situated on the site of the old Kew Bridge Pumping Station in Brentford , near Kew Bridge on the River Thames in West London , England , the museum is centred on a collection of stationary water pumping steam engines dating from 1820 to 1910. It
110-563: A Wurlitzer organ . The Butts Estate, a Georgian square and associated conservation area, contains several Grade II listed buildings some dating back to 1680. In the Butts is located St Mary's Convent, a grade II listed building from the late 18th century, now a convent and residential care home, Maryville Care Home. Griffin Park is the former home of Brentford F.C. and Chelsea Football Club Reserves, plus (from 2002 until 23 September 2005 it
165-521: A Grade I listed building. The tower is rarely open to the Public. The museum has been a filming location for episodes of TV serials including EastEnders , The Bill , Doctor Who (" Remembrance of the Daleks ") and Industrial Age . As well as many music videos and feature films, including Jude Law 's The Wisdom of Crocodiles , it was also used as the location for the 1991-1995 title sequence of
220-444: A battle with Cassivellaunus close by. Cæsar describes the place as fortified with sharp stakes. The discovery of sharp stakes in the river-side at Brentford Dock in the early 20th century was taken by Montagu Sharpe as evidence of a fortified crossing-site, and Caesar's battle. The stakes were removed as a hazard to river-traffic, and Sharpe's claims are not supported by further excavations. Historically part of Middlesex , in
275-571: A century but the graveyard still holds the Ronalds vault where Hugh Ronalds and numerous members of his family are buried. A war memorial stood outside the church until 2009, when it was moved to Brentford Library. St John the Evangelist Church , opened in 1866, was built for Irish railway construction workers, by an architect named Jackman. An unconsecrated chapel was built from subscriptions raised from 57 prominent inhabitants on
330-577: A ceremonial chariot fitting that formed part of local antiquarian Thomas Layton's collection, now held by the Museum of London . The Celtic knot pattern (the 'Brentford Knot') on this item has been copied for use on modern jewellery. An amateur local history and an inscription outside the County Court claim that Julius Cæsar crossed the Thames here during his invasion of Britain in 54 BC, and fought
385-659: A long-standing rivalry with near neighbours, Fulham . The Stadium was also used by the former Premiership Rugby side London Irish . Nearest London Underground stations: Nearest railway stations: The phrase 'like two kings of Brentford' refers to former enemies who are now good friends. It appears in: Brentford's industrial status and the Great West Road are notable facets of Aldous Huxley 's 1932 novel Brave New World . Set in London in AD 2540 (632 A.F.—"After Ford "),
440-598: A majority in both wards. Syon House , the Greater London residence of the Duke of Northumberland , is a large mansion and park in Syon ward, described above, that has long been shared with Isleworth . Some of its seasonally marshy land is now a public nature reserve . The estate has a hotel (Hilton London Syon Park), visitor centre and garden centre. Syon Abbey , demolished and replaced (with reworked gatehouses) by
495-601: 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 originally stood at the end of Ferry Lane; after being covered in coal unloaded from boats, it was moved further up the lane in 1955. In 1992 it was moved again to its present site at the junction of Brentford High Street and Alexandra Road, outside the County Court. The monument commemorates four major events in Brentford's history:
550-401: A number of independent artists and creatives. The museum's most striking feature is its 200 ft high Victorian standpipe tower. This is not a chimney stack; it houses two systems of vertical pipes through which water was pumped before it entered the mains water supply. The brick tower, of Italianate design, was constructed in 1867 to replace an earlier open metal lattice structure. It is
605-597: A reminder of the many pumping stations spread throughout London and the UK . In 1999, the United Kingdom government Department for Culture, Media and Sport described Kew Bridge as "the most important historic site of the water supply industry in Britain ". The Kew Bridge Engine Trust and Water Supply Museum Limited, a registered charity, has three aims: In 1997 the museum was awarded an Engineering Heritage Award by
