Abbots Langley

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Abbots Langley
Abbots Langley - The Church of St Lawrence the Martyr - geograph.org.uk - 272827.jpg
St Lawrence the Martyr Church, Abbots Langley
Abbots Langley is located in Hertfordshire
Abbots Langley
Abbots Langley
Location within Hertfordshire
Population19,574 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceTL095015
Civil parish
  • Abbots Langley
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townABBOTS LANGLEY
Postcode districtWD5
Dialling code01923
PoliceHertfordshire
FireHertfordshire
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Hertfordshire
51°42′04″N 0°24′58″W / 51.701°N 0.416°W / 51.701; -0.416Coordinates: 51°42′04″N 0°24′58″W / 51.701°N 0.416°W / 51.701; -0.416

Abbots Langley is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. The village is situated 420 feet above sea level on the eastern side of the valley of the River Gade. It is an ancient settlement and is mentioned (under the name of Langelai) in the Domesday Book. Economically, the village is closely linked to Watford and Hemel Hempstead and was formerly part of the Watford Rural District. Since 1974, it has been included in the Three Rivers district.

History

This village has had a long history of successful human habitation. The first traces of human habitation in the area from the Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages were recorded by renowned archaeologist Sir John Evans (1823–1908).[2] The village sits on a saucer of clay covered by a layer of gravel, and as a result water supply has never been a problem; records show that in earlier times water could be drawn from a well just 20 feet (6 m) deep.[citation needed]

1045 the Saxon thegn Æthelwine 'the Black' granted the upper part of Langlai to St Albans Abbey as Langlai Abbatis (Latin for Langlai of the Abbot, hence 'Abbot's Langley')[citation needed] the remainder being the king's Langlai. By the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 the village was inhabited by 19 families.[3]

1066 Value of land to the lord is £15 (£12 in 1070)

1086 Domesday book has the value of the land at £10 and the village is inhabited by 19 families

Circa 1100 Nicholas Breakspear is born in Bedmond (see above).

1154 The parish church of St Lawrence the Martyr is dedicated.

1349 The Black Death arrives in Abbots Langley and seventy one people die in the Manor

1366 The Lord Abbot of St Albans gives a strip of land near the River Gade to Edward III

1396 John de la Mote, Abbot of St Albans, builds a Grange in Abbots Langley. The location of the building is uncertain but may have been on the site of The Abbots House.

1500 Cottages are built opposite The Church of St Lawrence the Martyr.

1539 The dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII transfers ownership of The Manor of Abbots Langley to the Crown. The original manor is divided into four parts.

1541 The Manor of Chambersbury (Rectory Manor) was sold by Henry VIII to his embroiderer William Ibgrave.

1545 The Manor and Estate of Langleybury was granted by Henry VIII to Sir Richard Lee.

1575 The Manor and Estate of Langleybury is sold back to the Crown by Sir Richard Lee.

circa 1600 a two storey building that become the basis of The Abbots House is erected opposite the Church of St Lawrence.

circa 1600 The Manor House is built, possibly on the site of an earlier moated house. One of the first, if not the first, residents of the house was Francis Combe, and his wife Ann Greenhill.

1616 Prince Charles (later King Charles I) owns the Manor of Langleybury and passes it to the Childe Family.

1641 Death of Francis Combe (or Combes). His will leaves his properties in Abbots Langley to the Colleges of Sidney Sussex at Cambridge, and Trinity at Oxford where he had been educated. He also bequeaths an acre of land immediately adjacent to St Lawrence church, and an income, for the benefit of the education and support of the poor of Abbots Langley.

1711 The Childe family leave The Manor and Estate of Langleybury.

1720 Serge Hill House at Bedmond is built.

1720 Causeway House at Abbots Langley is built.

1724 Langleybury House is built.

1750's Langley House is built and the High Street through the village diverted around the large pond in front of the new house.

1760's Cecil Lodge is built early in the decade.

1763 Luke Lewin, an Abbots Langley bricklayer is engaged by the Sparrows Herne Turnpike Trust to erect a bridge to carry the road across the River Gade at Hunton Bridge.

