Editing Langley, Berkshire

{{Use British English|date=May 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2024}}
{{infobox UK place
| static_image_name        = St. Mary the Virgin Church, Langley - geograph.org.uk - 25667.jpg
| static_image_caption     = St Mary the Virgin parish church
| country                  = England
| official_name            = Langley
| unitary_england          = [[Borough of Slough|Slough]]
| lieutenancy_england      = [[Berkshire]]
| region                   = South East England
| constituency_westminster = [[Slough (UK Parliament constituency)|Slough]]
| population               = 17583
| population_ref           =<ref name=ons>[http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density] [[2011 United Kingdom census]] [[Office for National Statistics]] Retrieved 31 October 2014</ref>
| area_total_km2           = 3.6
| post_town                = Slough
| postcode_district        = SL3<ref>{{cite web|url=https://postal-codes.cybo.com/united-kingdom/SL3_slough/|title=Cybo|website=Cybo}}</ref>
| postcode_area            = SL
| dial_code                = 01753
| os_grid_reference        = TQ005795
| coordinates              = {{coord|51.5059|-0.5526|display=inline,title}}
| website                  = [http://www.langleyvillage.co.uk/ Langley Village]
}}

'''Langley''', also known as '''Langley Marish''', is an area of [[Slough]] in [[Berkshire]], England. It is {{convert|2|mi|km|0|spell=in}} east of Slough town centre and {{convert|18|mi|km|0}} west of [[Charing Cross]] in [[Central London]]. It was a separate [[civil parish]] and village until the 1930s, when the built-up part of Langley was incorporated into Slough. Langley was in the [[Historic counties of England|historic county]] of [[Buckinghamshire]], being transferred to the administrative county of Berkshire in 1974.

==Etymology==
The place-name Langley derives from the [[Middle English]] word ''[[wikt:lang#Etymology 2|lang]]'', meaning long, and ''[[wikt:lea#Etymology 1|lea]]'', a wood or clearing. Langley was formed of a number of [[Glade (geography)|clearings]]: 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.

''Marish'' or ''Maries'' commemorates Christiana de Marecis who held the manor for a short time in the reign of [[Edward I of England|Edward I]].<ref name="Marish">[http://www.langleyvillage.co.uk/history.htm Langley Village history] {{cite book |first=James John |last=Hornby |year=1895 |title=Walks Round About Eton |page=18}}</ref>

==History==

===Notable buildings===
[[File:Seymour Almshouses, Langley Marish Geograph-2309314-by-Stefan-Czapski.jpg|thumb|Seymour Almshouses]]
The [[St Mary the Virgin Church, Langley|Church of St Mary the Virgin]] is in the [[Church of England]] [[diocese of Oxford]]. The church is a Grade I [[listed building]]<ref>{{cite web |title=The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Langley Marish. (Grade I Listing) |url=http://www.sloughmuseum.co.uk/st_maries_langley.htm |publisher=Slough Museum |access-date=26 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704191421/http://www.sloughmuseum.co.uk/st_maries_langley.htm |archive-date=4 July 2008 }}</ref> and houses the [[Kedermister 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 a [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]], and those founded in 1839 by William Wild in Horsemoor Green.

The courtier [[Henry Norris (courtier)|Henry Norris]] owned a house, "Parlaunt" or "Leving", at Langley Marish. The property was forfeited to the crown when he was executed in May 1536. When Henry married [[Anne of Cleves]] in 1540, furnishings from Parlaunt were taken to [[Oatlands Palace]]. There are no remains of this manor house.<ref>[[Thomas P. Campbell]], ''Henry VIII and the Art of Majesty: Tapestries at the Tudor Court'' (Yale, 2007), p. 260.</ref>

Sir John Kedermister's house, [[Langley Park, Buckinghamshire|Langley Park]] (bought by [[Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough]]) was demolished and rebuilt to designs by [[Stiff Leadbetter]], starting in 1756 and completed in the year of his death, 1758.<ref>A domed temple in the park, {{circa|1740}}, attributed to [[Roger Morris (1695–1749)|Roger Morris]], no longer exists; {{cite book |last=Colvin |first=H.M. |author-link=Howard Colvin |title=A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840 |year=1997 |orig-year=1954 |edition=3rd |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |location=New Haven |isbn=0-300-07207-4 }}: ''s.v.'' "Leadbetter, Stiff", "Morris, Roger".</ref>

The [[Langley Academy]] secondary school opened in 2008 and was designed by architects [[Foster + Partners]].

===Langley Airfield===
The [[Hawker Aircraft|Hawker Aircraft Company]] bought 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 the [[Hawker Hurricane|Hurricane]] during [[World War II]] and also the [[Hawker Tempest|Tempest]] and [[Hawker Sea Fury|Sea Fury]]. The final Hurricane built (a MkIIC serialled PZ865, which still flies today with the [[Battle of Britain Memorial Flight]]) was completed here on 27 July 1944 and named 'Last of The Many' in a special ceremony. Retiring Chief Test Pilot [[George Bulman (pilot)|P W S 'George' Bulman]] made the first flight of this the aeroplane on this occasion – he having made the first flight of the prototype from [[Brooklands]] almost nine years earlier.