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#1732793673072660-615: A wharf on the River Thames to the furnaces of the regional water supply's pumping stations on the Hanworth/Hampton border. At its peak it carried 760 tons of coal a week. In 1945 the line closed, the trackbed becoming a road for maintenance workers. In May 2003, the Metropolitan Water Board Railway Society was formed with the intention of re-opening the railway as a 2 ft ( 610 mm ) gauge passenger-carrying line between Hampton and
715-488: Is "Darent", built in 1903 (formerly of Provan Gas Works, Glasgow). Two diesel locomotives have added from a mine in Indonesia; they are in working order, but subject to some further restoration, so all trains are currently steam-hauled. The site has the sole Ransomes & Rapier crane nationally in working order. . Initially the project was loaned a suitable steam engine by London Museum of Water & Steam - enabling
770-518: Is a 2 ft ( 610 mm ) gauge narrow gauge steam railway that opened in 2013, giving rides to paying visitors on a restored steam locomotive, with two back-up diesel locomotives. It is based on the site of an industrial railway that served Kempton Waterworks. The original 2 ft ( 610 mm ) gauge railway, known as the Metropolitan Water Board Railway , was built between 1914 and 1916 to carry coal from
825-523: Is a Jacobean manor house , noted for its fine plasterwork ceilings. Syon Park House ( demolished in 1953 , and not to be confused with Syon House itself) housed the 'Syon Park Academy' where the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was educated between the ages of 10 and 12 before moving on to Eton . A Royal Mail depot stands on the site now. This may also be the site of the dwelling where Pocahontas lived in Brentford End between 1616 and 1617. In 1909
880-501: Is also on public display and frequently run. A complete list of the pumping engines at the museum is as follows: The museum also operates an 1860 Shand Mason Fire Engine on selected event days. The museum runs a 2 ft ( 610 mm ) narrow-gauge railway which in 2009 saw the introduction of a new-build Wren Class steam locomotive, named for the engineer Thomas Wicksteed . The railway had previously been operated by visiting loan locomotives. The line runs for 400 yards around
935-489: Is clearly visible. The architect was H. Francis and James Montgomrey was a principal subscriber and chairman of the building committee. In 1959 and 1961 the parishes of the nearby churches of Saint George and Saint Lawrence were amalgamated with Saint Paul. Inside the church is a painting by local artist Johann Zoffany called Christ's Last Supper . It was originally intended to be installed in St Anne's Church, Kew , but
990-555: Is contiguous with the Osterley neighbourhood of Isleworth and Syon Park and the Great West Road which has most of the largest business premises. The name is recorded as Breguntford in 705 in an Anglo-Saxon charter and means 'ford over the River Brent '. The name of the river derives from * brigant- , a Brythonic word, meaning "high" or "elevated" (possibly in a holy sense). The river may also have been associated with
1045-705: Is in Gunnersbury House, narrowly in Gunnersbury (the north-west of Chiswick) containing artefacts and former furnishings of the Rothschild family , who were culturally and financially pre-eminent across France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and North America. Kew Gardens is visible from the scattering of high rise buildings towering over the town and some of the mid rise ones. The Weir public house, formerly 'The White Horse',
1100-624: Is now operated as the Kempton Steam Railway , comprising the only other site in London where rides can be taken on steam trains of such a large size; it has benefitted from some very generous assistance, in its restoration, from the London Museum of Water & Steam. The museum site contains a number of Grade I and Grade II listed buildings. The original engine house, home of the Bull , Boulton & Watt and Maudslay engines,
1155-699: Is the home of the world's largest collection of working Cornish engines , including the Grand Junction 90 inch, the largest such working engine in the world. The site is an anchor point on the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH). The museum reopened on 22 March 2014. Kew Bridge Pumping Station was originally opened in 1838 by the Grand Junction Waterworks Company , following a decision to close an earlier pumping station at Chelsea due to poor water quality. In
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#17327936730721210-787: The BBC music show Top of the Pops . After relaunching in 2014, the museum became a filming location for the fourth episode of the TV series PREMature . Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London , England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow . It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames , 8 miles (13 km) west of Charing Cross . Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings which mark