1797 The Grand Junction Canal, which was to become the Grand Union Canal reaches Hunton Bridge. A wharf is built at Hunton Bridge.

1801 The population of the parish is recorded as 1,205 in the first national census.

1808 The bridge over the River Gade is rebuilt following a fatal accident.

1809 John Dickinson buys the paper mill at Apsley, on a site that had been recorded as a flour mill in the Domesday survey but which had been making paper for around fifty years.

1811 Dickinson expands his paper making business by purchasing Nash Mills, about a mile from Apsley. He and his wife Ann move into the Mill House, fronting onto the mill head.

1812 Hazelwood House is built by wealthy Londoner, Henry Botham and his wife Lydia. Originally bought 42 acres but eventually established an estate of 72 acres by purchasing further land from the Earl of Essex.

1820 Rosehill House is built and Trowley House is built.

1836 Abbots Hill: A grand house built by John Dickinson. He lived here, with his wife and family, until his death in 1869. Since the early 1900's it has been a private girls’ school.

1837 The London to Boxmoor section of the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) is opened.

1838 The Poor House in Abbots Langley closes as a result of the New Poor Law of 1836, and the poor of the area were housed in a new Union workhouse at Watford.

1839 Kings Langley Station is opened, originally given the name Home Park Halt.

1846 Booksellers Provident Retreat opens.

1853 The boys' school is re-built as a Church School, that could support up to ninety pupils a week.

1856 Model Cottages are erected on Tibbs Hill Road.

1864 St Paul's Church, Langleybury, was built by William Jones Loyd, who lived in Langleybury House. The architect was Henry Woodyer, who designed the church in the early English decorated Gothic Style.

1866 Causeway House and lands were sold following the death of Sarah Smith. This led to the lands being split up into small parcels of land and sold to local builders, who each built three or four houses, sold them and used the money to buy another parcel of land, and build three or four more houses. So the residential area of Breakspeare Road, Adrian Road, Garden Road, and Marlin Square came about, and filled in the gap between the village centre and Kitters Green.

1868 A Girls School was built, close by the Boys School next to the church in AL

1868 The St. Pancras guardians of the Poor build the St. Pancras Orphanage and Industrial School for Pauper Children at Leavesden. It was common for the central London parishes to make this sort of provision well away from their own area.

1870 Leavesden hospital established by Metropolitan Asylum board. It now has a strong History Association recording and preserving the legacy of a great deal of important work done there.

1880 The Church of the Ascension in Bedmond is erected. It is part of the Parish of St Lawrence in Abbots Langley and is known locally as the ‘Tin Church’ because of its corrugated-iron shell. Seating around 60 people, it has a simple wooden interior with chairs which were replaced in the late 1980s.

1881 At the instigation of Matthew Timberlake, a noted figure in the local Methodist community, the New Wesleyan Chapel was built. Prior to this Methodist meetings were held on the village green and then in various members' houses.

1908 Hazelwood House is destroyed by fire and then rebuilt.

1913 A. Wander Ltd build a factory to manufacture Ovaltine in the Gade valley, on a site on the boundary of Kings Langley and Abbots Langley.

1914-18 Men and women from Abbots Langley, Bedmond and Hunton Bridge serve in the Great War.

1924 to 1930 A. Wander Ltd. purchases Parsonage Farm and Numbers Farms in Abbots Langley on which they established the Ovaltine Dairy, a model farm, and a poultry farm respectively.

1930 Cecil Lodge damaged by fire.

1935 rail accident

1940 The Air Ministry requisitions land at Leavesden for an aircraft factory for the production of Halifax bombers and Mosquito fighter/bombers that played a vital part in WW2. After the war De Havilland used the factory to continue the manufacture and maintenance of aero engines. Following a number of take-overs and amalgamations the site eventually devolved to Rolls-Royce, who built helicopter engines there until 1992. From the 1950s to 1970s the field played host to a number of air taxi/charter companies and even scheduled services. Various flying schools were based there, and pleasure flights in airships were a popular attraction.

