Editing Kings Langley

{{about|Kings Langley in Hertfordshire, England|the suburb of Sydney, Australia|Kings Langley, New South Wales}}
{{short description|Village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2010}}
{{infobox UK place
| country                  =  England
| coordinates              = {{coord|51.71559|-0.45692|display=inline,title}}
| official_name            = Kings Langley
| static_image_name        = Kings Langley High Street.jpg
| static_image_caption     = Kings Langley High Street, looking north.
| population               = 5,072
| population_ref           = (Census 2001)<br> 5,214 (Census 2011)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11125213&c=Kings+Langley&d=16&e=62&g=6432947&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1477842251033&enc=1|title=Civil Parish population 2011|access-date=30 October 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics |work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}</ref>
| shire_district           = [[Dacorum]]
| shire_county             = [[Hertfordshire]]
| region                   = East of England
| constituency_westminster = [[South West Hertfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)|South West Hertfordshire]]
| post_town                = KINGS LANGLEY
| postcode_district        = WD4
| postcode_area            = WD
| dial_code                = 01923
| os_grid_reference        = TL067030
}}
'''Kings Langley''' is a [[village]], former [[Manorialism|manor]] and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in [[Hertfordshire]], England, {{convert|23.5|mi|km|abbr=off}} north-west of [[London]] and to the south of the [[Chiltern Hills]]. It now forms part of the [[London commuter belt]]. The village is divided between two [[Non-metropolitan district|local government districts]] by the [[River Gade]] with the larger western portion in the [[Borough of Dacorum]] and smaller part, to the east of the river, in [[Three Rivers District]]. It was the location of [[Kings Langley Palace]] and the associated [[King's Langley Priory]], of which few traces survive.

It is situated {{convert|2|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} south of [[Hemel Hempstead]] and {{convert|2|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} 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.<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>

== Roads ==

The [[M25 motorway|M25]], the London orbital [[motorway]], passes just south of the village on an imposing viaduct across the [[River Gade]] valley. To the north of junction 20 with the [[A41 road|A41]], a dual-carriageway bypasses Kings Langley and continues to the south of Tring where it flows into the original motorway-standard by-pass. The old route through Kings Langley is now classified the [[A4251 road|A4251]].

== Rucklers Lane==
[[File:Rucklers Lane Community Hall 2017.jpg|thumb|right|The Rucklers Lane [[village hall|Community Hall]] was built for the workers of nearby [[Shendish Manor]] in 1909 as a memorial to Arthur Longman, the owner of the estate]]
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 [[mock tudor]] houses for the workers on the nearby [[Shendish Manor]] estate. A [[village hall|community hall]] was also built for the workers in 1909 as a memorial to Arthur Longman, the owner of the estate; it was originally intended as a [[chapel of ease]] to avoid the long walk to the parish church.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kingslangley.org.uk/RucklersLaneHall.html |title=The Fourth John Prime Memorial Lecture: Rucklers Lane Hall |last1=Bower |first1=Stanley |website=www.kingslangley.org.uk |publisher=Kings Langley Local History and Museum Society |access-date=26 February 2016 }}</ref> Further west along the lane is [[Scouting in East of England#Hertfordshire|Phasels Wood Scout Camp and Activity Centre]] which opened in 1937.<ref>Brittain, Frank L (2008), ''Milestones of 100 Years of Hertfordshire Scouting'', Hertfordshire County Scout Council (p. 62)</ref>

==Mentions in literature==
*[[William Shakespeare]]'s'' [[Richard II (play)|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. ([https://archive.org/details/Emily_Holt_The_White_Rose_of_Langley 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 (play)|Habeas Corpus]]'' written by Alan Bennett

==Sport==

===Football===
[[Kings Langley FC]], as of 2023/2024, play in the Division 1 (Central) Division of the [[Southern Football League]].

===Cricket===
Kings Langley CC currently play in Divisions 2B, Division 7 West and Division 10 South, of the Saracens Hertfordshire Cricket League.

