Editing Kings Langley (section)

== History ==
A [[Roman villa]] has been excavated just south of the village.<ref name="UKArch">[http://www.online-archaeology.co.uk/UKArchaeologyMap/UKArchaeologyMapViewItem/tabid/201/Default.aspx?IID=549 Site of Kings Langley Roman Villa] at Online Archaeology – UK Archaeology Resource. accessed 5 April 2010</ref>

The manor was probably a possession of the Abbey of [[St. Albans]], the records of which have been lost. Following the [[Norman Conquest]] of 1066 the manor was one of hundreds given to [[Robert, Count of Mortain]], uterine half-brother of King [[William the Conqueror]]. His tenant was a certain Ralf. The present village developed as a [[linear village]] along the old road from London to Berkhamsted and beyond to the Midlands.<ref name="Munby">Lionel M, Munby, ''The History of Kings Langley''</ref> In the Domesday Book of 1086, Langley was in the hundred of Danish.<ref>[http://opendomesday.org/place/TL0702/kings-langley/ Open Domesday: Kings Langley]</ref> By 1346 the place was known as ''Kyngeslangley'' and by 1428 as ''Lengele Regis''.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names |editor=Victor Watts|year=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-16855-7 |page=360}}</ref>

In about 1276 the manor was purchased by Queen [[Eleanor of Castile]]<ref name ="british-history">{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/herts/vol2/pp234-245 |title='Parishes: King's Langley', A History of the County of Hertford: Volume 2, pp. 234–245. |editor-last=Page |editor-first=William |year=1908 |website=british-history.ac.uk |publisher=British History Online |access-date=25 October 2023}}</ref> (1241–1290), wife of King Edward I, and [[Kings Langley Palace]] was built on the hill to the west of the village with a [[Deer park (England)|deer park]] extending to the south.<ref name="HVB">{{cite book|last1=Hertfordshire Federation of Women's Institutes|others=Ann Roxburgh (Forward)|title=The Hertfordshire Village Book|publisher=Countryside Books|year=1986|isbn=0-905392-71-X}}</ref> [[King's Langley Priory]], of the [[Dominican Order]], of which remains survive,<ref name="Munby"/>  was founded next to the palace. The palace and the grand priory church fell into disrepair at the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] and little remains above ground level.<ref name="HVB"/>

The [[All Saints' Church, Kings Langley|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.<ref name="Munby"/><ref name="KL Hist">Kings Langley Local History and Museum Society</ref> The body of King [[Richard II of England|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]].

[[Image:Kings Langley Church.jpg|thumb|All Saints' Church, Kings Langley]]
The 18th century [[Sparrows Herne turnpike|Sparrows Herne]] [[turnpike trust|turnpike road]] (later the [[A41 road|A41 trunk road]]) traversed the Chilterns via the valley of the [[River Gade]] and ran down the village high street. The 16th century Saracen's Head [[public house]] is a [[coaching inn]] which flourished in this period.

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.<ref name="KL Hist"/>

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.

[[File:The Priory and allotments, Kings Langley (geograph 2310899).jpg|thumb|Biodynamic allotments and building of Tudor origin on the grounds of Kings Langley Priory established by Edward  II in 1308. ]]

During the [[Second World War]], the village was home to the secret headquarters in Britain of the [[Polish Underground]] army based at Barnes Lodge just off the Hempstead Road near Rucklers Lane.<ref>[http://www.kingslangley.org.uk/barneslodge.html Kings Langley  Local History & Museum Society] "RISING '44" by Norman Davies, (1994) is published by Pan, {{ISBN|0330488635}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |title=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 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/BL26455/002 |website=historicengland.org.uk |publisher=Historic England |access-date=10 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

The former Ovaltine Egg Farm was converted into [[Efficient energy use|energy-efficient]] offices which house [[Renewable Energy Systems]]. The complex incorporates a [[Unconventional wind turbines#Wind turbines on public display|highly visible]] 225&nbsp;kW [[Vestas]] V29<ref name="power_from_the_wind">{{Cite web
  |url=http://www.beaufortcourt.com/pdf/BeaufortCourt/WindPower1.pdf
  |title=Power from the wind
  |publisher=[[Renewable Energy Systems]]
  |access-date=16 November 2008
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530012759/http://www.beaufortcourt.com/pdf/BeaufortCourt/WindPower1.pdf
  |archive-date=30 May 2009
  |url-status=dead
  }}</ref> [[wind turbine]], nicknamed "Lofty"<ref>{{cite web |title=Lofty the Wind Turbine |url=https://beaufortcourt.com/lofty-finds-a-home/|website=Beauford Court Low Carbon Office|access-date=31 May 2025}}</ref> alongside the M25.[[File:Kings Langley, Wind turbine - geograph.org.uk - 272851.jpg|thumb|right|The wind turbine overlooking the former Ovaltine Model Dairy Farm, now the offices of Renewable Energy Systems Ltd.]][[Kings Langley School]] is the local [[comprehensive school]], situated on Love Lane to the west of the village.[[File:Kings Langley, Former Ovaltine factory - geograph.org.uk - 272923.jpg|thumb|200px|Former Ovaltine factory, Kings Langley. This is the listed art deco façade of the former Ovaltine factory. It was redeveloped into housing in 2002.]]Kings Langley was also the site of a [[Waldorf School]], the [[Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley]] which closed in 2019. This was built on the grounds of the old palace. There was a small display cabinet of finds from the palace period in the school entrance foyer.<ref name="KL Hist" />

The village became twinned with [[Achiet-le-Grand]] in France in November 2009, in honour of [[Christopher Augustus Cox|Christopher Cox]] from the village who won a [[Victoria Cross]] in fighting near Achiet-le-Grand in the [[First World War]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/French-twinning-steams-ahead.5160488.jp|title=French twinning steams ahead|date=9 April 2009|work=Hemel Hempstead Gazette|access-date=13 April 2009}}</ref>