1949 Langleybury estate is sold to Hertfordshire County Council, who convert Langleybury house and grounds into a secondary school, which it continued to be until 1996.

1953 Cecil Lodge demolished.

1956 Rosehill House is demolished.

1958 Trowley House is demolished. Abbots Langley JMI School opens.

1960 Langleybury Children’s Farm is attached to Langleybury school as part of the 400 acre estate gifted to the Local County Council.

1964 St Saviour Roman Catholic Church consecrated.

1965 The first of 24 modern bungalows are built at Booksellers.

1969 al church damaged by fire.

1976 The Pavilion is destroyed by Fire

1982 The new modern Library is opened on the site of the old school buildings

1986 M25 Gade Valley viaduct opened, as part of the last 8 mile section that completed the circle of the London Orbital Motorway.

1996 The Leavesden Aerodrome site changes its use from aeronautics to the film industry and becomes locally known as Leavesden studios. Many film companies used the site, with Star Wars Episode 1: the Phantom Menace being amongst the first.

2010 Warner Brothers purchases Leavesden studios

In 1045 the Saxon thegn Æthelwine 'the Black' granted the upper part of Langlai to St Albans Abbey as Langlai Abbatis (Latin for Langlai of the Abbot, hence 'Abbot's Langley')[citation needed] the remainder being the king's Langlai. By the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 the village was inhabited by 19 families.[3]

The area was split into four manors: Abbots Langley, Langleybury, Chambersbury, and Hyde. In 1539, Henry VIII seized Abbots Langley and sold it to his military engineer Sir Richard Lee.[2] The Manor of Abbots Langley was bequeathed by Francis Combe in his will of 1641 jointly to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and Trinity College, Oxford. The manors of Langleybury and Chambersbury passed through the Ibgrave and Child families, and in 1711 were conveyed to Sir Robert Raymond, then Solicitor General and later Attorney General and Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. On the death of his son without issue in 1756 the manors passed to the Filmer family. The Manor of Hyde passed to Edward Strong in 1714, through his daughter to Sir John Strange, who left the manor to be shared between his children and their descendents (including Admiral Sir George Strong Nares) and then to the ownership of F.M. Nares & Co which sold the estate to the British Land Company in 1858.[4]

In 1846, The Book Sellers Provident Institution opens the Booksellers Retreat (a terrace of seven houses for 'decaying Booksellers and their spouses') at the bottom of Abbots Road on land donated by John Dickinson of John Dickinson Stationery who also raised the funds necessary for its completion.

On Tibbs Hill Road there is a well-preserved example of a Prince Albert's Model Cottage. The original design and construction was for the Great Exhibition of 1851, to demonstrate model housing for the poor. Subsequently, the design was replicated in several other locations, including Abbots Langley.

Kitters Green developed as a separate hamlet by Manor House. The land between Kitters Green and Abbots Langley was bought from the estate of Sarah Smith by the British Land Company in 1866. It laid out plots for development along Adrian, Breakspear, Garden and Popes roads. The development of these plots led to the merger of the two settlements and the loss of Kitters Green's separate identity.[3]

To the west of Manor House Park is a legendary[clarification needed] sledging hill called Blackhill. This leads to a wooded area called the Dell.

The recent Katherine Place development has brought in some high class[citation needed] retailers to the centre and was sold for £2.93 million in December 2005. These include a pharmacy, a small supermarket, a dog barber, a betting shop and a fish and chip shop. To the south of the village are Leavesden Film Studios, on the former RAF and later Rolls-Royce airfield, where scenes from movies including GoldenEye, Sleepy Hollow and the Harry Potter series have been filmed.

The Manor of Abbots Langley

When originally granted to St. Albans Abbey; the manor extended from Hunton Bridge along the River Gade through Nash Mills and Apsley to Two Waters, Hemel Hempstead encompassing Bedmond and parts of Garston, Kings Langley and Leavesden.

