During the later 19th century, industries in Brentford
were desperate for more workers and streets of Terrance
cottages were built south of the railway between 1870
and 1920. Although the labyrinth of slum tenements began
to be cleared away at the end of the 19th century, many
still remained as late as 1978 when the Victoria Country
History of Middlesex Volume VIII was researched it
describes the scene in Brentford as one of 'decaying
slums and empty sites, juxtaposed with the select Butts
and new municipal housing. Near Brentford Bridge little
weather boarded cottages awaited clearance.
When the estates Of Boston Manor and Gunnersbury
Park came into public ownership, some of the land was
released for development and in the 1920s new houses
were built, primarily for employees in the factories
along the Great West Rd. In the 1930s the Council put
up several new housing estates including the Clayponds
Estate and Syon Estate in Brentford End. Despite the
fact that the Great west rd had been opened in 1925 to
alleviate congestion problems in the High Street,
Middlesex County Council decided the High Street was
still too narrow and in 1928 prescribed 'a widening
line'. The Council then proceeded to acquire the
freehold of properties adjacent to the road, which it
rented out. Since the properties were due for demolition
the Council made no effort to keep them in good repair.
World War II intervened and, largely for financial
reasons, the widening was never completed. This was the
main cause of Brentford's long-term planning blight.
In 1967 the Middlesex Chronicle complained that 'With
more and more old shops and buildings being pulled down
to leave wastelands of rubble in the heart of the
town, Brentford High Street looks nothing more than a
reminder of a particularly successful bombing raid'.
After World War II Brentford's population began to
decline from 19,821 in 1931 to 18,160 in 1951. After
the closure of Brentford's large employers, the gasworks,
the waterworks and Brentford Dock- the population slumped
to 15,512 by 1971 Piecemeal demolition of derelict buildings
continued after the war and in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s
most of Brentford's High street from St Lawrence's church
to Half Acre was redeveloped with new shops with flats
above. A new road (Brent Way) was constructed between
Catherine Wheel Rd and the Ham, primarily to facilitate
access to the rear of the high Street shops. Many small
firms mainly involved in the repair of motor vehicles
set up their operations in Brent Way and the Ham. Brent
way is due to be demolished when the proposed new
development takes place.
Brentford's shops, once the envy of surrounding villages
like Chiswick, also progressively closed down and the
big multiple stores stayed away from Brentford. It was
hoped that a new supermarkets would go some way to
regenerating Brentford High street It was first
International Stores, then Gateway before becoming
Somerfield's in 1992.
The closing of Brentford Dock, the gasworks and the
waterworks released more land for housing. In 1968
Hounslow Council started building on the now vacant
site of the reservoirs belonging to the Metropolitan
Water Board. The six 22-storey tower blocks (Known
as Brentford Towers) house 1,584 people and each block
is named after a company or individual associated with
the waterworks. The development was completed in 1971.
More social housing was built north of the High Street
between Ealing Rd and the Brentford Towers Estate, an
area identified for housing redevelopment by Max Lock.
Eleven Victorian streets were razed to the ground and
work began on the Haverfield Estate in 1970. The first
occupants moved there in 1972. The Genesis Project was
launched in 1993 to help relieve poverty and unemployment
on the Brentford Towers and Haverfield Estate. Its head
quarters are in thee Mission Hall Mission Square.
The greater London Council began building on the former
Brentford Dock of the Great western Railway in 1972.
Five hundred and ninety one properties were built on
21 acres of old railway land around a marina. The
estate was intended to house GLC and local authority
tenants but a change of policy led to the majority
of the properties being sold to private buyers. The
first residents moved in 1978 and Horace Cutler,
then leader of the GLC, officially opened the estate
in August in 1980. It was called, initially the Tiber
Estate and each block of flats is named after a Roman
ruler- all this because Julius Caesar was supposed to
have crossed the Thames at the spot near where the
Brentford Dock estate now stands. Although the huge
gasworks which dominated both sides of Brentford
High Street from the waterworks to Ealing Rd had
vacated Brentford by 1963, it took over 20 years
before any of its site was redeveloped. On the
south side, Waterman's Park, a public open space
was opened in 1982 and the Waterman's Art Centre
in 1984 It is only now, in 2002 that the north
side of the gasworks site is being developed.
In 1993 the Brentford Initiative was formed and
succeeded (in 1994) in obtaining a government
grant under the Single Regeneration Budget, a
scheme to help desperately run down areas get
going again socially, environmentally and
commercially. The money was administered by
the Brentford Regeneration Partnership, formed
in 1995, with the aims of creating a better
environment for Brentford's inhabitants and
acting as a catalyst to attract private firms
to invest in the area. The BRP was founded
for five years and has now been replaced by
Grand Union Community Development, which aims
to ensure that the foundations laid down by
the BRP are built upon.
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