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Abbots Langley

Coordinates: 51°42′04″N 0°24′58″W / 51.701°N 0.416°W / 51.701; -0.416
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Abbots Langley
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; -0.416

Abbots Langley (/ˈæbəts ˈlæŋli/) is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. It is an old settlement and is mentioned (under the name of Langelai) in the Domesday Book. Economically the village is closely linked to Watford 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 human habitation. The first traces of human habitation in the area were recorded by 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 (6.1 m) deep.[citation needed]

In 1045 the Saxon thegn Ethelwine "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 family of William Ibgrave, the king's embroider, and the Child family, and in 1711 were conveyed to Sir Robert Raymond then Solicitor General 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 descendants (including Admiral Sir George Strong Nares) and then to the possession of F.M. Nares & Co which sold the estate to the British Land Company in 1858.[4]

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]

The West Coast Main Line railway passes through the western edge of the parish, where it crosses Abbots Langley railway bridge, a skewed brick arch, and Nash Mills railway bridge, originally built in cast iron but strengthened in the 1960s by encasing it in concrete. Both bridges are original features from the London and Birmingham Railway. They date from 1837 and are both Grade II listed buildings.[5][6]

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

See also

References

Footnotes
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 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. ^ Historic England. "Nash Mills railway bridge (1172991)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  6. ^ Historic England. "Bridge carrying railway over north end of road, Railway Terrace (1100891)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  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-p. 298.
  13. ^ Gentleman's Magazine, May 1805 Letter Christ Johnson May p. 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"; p. 6; Issue 55214; col. D.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ Hastie, Scott (1996). A Hertfordshire Valley. Kings Langley: Alpine Press. p. 96. ISBN 0-9528631-0-3.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ Luncarty's Engineer: A short biography by John Andrews of Luncarty, West Stormont Historical Society, 2018, pp. 41–50, 51 pages.
  21. ^ "The Pirate Radio hall of fame, disc-jockeys of the 70's". offshoreradio.co.uk. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  22. ^ "British Listed Buildings". Retrieved 5 April 2011.
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