Wikipedia

Langley, Berkshire

Langley,also known asLangley Marish,is an area ofSloughinBerkshire,England. It is two miles (3 km) east of Slough town centre and 18 miles (29 km) west ofCharing CrossinCentral London.It was a separatecivil parishand village until the 1930s, when the built-up part of Langley was incorporated into Slough. Langley was in thehistoric countyofBuckinghamshire,being transferred to the administrative county of Berkshire in 1974.

Langley
St Mary the Virgin parish church
Langley is located in Berkshire
Langley
Langley
Location withinBerkshire
Area3.6 km2(1.4 sq mi)
Population17,583[1]
•Density4,884/km2(12,650/sq mi)
OS grid referenceTQ005795
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSlough
Postcode districtSL3[2]
Dialling code01753
PoliceThames Valley
FireRoyal Berkshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
WebsiteLangley Village
List of places
UK
England
Berkshire
51°30′21″N0°33′09″W/ 51.5059°N 0.5526°W/51.5059; -0.5526

Etymology

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The place-name Langley derives from theMiddle Englishwordlang,meaning long, andlea,a wood or clearing. Langley was formed of a number ofclearings:George Green, Horsemoor Green, Middle Green, Sawyers Green and Shreding Green. They became the sites for housing which merged into one village centred on the parish church in St Mary's Road. The clearings are remembered in the names of streets or smaller green fields.

MarishorMariescommemorates Christiana de Marecis who held the manor for a short time in the reign ofEdward I.[3]

History

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Notable buildings

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TheChurch of St Mary the Virginis in theChurch of Englanddiocese of Oxford.The church is a Grade Ilisted building[4]and houses theKedermister Library,given by Sir John Kedermister (or Kederminster), who also endowed the surviving almshouses of 1617 in the village. Other surviving almshouses include the Seymour Almshouses (1679–1688), given by Sir Edward Seymour who was aSpeaker of the House of Commons,and those founded in 1839 by William Wild in Horsemoor Green.

The courtierHenry Norrisowned a house, "Parlaunt" or "Leving", at Langley Marish. The property was forfeited to the crown when he was executed in May 1536. When Henry marriedAnne of Clevesin 1540, furnishings from Parlaunt were taken toOatlands Palace.There are no remains of this manor house.[5]

Sir John Kedermister's house,Langley Park(bought byCharles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough) was demolished and rebuilt to designs byStiff Leadbetter,starting in 1756 and completed in the year of his death, 1758.[6]

TheLangley Academysecondary school opened in 2008 and was designed by architectsFoster + Partners.

Langley Airfield

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TheHawker Aircraft Companybought Parlaunt Farm at Langley in 1938 and built a major factory and airfield there. Over 9,000 military aircraft were manufactured at the site especially theHurricaneduringWorld War IIand also theTempestandSea Fury.The final Hurricane built (a MkIIC serialled PZ865, which still flies today with theBattle of Britain Memorial Flight) was completed here on 27 July 1944 and named 'Last of The Many' in a special ceremony. Retiring Chief Test PilotP W S 'George' Bulmanmade the first flight of this the aeroplane on this occasion – he having made the first flight of the prototype fromBrooklandsalmost nine years earlier.

TheHawker Tornado(1940),Typhoon(1940),Tempest(1942),Fury(1944),Sea Fury(1945), and theGeneral Aircraft HamilcarX tank-carrying glider (1945) all made their first flights from Langley. Postwar, the aerodrome was also used byAirwork Services,British South American AirwaysandAirflight[7]for aircraft maintenance work.

The Hawker factory closed in 1958 having also manufacturedHawker Hunterfighters and earlier jet prototypes. Production and staff were transferred to the flight test airfield atDunsfold Aerodromeand the parent Hawker factory inKingston-on-Thames(nowKingston upon Thames), both in Surrey. Little of the factory or airfield remain today although the area's aviation past is remembered in street-names such asSpitfire CloseandHurricane Way.A marker stone was unveiled by theAirfields of Britain Conservation Truston 5 October 2019.[8]

Ford factory

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TheFord Motor Companyopened a commercial vehicle component factory at Langley Airfield in 1949, and then bought the entire site from Hawker Siddeley in 1959. The former aircraft factory was re-used for commercial vehicle manufacture and theFord Transitwas built here until production was transferred toFord's Southampton plantatSwaythling,Southampton,and later theFord Cargo.The Langley factory became part ofIvecoin 1986 but finally closed in September 1997. Demolished a year later by Gregory Demolition, the site is now redeveloped with new housing, offices and warehousing (includingRoyal Mail'sHeathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre,which services nearbyHeathrow Airport).

