Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire

Historical Description

Abbots-Langley or Chiltern Langley, a parish in Herts. It lies on the Graiyl Junction Canal and the L. & N.W.R., 1 mile SE of King's Langley station, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under King's Langley. The parish was the birthplace of Nicholas de Breakspear, Pope Adrian IV.; and was given to the abbots of St Albans " to find them in clothes." The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St Albans; net yearly value, £218 with residence. The church is partly Norman, partly of later date, and contains an ancient font and some handsome monuments. There is also a small iron church at Bedmont, and Baptist, Congregational, and Wesleyan chapels. Cecil Lodge, Manor House, and Langley House are country residences here. A pleasure fair is held here on 1 May. The parish, which includes the hamlets of Bedmont, Sheppeys, Kitters Green, and Trolley Bottom, has an area of 5255 acres of land and 26 of water; population of the civil parish, 3230 , of the ecclesiastical, 1861.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

Findmypast, in association with the Hertfordshire Archives & Local Studies have the Baptisms, Banns, Marriages, and Burials online for Abbots Langley

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Abbots Langley from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Langley, Abbots (St. Lawrence))

Land and Property

A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Hertfordshire is online.

Maps

Online maps of Abbots Langley are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Hertfordshire newspapers online:

• Hertford Mercury and Reformer
• Herts Guardian, Agricultural Journal, and General Advertiser
• Watford Observer

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitations of Hertfordshire, 1572 and 1634. Edited by Walter C. Metcalfe, F.S.A. is available on the Heraldry page.