The Great West Road: A Centenary History
by James Marshall
Phillimore Book Publishing (2024)
ISBN 978-1-9162041-1-9
Paperback, 192 pages, 234 x156mm, £25

This new road, known at first as the Brentford by-pass, was opened by King George V in 1925. For two miles, from its junction with the North Circular Road and Chiswick High Road to Gillette Corner, a corridor of inter-war factory buildings emerged, a stylish celebration of art deco architecture. The arrival of the road was the catalyst for the transformation of rural south-west Middlesex, with its small towns and villages, fields, orchards and market gardens, into new suburbs.

This handsome book has expanded and updated the author’s original history of the road, published in 1995. Packed with illustrations, including some specially commissioned new photographs, it tells the story of the road, from the earliest discussions about whether it should be built at all, right up to the present day. There is plentiful detail about the architects who created the buildings which lined it and the businesses they housed. And it discusses the impact of the road on the area over the last century, with new employment opportunities and new housing developments. For everyone who grew up nearby, or whose families worked in one of the factories, it offers a nostalgic trip into the past.

Forever changing, re-inventing itself and rich with stylish buildings, this road brought the future, and it still does.

James Marshall first published a history of the Road in 1995, when he was a member of the Local History team at Hounslow Council’s Library Service. His 32-year career caring for these collections has given him an unrivalled knowledge of this part of West London which has informed this definitive history. The very readable text shows his real affection for the place.

This joint project between the Brentford & Chiswick Local History Society and the Hounslow & District History Society has been generously supported by these sponsors: Fulham Archaeological Research Group, Creative Enterprise West/Hounslow Council, Hadley Property Group, JCDecaux, the Vinyl Factory and 180 Studios.

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