Manor Houses and Country Houses

In common with many rural districts there were a number of English country house's and a Manor house. Some where demolished during the Destruction of country houses in 20th-century Britain

Abbots Hill : built 1836 by John Dickinson as a private residence it is now an independent school (Abbot's Hill School).

The Abbot's House : a private residence on the site with a Queen Anne frontage on a 17th century structure. Located on land originally belonging to St Albans Abbey used for the storage of tithes, one Tithe Barn still remains. Situated on the High Street near The Church of St Lawrence the Martyr.

Causeway House : a country house that was situated on the northern side of the High Street at the junction of Adrian Road facing down Adrian road. The oldest large house in the village; it was demolished in 1957 and the site redeveloped into five terraced shops with living accommodation above and garages behind; a public toilet and a block of flats that took the name "Causeway House".

Cecil Lodge : located on the east side of Tibbs Hill Road opposite Langley House (Breakspear College). Built in the 1760's, it was demolished in 1953 and the site redeveloped into housing.

Hazelwood House : now known as Hunton Park. Built in 1909 to replace an earlier building (built 1821) destroyed by fire.

Langley House : a Listed Building that dates from the late 16th century, with later additions. Later known as Breakspear College when it became a teaching establishment for the clergy. Recorded in Pevsner Architectural Guides

Langleybury House : built in the early 1720's (replacing an earlier building) it was used a school after it's purchase by Hertfordshire County Council. (Langleybury).

The Manor House : built in the 17th Century replacing an earlier (possibly moated) structure; it was deemed unsafe and demolished in 1953. It was situated on the north side of Gallows Hill Lane in the vicinity of Kitters Green opposite "The Pound Cottage". All that remains of the building is the detached Billiards Room which was repurposed first as the Village Library and latterly The Abbots Langley Police Station. The site of the house and gardens was redeveloped into a carpark, Community Centre and allotments and the grounds became The Manor House Grounds Sports Pavilion and Recreation Ground with a Children's Play Area, Tennis Courts, Football and Cricket pitches.

Rosehill House : situated on the corner of Gallows Hill and Upper Highway. Built in 1820, it had fallen into disrepair and was semi-derelict by 1956 being demolished that year. The site was redeveloped into Gade View Gardens.

Trowley House : demolished in 1958 and the site developed into private housing (Follet Drive). Also known as 'Troley House' or 'Trolls'ley House' it was variously used as a private residence and a Market garden sending produce to Covent Garden in London.

Nicholas Breakspear/Pope Adrian IV

Bedmond, a village that is administratively part of Abbots Langley, is the birthplace of Nicholas Breakspear (later Pope Adrian IV), the only Englishman to serve as Pope; he is believed to have been born at Breakspear Farm c. 1100. The site where his home stood is marked by a plaque.[5][a] The village of Abbots Langley contains several roads named after its famous inhabitant (Adrian, Breakspear, Pope), and at one time included activities[vague] of the Brakspear Brewery.[citation needed]

St Lawrence the Martyr church

The church includes a window[6] with the inscription To the Glory of God in memory of George Turnbull C.E. born 1809 died 1889. The window was donated by his widow, Fanny.

Sport

Abbots Langley Cricket Club and Langleybury Cricket Club are both based in the village. There are a number of football clubs, including Abbots Langley F.C., Ecocall F.C., Evergreen, Everett Rovers, and Bedmond F.C.[7]

People

Filming Location

Buildings and locations within Abbots Langley have been used in film and television.

  • Cast a Dark Shadow (1955) has external scenes after the inquest filmed outside St Lawrence Church in the High Street. Of interest are views of the original school house (demolished and replaced by a library); the eastern end of the church before it was damaged by fire and the gravestones cleared, and the vicarage while it still had the post-war extension.
  • The Executioner (1970 film) had garden party scenes filmed at Hazelwood House (now Hunton Park).
  • Lust for a Vampire (1971) had some external scenes filmed at Hazelwood House.
  • The Raging Moon (1971) was largely filmed at Hazelwood House with some exterior scenes filmed in South Way and the A41 junctions at Hunton Bridge and Langleybury with Old Mill Road, Bridge Road and Langleybury Lane..
  • Inspector Morse (TV series) (1990) Series Four, Episode Four, "Masonic Mysteries" has scenes filmed in the vicarage, grounds and graveyard of St Lawrence Church.
  • The Inbetweeners (2008) the external scenes for characters residences were filmed in Whitley Close, Cardiff Way and Edinburgh Drive.