1265-576: The Municipal Borough of Heston and Isleworth and Feltham Urban District of Middlesex . In Brentford, those who ethnically identify as BAME (Black, Asian and minority Ethnic) was 33.9% in the Brentford ward and 34.2% in the Syon ward at the 2011 UK census. The median age of the population was 32 years in Brentford ward and 34 years in Syon ward. Both wards have about equal proportions of household types, with flats/maisonettes/apartments forming
1320-414: The 15th century, and the remainder of the church was rebuilt in 1764 from brick. There were a number of interesting monuments in the church, including one dedicated to a Maurice de Berkeley, dating from 1189, who was buried in the original church. The church was closed in 1961 and the monuments removed, and the parish was united with Saint Paul's. The church has now been in a derelict state for more than half
1375-536: The American Society of Mechanical Engineers ( ASME ) and Britain's Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). A second IMechE Engineering Hallmark was awarded in 2008 for the restoration of the Bull engine, making the museum one of only 12 sites to achieve more than one of these awards. The museum houses the world's largest collection of Cornish cycle beam engines, including the largest working beam engine,
1430-401: The Grand Junction 90 inch, which has a cylinder diameter of 90 inches and was used to pump water to London for 98 years. This machine is over 40 feet high and weighs about 250 tons. It was described by Charles Dickens as "a monster". The museum also has several other working Cornish cycle beam engines, and other working steam engines , as well as a three-cylinder Allen diesel engine which
1485-622: The Grand Junction Canal. This waterway is still in use for leisure traffic as part of the Grand Union Canal . Brentford Public Library is a Carnegie library , built by the architect Nowell Parr and opened in 1904. Outside the library is the Brentford War Memorial, accompanied by three smaller war memorials. There is also Jim Pooley 's bench honouring Robert Rankin 's writing connection with
1540-535: The Kempton Great Engine House. The chief executive of Thames Water attended the opening of the railway in 2013 (and hereditary building and civil engineering magnate Sir William McAlpine ). The locomotive, with driver, hauls passengers in covered carriages. Each has four seats abreast and proper housing and ramp for a wheelchair. The first section of track is a loop, which operates on selected non-winter weekends. The steam locomotive being used
1595-603: The Kempton Railway to open on schedule in May 2013. The London Museum of Water & Steam also has a 400-yard section of alike track, open weekends. These form the two places in London for mid-size steam trains. At full size, seasonal trips such as the Cathedral Express operate on regular lines and "heritage" steam-engine lines, giving some mothballed lines a revival outside of London. The planned second phase of
1650-567: The Kew Bridge site, and passenger trains are operated at weekends and on other special event days. Although not an original feature of the waterworks at Kew Bridge, the railway was inspired by similar facilities provided at major waterworks in the UK, notably the Metropolitan Water Board Railway that originally ran between Hampton and the Kempton Park waterworks. A small part of that railway
1705-514: The ancient boundary between the parishes of Ealing and Hanwell . It was divided between the chapelry of Old Brentford to the east in Ealing and the chapelry of New Brentford in Hanwell to the west. Of the two areas, Old Brentford was significantly larger. New Brentford was first described as the county town of Middlesex in 1789, on the basis that it was the location of elections of knights for
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1760-402: The borough. Brentford Baths (1896), also by the architect Nowell Parr , is a Grade II listed example of late Victorian architecture . The London Museum of Water & Steam houses the world's largest working beam engine , and its narrow cuboid tower is an emblem of the town. The Musical Museum houses a large collection of mechanical musical instruments, such as player pianos and
1815-579: The confluence of the River Thames and River Brent – part of the land was James Montgomrey 's Montgomrey's Wharf. A spur line from the GWR at Southall was constructed to the Brentford Dock railway station to facilitate easy transferral of freight from lighters and barges on the Thames to GWR-served destinations in the west of the country. The dock was redeveloped as residential accommodation from
