Abbots Langley
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Coordinates: 51°42′04″N 0°24′58″W / 51.701°N 0.416°W
| Abbots Langley | |
 St Lawrence the Martyr Church, Abbots Langley |
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  Abbots Langley
Abbots Langley shown within Hertfordshire |
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| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| District | Three Rivers |
| Shire county | Hertfordshire |
| Region | East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ABBOTS LANGLEY |
| Postcode district | WD5 |
| Dialling code | 01923 |
| Police | Hertfordshire |
| Fire | Hertfordshire |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | Watford |
| List of places: UK • England • Hertfordshire | |
Abbots Langley is a large village 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 has been included in the Three Rivers district.
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[edit] History
This village has had a long history of successful human habitation. The first traces of human habitation in the area were recorded by renowned archaeologist Sir John Evans (1823 – 1908).[1] 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 20ft deep[citation needed]
In 1045 the Saxon thegn Ethelwine 'the black' granted the upper part of Langlai to St Albans Abbey as Langlai Abbatis[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.[2]
The area was split into four manors, Abbots Langley, Langleybury, Chambersbury, and Hyde. The Manor of Abbots Langley was bequeathed by Francis Combe in his will of 1641 to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and Trinity College, Oxford jointly. 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 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 possession of F.M. Nares & Co which sold the estate to the British Land Company in 1858.[3]
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.[2]
The recent Katherine Place development has brought in some high class retailers to the centre and was sold for £2.93 million in December 2005. To the south of the village are Leavesden Film Studios, on the former Rolls-Royce airfield, where scenes from movies including Goldeneye, Sleepy Hollow and the Harry Potter series have been filmed.
[edit] Nicholas Breakspear/Pope Adrian IV
Pope Adrian IV, the only Englishman ever to have become Pope, was born as Nicholas Breakspear in Abbots Langley around the year 1100. Therefore, Abbots Langley village includes a number of roads named after its famous son (Adrian, Breakspear, Pope), and at one time included activities of the Brakspear brewery.
[edit] Sport
[edit] Cricket
[edit] Football
A number of teams play locally:[4]
- Ecocall F.C. in the Olympian Sunday Football League
- Evergreen (Sunday) in the Watford Sunday Football League
- Evergreen Youth in the West Herts Youth League and Watford Friendly League
- Everett Rovers (Saturday) in the Arlon Printers West Herts Saturday League
- Abbots Youth in the West Herts Youth League and Watford Friendly League
- Bedmond FC in the Herts Senior County League, Watford Friendly League and Mid Herts Rural Minors League
- Langleybury Cricket Club (WHL) in the Arlon Printers West Herts Saturday League
- Langleybury Cricket Club (WOSL) in the Watford Sunday Football League
[edit] Notable people
- Manuel Almunia (b. 1977), professional footballer.[5]
- Nick Blinko (b. 1961), artist and singer/songwriter/guitarist of Rudimentary Peni.
- Pope Adrian IV (c1100-1159), born in Abbots Langley as Nicholas Breakspear.
- Chris Brooks Afternoon DJ at Capital Radio, London, grew up in Abbots Langley.
- James Cecil, 1st Marquess of Salisbury (1748-1823) probably lived at Cecil Lodge 1760s–80.[6]
- Violet Cressy-Marcks (1895–1970), explorer and journalist, lived at Hazelwood (now Hunton Park) 1930–70.[6]
- Robert Kindersley, 1st Baron Kindersley (1871-1954), businessman, stockbroker, merchant banker, and public servant, lived at Langley House 1906–23.[6]
- Hugh Kindersley, 2nd Baron Kindersley (1899-1976)
- Joe Lane (1892-1959), former professional footballer.
- Marghanita Laski (1915-88), journalist and novelist, lived at Abbots House 1937–45.[6]
- Henry Montagu, 6th Baron Rokeby (1798-1883), soldier, lived at Hazelwood 1838–86.[6]
- Robert Raymond, 1st Baron Raymond (1673-1733), politician and judge, lived at Langleybury 1711–33.[6]
- Haile Selassie (1892-1975), spent the early part of his exile from Ethiopia at Hazelwood.[7]
- Edward Skoyles (1923-2008) researcher and quantity surveyor.
- William Henry Smith (politician) (1825-91), member of the W H Smith station newsagent and bookselling family, lived at Cecil Lodge 1864–70.[6]
- George Turnbull (1809-1878), civil engineer, retired to Rosehill, Abbots Langley.[8][9]
- Bradley Walsh (b. 1960), entertainer.
- Mark Walsh (b. 1965), professional darts player within the Professional Darts Corporation.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Hastie, Scott. Abbots Langley—A Hertfordshire Village.. Abbots Langley: Abbots Langley Parish Council. ISBN 0952092905.
- ^ a b Clark, Clive W.. Abbots Langley Then 1760–1960. 143 Sussex Way, Cockfosters, Herts, EN4 0BG: Clive W. Clark. ISBN 0-953-14730-4.
- ^ William Page, ed (1908). "Abbots Langley". A History of the County of Hertford. Victoria County History. 2. pp. 323-328. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43287. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
- ^ "TheFA.com - Find a Club". http://www.thefa.com/GrassrootsNew/Player/Postings/2000/03/FindAClub.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
- ^ Almunia is real ghoulkeeper
- ^ a b c d e f g Hastie, Scott. Abbots Langley—A Hertfordshire Village. Abbots Langley: Abbots Langley Parish Council. ISBN 0952092905.
- ^ Hastie, Scott. A Hertfordshire Valley.. Kings Langley: Alpine Press. p. 96. ISBN 0952863103.
- ^ George Turnbull, C.E. 437-page memoirs published privately 1893, scanned copy held in the British Library, London on compact disk since 2007. Many pages refer to when he lived in Abbots Langley.
- ^ Hastie, Scott. Abbots Langley—A Hertfordshire Village. Abbots Langley: Abbots Langley Parish Council. ISBN 0952092905. "Rosehill was built in the 1820's and demolished circa 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."
