a trip around our village

 

st mary's church

Look a little bit closer at the buildings and surroundings you will see that the area has it’s own illustrious past. The most historical road in Langley Village is St Mary's Road. The layout of St Mary's Road stretches from it's start in Langley Road to join Middle Green and then end in Langley Park. It provided easy access for the residents of the Langley Park estate to the Church. The widening of the road in 1959 led to the demolition of the old vicarage and the old school house (Depree School). The road is famous for many buildings; St Mary's Church, The Kedermister Library, The Almshouses, The Red Lion Pub as well as the now demolished, school.

 

 

Much of the history of this area is associated with the Kedermister family and their legacy lives on today. John and his son Edmund Kedermister were responsible for rescuing Langley Park from neglect. Edmund's son, Sir John Kedermister, was then given a lease on the park by Charles 1 in 1626. Sir John enlarged, restored and refurbished the church, building the library and the almshouses which bear his name, before his death in 1631.

The parish church of St. Mary the Virgin is in the parish of Langley Marish part of the diocese of Oxford. St Mary's Church (1150) was originally the church linked with the old parish of Wraysbury but since the installation of a local vicar the church become the focal point of the village's local history. The red brick tower of St Mary's was rebuilt in 1609 on the base of the previous flint tower (the date is cast in lead on a rainwater hopper on the east of the tower) it forms part of the many changes that have taken place to the original design of the church and it's surroundings over the years.  

kedermister library

The church houses the Kedermister Library, donated by Sir John Kedermister. The Kedermister Library at Langley is a rare surviving example of an early 17th century parish library. It is preserved in situ in the decorated cupboards designed for it in 1620 in the parish church of St Mary the Virgin. The Library was founded before 1631, when Sir John Kiddermister's will allocated a number of additional books to the collection, which was for the benefit of "Ministers of the said town of Langley and such other of the County of Buckingham as resort thereto".  It provided for the education of the rector of St. Mary's, and presented to the church in perpetuity by Sir John. A catalogue of the Library listing 307 volumes survives from 1638. A large portion of the library still exists and, with the contemporary catalogue, provides a fascinating insight into scholarship and book collecting in the 17th century.

The Kederminster Library is at St Mary's Church, St Mary's Road, Langley Marish. It is open to the public from 2.30pm. to 5.00pm. on the first Sunday of June, July, August and September, or by arrangement with the Honorary Curator, on 01753 542068.

 

almshouses

The original Almshouses in Langley were built in 1617 and were erected with the aid of Sir John Kedermister. Most local people associate with the ones situated south of St Mary’s churchyard however there are more. Bungalows, 2 blocks of flats and a warden’s flat, all placed around the same area of St Mary’s Church, brings the total to 25 separate almshouses.

 

 

 

In 1649 a document was produced to safeguard the use of the almshouses, with a detailed set of rules that principal residents had to comply with. Some of the residents wore a cloth gown (probably ginger colour) and a tin badge with the founder’s arms and a motto, worn on the left sleeve. 4 principal residents took it in turn to clean the chapel, built by Sir John. They also had to chaperone anyone visiting the Kedermister Library to ensure no books left the premises.

Sir John died without a son, so his daughter Elizabeth and her husband Sir John Parsons inherited the estate. Then the Seymour family bought the estate when he died. 

 

 

The Seymour Almshouses (1679 -1688) named after another local benefactor Edward Seymour set up dwellings for poor farm workers. Sir Edward Seymour was an important Parliamentary figure during the second half of the 17th century. He eventually became Speaker of the House of Commons. 

In 1839 William Wild founded almshouses at Horsemoor Green, which were replaced by bungalows, north of the Seymour’s. This was in 1955, due to Langley High Street works. 

In 1972 2 blocks of flats, NE of St Mary’s church were completed. The southernmost block was Trelawney House. 

In more recent times activities are arranged for the residents, depending upon their infirmities, ranging form weight-lifting to computer training.

Over 400 years the almshouses have provided homes to successive generations of Langley’s elderly and long may they continue.

red lion pub

The Red Lion is a 16th century building which can be found just to the left upon entering St Mary's Road. It was originally tied to the church opposite but, is now a public house. It's charm and setting in the heart of the old village makes it worth a visit and not just for an ale.

 

 

The Red Lion Pub built in the 16th century was one of only three buildings that were at the centre of the village's development. The other two being St Mary's church and the original Vicarage.

There is an essay called ‘Origins of the Red Lion Public House’ by Judith Hunter in St Mary’s, Essays for the Millennium, edited by Jeremy Hurst. It is reproduced here with his permission.

Further information

1. Jane Francis: The Kedermister Library: an account of its origins and a reconstruction of its contents and arrangement; Records of Buckinghamshire Volume 36 1994 pp. 62-85; ISSN: 0967-2885

2. St Mary's Church Tour

3. Langley Marish History Online

4. The History of the Kederminster Library

 

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