Kings Langley
Kings Langley | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | KINGS LANGLEY | |
Postcode district | WD4 | |
Dialling code | 01923 | |
Police | Hertfordshire | |
Fire | Hertfordshire | |
Ambulance | East of England | |
UK Parliament | ||
Kings Langley is a
It is situated 2 mi (3 km) south of Hemel Hempstead and 2 mi (3 km) north of Watford.
The earliest mention in surviving documents of the manor of Langalega is in a Saxon charter dated circa 1050. It appears as Langelai in the Domesday Book of 1086, and is recorded as Langel' Regis ("Langley of the King") in 1254. The name means "long wood or clearing".
History
A Roman villa has been excavated just south of the village.[2]
The manor was probably a possession of the Abbey of
In about 1276 the manor was purchased by Queen
The Church of All Saints was built during the 14th century on the site of an earlier church.
It was the birth-place of Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (1341–1402), 4th surviving son of King Edward III (grandson of Edward I), whose tomb survives in All Saints Church.[3][8] The body of King Richard II, eldest grandson and successor of King Edward III, was buried here after his probable murder at Pontefract Castle in 1400. It was later removed to Westminster Abbey, next to the Palace of Westminster.
The 18th century
The Grand Union Canal dating from 1797, and the 1838, London and Birmingham Railway which later became the West Coast Main Line, (the main railway line from London to the north west) pass just east of the village at Kings Langley railway station. There are many businesses located near the station in Home Park Industrial Estate which is also the site of the Construction and Engineering Centre of West Herts College.[8]
20th century housing developments have led to the village spreading out on either side of the main road. The A41 has now been diverted west of the village leaving the high street to local traffic for the first time in centuries.
During the
Kings Langley was the site of the factory making Ovaltine chocolate drink; the listed factory facade, designed c.1923 by James Albert Bowden is now all that is left and still stands alongside the railway line among a new housing development. The Ovaltine factory itself has been converted into a series of flats and duplexes.[10]
The former Ovaltine Egg Farm was converted into energy-efficient offices which house Renewable Energy Systems. The complex incorporates a highly visible 225 kW Vestas V29[11] wind turbine alongside the M25.
Kings Langley School is the local comprehensive school, situated on Love Lane to the west of the village.
Kings Langley was also the site of a
The village became twinned with
Roads
The
Rucklers Lane
Just to the north of Kings Langley is a small village called Rucklers Lane, named after the road it is built on. The origin of the settlement in the early 20th century was the construction of a number of
Mentions in literature
- William Shakespeare's Richard II (1595), Act III, Scene IV, is set in the garden of the palace at Langley.
- Emily Sarah Holt's novel The White Rose of Langley (1875) has many scenes in the palace. (Download available at Project Gutenberg)
- In the 2010 book Beautiful Darkness the character Olivia Durand is from Kings Langley.
- Mentioned by housekeeper Mrs Swabb in the 1973 play Habeas Corpus written by Alan Bennett
Sport
Football
Cricket
Kings Langley CC currently play in Divisions 2B, Division 7 West and Division 10 South, of the Saracens Hertfordshire Cricket League. With the likes of Jamie Calvin and Co involved with the cricket club it is a force to be reckoned with.
Bowls
Kings Langley Bowls Club is situated in Green Park at the end of the Nap car park. It is a popular lawn bowls club with club and district competitions for bowlers of all abilities. It includes a club house with licensed bar and good social programs.
Notable people
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2020) |
- Ancestors of U.S. President Jimmy Carter with the Carter surname lived in village 1361–1588[15]
- Christopher Augustus Cox VC (1889–1959), soldier decorated for working as a stretcher bearer under heavy fire in France, 1917[16]
- Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (1341–1402), the fourth surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault and the founder of the House of York
- Captain fighter ace
- Griff (born 2001), singer and songwriter[17]
- Benny Green (1927–1998), saxophonist and radio personality[18]
- Bruce Grocott, Baron Grocott (b. 1940), former Labour MP for The Wrekin and Telford and current Chancellor of the University of Leicester
- England football manager and former manager and chairman of Watford F.C.
- Rudolph Steiner School
- Frank Toovey Lake, (1849–1868) a member of the mill-owning Toovey family and a Victorian sailor who died in Japan while a member of Richard Henry Brunton's lighthouse survey party
- Steven Finn (b. 1989), former England cricket international
- World Heavyweight Champion attended Kings Langley School
- West Ham Unitedfootballer
- John Milbank (b. 1952), Anglican theologian
- Ondine Achampong British artistic gymnast world, European commonwealth medalist
Notes
See full reference details below.
- ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
- ^ Site of Kings Langley Roman Villa at Online Archaeology – UK Archaeology Resource. accessed 5 April 2010
- ^ a b c Lionel M, Munby, The History of Kings Langley
- ^ Open Domesday: Kings Langley
- ISBN 978-0-521-16855-7.
- ^ Page, William, ed. (1908). "'Parishes: King's Langley', A History of the County of Hertford: Volume 2, pp. 234–245". british-history.ac.uk. British History Online. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ ISBN 0-905392-71-X.
- ^ a b c Kings Langley Local History and Museum Society
- ISBN 0330488635
- ^ "The east facade of A Wander Limited's 'Ovaltine' factory in Kings Langley. The factory was much enlarged during the 1920s, adding sympathetically to this original block (BL26455/002) Archive Item - The Bedford Lemere Collection | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Historic England. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Power from the wind" (PDF). Renewable Energy Systems. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 May 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
- ^ "French twinning steams ahead". Hemel Hempstead Gazette. 9 April 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
- ^ Bower, Stanley. "The Fourth John Prime Memorial Lecture: Rucklers Lane Hall". www.kingslangley.org.uk. Kings Langley Local History and Museum Society. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
- ^ Brittain, Frank L (2008), Milestones of 100 Years of Hertfordshire Scouting, Hertfordshire County Scout Council (p. 62)
- ^ "The Nation: Magnus Carter: Jimmy's Roots". Time. 22 August 1977. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
- ^ "Christopher Cox VC". www.kingslangley.org.uk. Kings Langley Local History and Museum Society. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
- ^ "griff is the uk teen talking you out of negative body image with her pop music". i-D. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- ^ Kings Langley Information page Archived 8 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
References
- Munby (ed), Lionel M.; Various (1963). The History of Kings Langley. Kings Langley branch of the Workers' Educational Association.
{{cite book}}
:|last=
has generic name (help) - Hastie, Scott (1991). Kings Langley, A Hertfordshire Village. David Spain (photographs). Kings Langley: Alpine Press Ltd. ISBN 0-9507647-1-X.
- Hastie, Scott. A Hertfordshire Valley. David Spain (photographs). Kings Langley: Alpine Press Ltd. ISBN 0-9528631-0-3.
- Kings Langley, its history and local architecture Kings Langley Local History and Museum Society. Accessed January 2008
- Kings langley Roman Villa at UK Archaeology Map. Accessed January 2008
- Hertfordshire Federation of Women's Institutes; Ann Roxburgh (Forward) (1986). The Hertfordshire Village Book. Countryside Books. Section on Kings Langley. ISBN 0-905392-71-X.