1870-489: The early 1970s, and little industrial archaeology remains. However, Dock Road still retains some of its original fan pattern cobblestone road bed and examples of Brunel's broad-gauge 'bridge section' rail can be seen there. The Brentford Dock flats (originally named the Tiber Estate ) were built alongside formerly important transport infrastructure as Brentford is the terminus of the Grand Union Canal , originally
1925-420: The founding of nearby London . Many pre-Roman artefacts have been excavated in and around the area in Brentford known as 'Old England'. Bronze Age pottery and burnt flints have been found at separate sites in Brentford. The quality and quantity of the artefacts suggests that Brentford was a meeting point for pre-Romanic tribes. One well known Iron Age piece from about 100 BC – AD 50 is the Brentford horn-cap –
1980-468: The goddess Brigantia . The suffix '-ford' is Old English . The ford was most likely located where the main road crossed the river. New Brentford is recorded as Newe Braynford in 1521 and was previously known as Westbraynford . Old Brentford is recorded as Old Braynford in 1476 and was previously known as Estbraynford . The settlement pre-dates the Roman occupation of Britain , and thus pre-dates
2035-399: The influential dystopia anticipates changes in reproductive technology , sleep-learning, psychological manipulation , and classical conditioning that combine to change society profoundly. The BBC Three sitcom People Just Do Nothing is set in and around Brentford. The Brentford Trilogy , a (ten-book) series of "far-fetched fiction" novels by Robert Rankin , humorously chronicle
2090-415: The lives of a couple of drunken middle-aged layabouts, Jim Pooley and John Omally, who confront the forces of darkness in the environs of western Greater London, usually with the assistance of large quantities of beer from their favourite public house, The Flying Swan. Several of Rankin's other books are also set in or reference Brentford. Kempton Steam Railway The Hampton Kempton Waterworks Railway
2145-585: The local people objected, and therefore in 1887 it was installed in Saint George's Church instead. When that church was closed in 1959, the painting was transferred to its present location in Saint Paul'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
2200-485: The master mason for the Adam Brothers during the construction of Syon House . Hardwick Junior assisted in the building of Somerset House and was known for his designs of churches in the capital. He was also a tutor of J. M. W. Turner and he helped start Turner's illustrious career in art. Both father and son did a great deal of remodelling and rebuilding on the church of St Laurence. Brentford developed around
2255-637: The newer mansion, had the largest abbey church in England in the Middle Ages . The location of Syon Abbey in the park was unknown until archeological investigations in the grounds in 2003 (for the television series Time Team ) and 2004 revealed the foundations of the abbey church. It was larger than Westminster Abbey is now, but no above-ground structure remains. There were complex reasons for its destruction. The London Butterfly House in Syon Park
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2310-671: The railway involves the construction of a further three miles of track, leading from the existing loop towards the Upper Sunbury Road, Hampton. This track will pass a reservoir. The restored track would run across land owned by Thames Water . On Monday 19 March 2018, the lease to extend the railway was signed at a ceremony attended by the CEO of Thames Water Steve Robertson, the Deputy Mayor Hounslow, Mayor of Spelthorne, Deputy Mayor of Richmond upon Thames and members of
2365-556: The resident steam pumping engines and set them aside to form the basis of a museum display at a later date. This action bore fruit in 1974 with the formation of the Kew Bridge Engines Trust, a registered charity , by a group of volunteers previously involved in the restoration of the Crofton Pumping Station . Today the site is an internationally recognised museum of working steam pumping engines,
2420-500: The shire (or Members of Parliament (MPs)) from 1701. In 1795 New Brentford (as it was then) was "considered as the county-town; but there is no town-hall or other public building" causing confusion that remains to this day (see county town of Middlesex ). The borough of Hounslow was formed in 1965, under the London Government Act 1963 , by the merger of the areas of the Municipal Borough of Brentford and Chiswick ,