See also

References

Footnotes
  1. ^ The plaque to Nicholas Breakspear sits at the south end of a roadside island on Bedmond Road approximately 100 metres (330 ft) south of its junction with East Lane. (51°43′07″N 0°24′40″W / 51.718596°N 0.411067°W / 51.718596; -0.411067 (Breakspear plaque))[citation needed]
Notes
  1. ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  2. ^ a b Hastie, Scott (1993). Abbots Langley—A Hertfordshire Village. Abbots Langley: Abbots Langley Parish Council. ISBN 0-9520929-0-5.
  3. ^ a b c Clark, Clive W. (1997). Abbots Langley Then 1760–1960. Cockfosters, Hertfordshire: Clive W. Clark. ISBN 0-9531473-0-4.
  4. ^ William Page, ed. (1908). "Abbots Langley". A History of the County of Hertford. Victoria County History. Vol. 2. pp. 323–328. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  5. ^ Welch, Jon (12 March 2013). "Nicholas Breakspear: The only English Pope". BBC News Online. BBC. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  6. ^ Luncarty's Engineer: A short biography by John Andrews of Luncarty, West Stormont Historical Society, 2018, page 50, 51 pages.
  7. ^ "TheFA.com – Find a Club". Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2008.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Hastie, Scott (1993). Abbots Langley—A Hertfordshire Village. Abbots Langley: Abbots Langley Parish Council. ISBN 0-9520929-0-5.
  9. ^ H. K. Moffatt, 'Crighton, David George (1942–2000)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004
  10. ^ Kenneth Garlick, 'Evans, Dame Joan (1893–1977)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
  11. ^ Yolanda Foote, 'Evans, Sir John (1823–1908)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004;
  12. ^ Bannerman, B.W. (1904). Miscellanea Genealogica Et Heraldica: Third Series. Vol 5. Mitchell Hughes and Clarke ISBN 978-1-4021-9409-2-page 298
  13. ^ Gentleman's Magazine 1805 Letter Christ Johnson May page 405
  14. ^ Davidson,L. A. F. (2004). 'Greenhill, Thomas (fl. 1698–1732)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, [1] doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/11428
  15. ^ The Times, (17 October 1961). Man in Court on A6 Charge; pg. 6; Issue 55214; col D
  16. ^ "The Pirate Radio hall of fame, disc-jockeys of the 70's". offshoreradio.co.uk. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  17. ^ Barnes, James J.; and Patience P. Barnes (1987). James Vincent Murphy : Translator and Interpreter of Fascist Europe, 1880–1946. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 0-8191-6054-7.
  18. ^ Hastie, Scott (1996). A Hertfordshire Valley. Kings Langley: Alpine Press. p. 96. ISBN 0-9528631-0-3.
  19. ^ George Turnbull, C.E. 437-page memoirs published privately 1893; National Library Edinburgh; scanned copy in the British Library, London on compact disk. Many pages refer to when he lived in Abbots Langley.
  20. ^ Hastie, Scott (1993). Abbots Langley—A Hertfordshire Village. Abbots Langley: Abbots Langley Parish Council. ISBN 0-9520929-0-5. Rosehill was built in the 1820s and demolished c. 1952. The house stood on Gallows Hill where the Gade View flats are today.<...>Between 1875 and 1887, the house was home to George Turnbull whose wife survived him and lived on there until 1899.
  21. ^ Luncarty's Engineer: A short biography by John Andrews of Luncarty, West Stormont Historical Society, 2018, pages 41-50, 51 pages.
  22. ^ "British Listed Buildings". Retrieved 5 April 2011.

External links

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