Miscellaneous

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Langley Carnival is held annually on the second Saturday in July at the Langley Park Memorial Recreation Ground.

The Cable Corporation, based at Langley, was the first[citation needed]cable company in the world to offer voice, video and data services to business and residential users.

Langley is reputed to be haunted by a ghost in a yellow coat.[9]

Transport

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Langley railway station,which includes anIsambard Kingdom Brunelperiod building, is on theGreat Western Main LinetoLondon Paddington.Great Western Railwayoperate a half-hourly service in each direction. In July 2012, theDepartment for Transportannounced plans to build theWestern Rail Approachbetween Langley andIverstations.

On 15 December 2019, Langley station became part of theElizabeth linewith services operated underTfL Railbranding until 24 May 2022. Due to the addition of the Elizabeth line, the station was upgraded to include three new lifts along with a new ticket hall, new ticket office and new ticket gates.

Governance

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Langley forms part of theunparished areaof Slough. It therefore has no separate parish or community council, but is governed directly bySlough Borough Council.

Langley was formerly a separate parish, also known as Langley Marish or Langley Marsh.[10]From 1835 the parish formed part of theEtonPoor Law Union.When parish and district councils were established under theLocal Government Act 1894,the parish of Langley was given a parish council and was included in theEton Rural District.Following significant development in the southern part of the parish adjoining Slough, the area south of theGrand Union Canal(including the parish church and old village centre of Langley), was transferred into the parish andurban districtofSloughon 1 April 1930. The residual, more rural, part of the parish north of the Grand Union Canal continued to be administered as a parish called Langley for another four years before being finally abolished, with most of the northern rural area being transferred into the parish ofWexhamon 1 April 1934, and smaller areas being transferred at the same time to the parishes ofFulmerandIver.[11]In 1931 the parish had a population of 1180.[12]

Notable people

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  • EntrepreneurPeter Jones,born in Langley in 1966
  • Actor Daniel Mountain (1984-), raised in Langley[13]
  • ArtistPaul Nash(1889–1946), buried in the churchyard of St. Mary's Church, Langley
  • WriterJohn Pudney(1909–77), born in Langley
  • Writer Charles Tyrie grew up in Langley in the 1940s and 1950s; the first volume of his autobiography is titledThe Langley Boy.[14]
  • Nathaniel Vincent(1639?–97), nonconformist minister and writer, lived in Langley after theRestoration,until ejected in 1662
  • FootballerMatty Cash(1997-), grew up in Langley

Nearest places

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References

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  1. ^Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density2011 United Kingdom censusOffice for National StatisticsRetrieved 31 October 2014
  2. ^"Cybo".Cybo.
  3. ^Langley Village historyHornby, James John (1895).Walks Round About Eton.p. 18.
  4. ^"The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Langley Marish. (Grade I Listing)".Slough Museum. Archived fromthe originalon 4 July 2008.Retrieved26 April2010.
  5. ^Thomas P. Campbell,Henry VIII and the Art of Majesty: Tapestries at the Tudor Court(Yale, 2007), p. 260.
  6. ^A domed temple in the park,c. 1740,attributed toRoger Morris,no longer exists;Colvin, H.M.(1997) [1954].A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840(3rd ed.). New Haven:Yale University Press.ISBN0-300-07207-4.:s.v."Leadbetter, Stiff", "Morris, Roger".
  7. ^Dunnell, Ben (September 2022). "The Tudor's Reign".Aeroplane Monthly.50(593): 69.
  8. ^"Langley (Parlaunt Park) (Slough)".Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust.Retrieved11 March2023.
  9. ^Ash, Russell (1973).Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain.Reader's Digest Association Limited. p. 267.ISBN9780340165973.
  10. ^Page, William (1925).A History of the County of Buckingham, Volume 3.London: Victoria County History. pp. 294–301.Retrieved5 June2022.
  11. ^"Langley Marish Civil Parish".A Vision of Britain through Time.GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth.Retrieved5 June2022.
  12. ^"Population statistics Langley Marish CP/Ch through time".A Vision of Britain through Time.Retrieved11 May2024.
  13. ^"Danny Mountain".IMDb.Retrieved24 September2022.
  14. ^Tyrie, Charles (December 2006).The Langley Boy.AuthorHouse.ISBN1425964036.

Sources and further reading

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