LANGLEYVILLAGE.CO.UK

  

 

 

 
Home |   Village History  |  Langley Today  |  The Pond | Postcard | In the News  |  Map |  Contact 
 

 

this is langley history

 

   

"the straggling village"

Langley (also known as Langley Marish) is a village in the authority of Slough, Berkshire in South East England. The name "Marish" has no association with a marsh but is manorial in origin, the manor having been held by the family of Mareys or, in Latinised form, Marisco.  Christine de Marisco held the manor of Langley on behalf of the Crown between 1282 and 1311 during the reign of Edward I. The village formed part of a much larger area known as Langley Marish. The area stretched from as far as Gerrards Cross down to Colnbrook.

Until boundary reorganisation in 1974, Langley was in the county of Buckinghamshire. In the report A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 3 (1925), pp. 294-301. The village gets the the unfortunate distinction of being called "The Straggling Village".

The meaning of the word Langley comes from two old English words Lang meaning Long and Leah meaning wood or clearing. The area was made up of a number of these so called clearings. The original clearings; Middle Green, Horsemoor Green, George Green, Sawyers Green and Shredding Green developed into small enclaves of housing and were eventually merged into one larger village centred around the church in St Mary’s Road. These clearings no longer exist, however have been adopted in street names or much smaller green fields.

 

Langley Hall & Harrow Pond circa 1930. Today the War Memorial stands where once ducks swam in the pond (postcard from an original at Slough Museum)

Langley Hall & Harrow Pond circa 1930. Today the War Memorial stands where once ducks swam in the pond (courtesy Slough Museum)

   

village growth

Langley village and these adjoining hamlets were part of the manor and parish of Wraysbury and was most noted for it’s ties to the crown lands at Langley Park. It remained in some degree of obscurity until the two were separated and Langley was given it’s own vicar. It was not until 1639 though, that a vicar actually began to reside in Langley itself, located in a vicarage at St Mary’s Church.

Surrounded by a large housing estate today is the church of St Mary the Virgin. It includes a range of architectural styles, and many features of interest. The greatest is the Kedermister Library, which dates from c1623, said to have been used by John Milton while living nearby. It still houses many ancient and valuable books, the room itself and it's decoration is pretty amazing.

The vicar's move allowed the village of Langley to grow on it’s own, centred around the new parish church of St Mary’s (the oldest building in Langley circa 1150) which became the hub of the new village. The only other buildings at that time were the Red Lion public house built in the 16th century to provide money for church repairs and the original rectory (the old vicarage) that formed part of the church.

 

The Red Lion pub was once owned by Langley parish church which faces the the pub on the other side of the road. The small house on the right of the picture was the old vicarage, demolished in the 1950's. In the background is the girls' school, founded as a Sunday School about 1830. It was used until a board school was built soon after 1870 (postcard from an original at Slough Museum)

The Red Lion pub was once owned by Langley parish church which faces the the pub on the other side of the road. The small house on the right of the picture was the old vicarage, demolished in the 1950's. In the background is the girls' school, founded as a Sunday School about 1830. It was used until a boarding school was built soon after 1870. (courtesy Slough Museum)

 

The village’s move into prominence began when in 1547, the King, Edward VI installed at Langley Park his representative a Mr John Kedermister to take care of the his woodlands. Further development saw the village expand with the introduction of almshouses for the poor, set up firstly in 1617 by John Kedermister, by Henry Seymour in 1679-1687 and then by William Wild in 1839. Whittington cottages at the corner of Langley Road and St Mary’s Road created local housing and in 1830 Charles Depree set up a school just north of the Red Lion.

In 1830 Charles Depree set up a school for girls in Langley, just north of the Red Lion and on it's former bowling green. It was also used as a Sunday school for both girls and boys. 

Maurice Swabey transformed the school for only boys in 1846. There was opposition from the vicar of Langley (living in London at the time) who refused to sign the application to the National Society. Fortunately other members of the church were in agreement and the school was ready the following year. 

In 1881 the Depree Charity School building became a rented dwelling home until its demolition in the 1960s, due to the widening of St Mary’s Road.

 

For more information about the local history take a trip to :

  1. Slough Museum

  2. Slough History Online

  3. Langley Library

  4. Slough Library

  5. St Mary's Church and the Kedermister Family

  6. Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies

  7. History of Langley Park

  8. Frith Collection Map

     

There are several leaflets and books available, including:

  1. Langley A Glimpse of the Past 1894-1907 by Roy Smith

  2. A Walk in Langley Marish by Leslie Hackett

  3. The Story of Slough by Judith Hunter

  4. When Langley Lost it’s Greens by W Yarrow, M Aylward and J Hunter

  5. St. Mary’s Langley Essays for the Millennium.  J Hurst.

 

Copyright ©  2000 LangleyVillage.co.uk. All rights reserved
 

1 | 2 | 3 | Next