BRENTFORD, town in Middlesex, England, Io2m. W. of London by the Southern Railway, at the confluence of the Brent and the Thames. In 1927 it was united with Chiswick to form a municipal borough. Combined pop. (1931), 62,617.
In 1016 Edmund Ironside defeated the Danes at Brentford (Braynford). A toll was granted by Edward I., who gave the town a market, for the construction of a bridge across the river, and in the reign of Henry VI. a hospital of the Nine Orders of Angels was founded near its western side. In 1642 a battle was fought here in which the royalists defeated the parliamentary forces. During the 16th and 17th centuries Brentford was a favourite resort of London citizens; and its inn of the Three Pigeons is frequently alluded to by the dramatists of the period. References in literature point, in most cases, to the town's reputa tion for excessive dirt. The Grand Junction Canal joins the Brent here and the town's activities include brewing, soap-making, saw milling, market-gardening, etc.
South of Brentford, towards Isleworth, is Sion House, a man sion founded by Lord Protector Somerset in 1547 and enlarged by Inigo Jones and Robert Adam. The site of Sion or Syon House was previously occupied by a convent of Bridgittine nuns established at Twickenham in 1415 and removed here in 1431.