===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==
{{more citations needed|section|date=October 2020}}
*Ancestors of U.S. President [[Jimmy Carter]] (1924-2024) with the Carter surname lived in village 1361–1588<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20080831100048/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,915294,00.html The Nation: Magnus Carter: Jimmy's Roots]". ''Time''. 22 August 1977. Retrieved 16 February 2010.</ref>
*[[Christopher Augustus Cox]] [[Victoria Cross|VC]] (1889–1959), soldier decorated for working as a stretcher bearer under heavy fire in France, 1917<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kingslangley.org.uk/C%20Cox%20VC.html |title=Christopher Cox VC |website=www.kingslangley.org.uk |publisher=Kings Langley Local History and Museum Society |access-date=26 February 2016 }}</ref>
*[[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 [[Alan Rice-Oxley]] DFC (1898–1961), RAF officer, First World War [[fighter ace]]
*[[Griff (singer)|Griff]] (born 2001), singer and songwriter<ref name="id">{{Cite news|url=https://i-d.co/article/griff-is-the-uk-teen-talking-you-out-of-negative-body-image-with-her-pop-music/|title=griff is the uk teen talking you out of negative body image with her pop music|work=[[i-D]]|date=8 July 2019|access-date=23 October 2020}}</ref>
*[[Benny Green (saxophonist)|Benny Green]] (1927–1998), saxophonist and radio personality<ref>[http://www.dacorum.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=2745 Kings Langley Information page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608005655/http://www.dacorum.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=2745 |date=8 June 2011 }}</ref>
*[[Bruce Grocott, Baron Grocott]] (b. 1940), former Labour MP for [[The Wrekin (UK Parliament constituency)|The Wrekin]] and [[Telford (UK Parliament constituency)|Telford]] and current Chancellor of the [[University of Leicester]]
*[[Graham Taylor]] OBE, (1944–2017), former [[England football manager]] and former manager and chairman of [[Watford F.C.]]
*[[Luke Donald]] (b. 1977), professional golfer and former world no.1 lived in Kings Langley and attended the [[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 team|England cricket]] international
*[[Anthony Joshua]] (b. 1989), former [[World Heavyweight Champion]] attended [[Kings Langley School]]
*[[Stuart Slater]] (b. 1969), former [[West Ham United]] footballer
*[[John Milbank]] (b. 1952), Anglican theologian
*[[Ondine Achampong]] (b.2004) British artistic gymnast world, European commonwealth medalist

==Notes==
<small> See full reference details below.</small>
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book |last=Munby (ed) |first=Lionel M. |author2=Various  |title=The History of Kings Langley |year=1963 |publisher=Kings Langley branch of the [[Workers' Educational Association]] }}
*{{cite book |last1=Hastie |first1=Scott |others=David Spain (photographs) |title=Kings Langley, A Hertfordshire Village|year=1991 |publisher=Alpine Press Ltd |location=Kings Langley |isbn=0-9507647-1-X }}
*{{cite book |last1=Hastie |first1=Scott  |others=David Spain (photographs) |title=A Hertfordshire Valley |publisher=Alpine Press Ltd |location=Kings Langley |isbn=0-9528631-0-3
 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040420095414/http://www.kingslangley.org.uk/index.htm Kings Langley, its history and local architecture] Kings Langley Local History and Museum Society. Accessed January 2008
*[http://www.online-archaeology.co.uk/UKArchaeologyMap/UKArchaeologyMapViewItem/tabid/56/Default.aspx?IID=549 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}}.

==External links==
{{Sister project links|voy=Kings Langley|wikt=no}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060415082418/http://www.kingslangley.herts.sch.uk/ Kings Langley Secondary School]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070708164035/http://www.rsskl.org/ Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley]}}
* [http://www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk/links/kings-langley.htm Kings Langley (A Guide to Old Hertfordshire)]
* [http://www.kings-langley-churches.org.uk/ Kings Langley Churches]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060717013240/http://www.kingslangleybakau.org/ Kings Langley and Bakau (Gambia) Link]

{{Civil parishes of Hertfordshire}}
<!--{{coord|51.71559|N|0.45692|W|region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(TL067030)|display=title}} Note: WGS84 lat/long, converted from OSGB36 grid ref -->

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Hertfordshire]]
[[Category:Dacorum]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Hertfordshire]]
[[Category:Burial sites of the House of York]]
[[Category:Burial sites of the House of Plantagenet]]
[[Category:Burial sites of the Mortimer family]]