2475-620: 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 . The painting of the Last Supper by Zoffany was transferred to the new church. It was closed in 1959 and used as the home for the Musical Museum from 1963 until the Museum moved to new premises. It is now (2017) being converted into flats. Gunnersbury Park Museum
2530-499: The south-eastern corner of Elthorne Hundred , it has formed part of Greater London since 1965. In November 1642 a Royalist army advancing on London overcame a much smaller Parliamentarian force in battle at Brentford. The town was ransacked in the immediate aftermath of the engagement. A local town fair, the Brentford Festival, has been held in Brentford every September since 1900. The building of Brentford Dock
2585-644: The start of the M4 corridor ; in transport it also has two railway stations and Boston Manor Underground station on its north-west border with Hanwell . Brentford has a convenience shopping and dining venue grid of streets at its centre. Brentford at the start of the 21st century attracted regeneration of its little-used warehouse premises and docks including the re-modelling of the waterfront to provide more economically active shops, townhouses and apartments, some of which comprises Brentford Dock . A 19th and 20th centuries mixed social and private housing locality: New Brentford
2640-428: The supposed crossing of the Thames by Julius Caesar in 54 BC; the council of Brentford by King Offa of Mercia in 781; the defeat of King Canute by King Edmund Ironside at the first Battle of Brentford in 1016; and the second Battle of Brentford in 1642. Built in 1868 from Kentish ragstone , Saint Paul's Church is one of Brentford's two current Anglican parish churches , and a distinct landmark. Its spire
2695-494: The years up to 1944 the site expanded, ultimately housing six steam pumping engines as well as four Allen diesel pumps and four electric pump sets. The steam engines were retired from service in 1944, although two were kept on standby until 1958, when a demonstration run of the Harvey & Co. 100 inch engine marked the final time steam power would pump drinking water at the site. The Metropolitan Water Board decided not to scrap
2750-595: Was an insectarium like a large glasshouse containing a butterfly zoo . Visitors could see butterflies and moths flying about, feeding, and emerging from chrysalises . There was also a colony of large ants (kept with the butterflies), a small tropical bird aviary, and a small gallery of reptiles, amphibians, insects and spiders. The lease on the current site expired in October 2007 and the Butterfly House closed on 28 October. Boston Manor House , built in 1622,
2805-516: Was built in 1837 and is Grade I listed, as is the Great Engine House, housing the 90 inch and 100 inch engines, which was constructed in two parts in 1845 and 1869. The Boiler House, which now houses the rotative steam engines , was built in 1837, and along with the ancillary buildings and Gatehouse and Boundary Wall, is Grade II listed. The ancillary buildings, which include a fully working forge and belt driven workshop, are used by
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#17327936730722860-402: Was described by the poet John Betjeman : St Faith's displays all the splendour of Bodley in its simplicity and strength. It rises like a great ship over the housetops and inside the view from the west end leads you naturally to the altar and up to the roof. There has been a church on the site of Brentford's former parish church of Saint Lawrence since the 12th century, but the tower dates from
2915-458: Was started in 1855 and it was formally opened in 1859. The dock yard is now a Marina and housing estate . A notable family from Brentford was the 18th-/19th-century architectural father and son partnership, the Hardwicks. 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. Hardwick Senior was
2970-663: Was the home of the London Broncos rugby league club – subsequently they were renamed Harlequins RL and transferred to The Stoop ). Brentford F.C. are a professional English football club based in Brentford. They currently play in the Premier League . It was founded in 1889 by members of the defunct Brentford Rowing Club and play their home games at the Gtech Community Stadium , having played at Griffin Park between 1904 and 2020. The club has
3025-529: Was where the artist J. M. W. Turner lived for one year at the age of ten. He is regarded as having started his interest in painting while living there. Later he lived in Isleworth and Twickenham . Brentford Dock came to single use and engineered enlargement as a freight terminus of the Great Western Railway . It was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and built between 1855 and 1859 at
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