The [[Hawker Tornado]] (1940), [[Hawker Typhoon|Typhoon]] (1940), [[Hawker Tempest|Tempest]] (1942), [[Hawker Sea Fury|Fury]] (1944), [[Hawker Sea Fury|Sea Fury]] (1945), and the [[General Aircraft Hamilcar]] X tank-carrying glider (1945) all made their first flights from Langley. Postwar, the aerodrome was also used by [[Airwork Services]], [[British South American Airways]] and [[Airflight]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dunnell |first1=Ben |title=The Tudor's Reign |journal=Aeroplane Monthly |date=September 2022 |volume=50 |issue=593 |page=69}}</ref> for aircraft maintenance work.

The Hawker factory closed in 1958 having also manufactured [[Hawker Hunter]] fighters and earlier jet prototypes. Production and staff were transferred to the flight test airfield at [[Dunsfold Aerodrome]] and the parent Hawker factory in [[Municipal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames|Kingston-on-Thames]] (now [[Kingston 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 as ''Spitfire Close'' and ''Hurricane Way''. A marker stone was unveiled by the [[Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust]] on 5 October 2019.<ref>{{cite web |title=Langley (Parlaunt Park) (Slough) |url=https://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/airfield-finder/langley-parlaunt-park-slough/ |website=Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust |access-date=11 March 2023}}</ref>

===Ford factory===
The [[Ford of Britain|Ford Motor Company]] opened 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 the [[Ford Transit]] was built here until production was transferred to [[Ford Southampton plant|Ford's Southampton plant]] at [[Swaythling]], [[Southampton]], and later the [[Ford Cargo (Europe)|Ford Cargo]]. The Langley factory became part of [[Iveco]] in 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 (including [[Royal Mail]]'s [[Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre]], which services nearby [[Heathrow Airport]]).

===Miscellaneous===
[[File:Langley - "Red Lion" public house (geograph 7275780).jpg|thumb|The Red Lion public house, St Mary's Road]]
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|date=February 2015}} 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ash |first=Russell |date=1973 |title=Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain |publisher=Reader's Digest Association Limited |page=267 |isbn=9780340165973 }}</ref>

==Transport==
[[File:Langley station 1st June 2022 09.jpg|thumb|Langley railway station]]
[[Langley railway station]], which includes an [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]] period building, is on the [[Great Western Main Line]] to [[Paddington railway station|London Paddington]]. [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|Great Western Railway]] operate a half-hourly service in each direction. In July 2012, the [[Department for Transport]] announced plans to build the [[Western Rail Approach to Heathrow|Western Rail Approach]] between Langley and [[Iver railway station|Iver]] stations.

On 15 December 2019, Langley station became part of the [[Elizabeth line]] with services operated under [[TfL Rail]] branding 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==
Langley forms part of the [[unparished area]] of Slough. It therefore has no separate parish or community council, but is governed directly by [[Slough Borough Council]].

Langley was formerly a separate parish, also known as Langley Marish or Langley Marsh.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Page |first1=William |title=A History of the County of Buckingham, Volume 3 |date=1925 |publisher=Victoria County History |location=London |pages=294–301 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/bucks/vol3/pp294-301 |access-date=5 June 2022}}</ref> From 1835 the parish formed part of the [[Eton, Berkshire|Eton]] [[Poor Law Union]]. When parish and district councils were established under the [[Local Government Act 1894]], the parish of Langley was given a parish council and was included in the [[Eton Rural District]]. Following significant development in the southern part of the parish adjoining Slough, the area south of the [[Grand Union Canal]] (including the parish church and old village centre of Langley), was transferred into the parish and [[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|urban district]] of [[Municipal Borough of Slough|Slough]] on 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 of [[Wexham]] on 1 April 1934, and smaller areas being transferred at the same time to the parishes of [[Fulmer]] and [[Iver]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Langley Marish Civil Parish |url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10009650# |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=5 June 2022}}</ref> In 1931 the parish had a population of 1180.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10009650/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics Langley Marish CP/Ch through time|publisher=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]]|accessdate=11 May 2024}}</ref>

==Notable people==
* Entrepreneur [[Peter Jones (entrepreneur)|Peter Jones]], born in Langley in 1966
* Actor Daniel Mountain (1984-), raised in Langley<ref>{{Cite web |title=Danny Mountain |url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1893225/ |access-date=24 September 2022 |publisher=[[IMDb]]}}</ref>
* Artist [[Paul Nash (artist)|Paul Nash]] (1889–1946), buried in the churchyard of St. Mary's Church, Langley
* Writer [[John 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 titled ''The Langley Boy''.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Langley Boy |last=Tyrie |first=Charles |date=December 2006 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=1425964036}}</ref>
* [[Nathaniel Vincent]] (1639?–97), nonconformist minister and writer, lived in Langley after the [[Restoration (England)|Restoration]], until ejected in 1662
* Footballer [[Matty Cash]] (1997-), grew up in Langley

==Nearest places==
{{Geographic location
|title     = Nearest places
|Centre    = Langley
|North     = [[Iver]]
|Northeast = [[Cowley, London|Cowley]]
|East      = [[Harmondsworth]]
|Southeast = [[Colnbrook]]
|South     = Datchet ([[Queen Mother Reservoir]])
|Southwest = [[Datchet]]
|West      = [[Slough]]
|Northwest = [[George Green, Buckinghamshire|George Green]]
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources and further reading==
*{{cite book |last=Fraser |first=Maxwell |year=1973 |title=The History of Slough |location=Slough |publisher=Slough Corporation |page=148 }}
*{{cite book |last=Mason |first=Francis K |year=1991 |title=Hawker Aircraft Since 1920 |edition=3rd revised |location=London |publisher=Putnam |isbn=0-85177-839-9 }}
*{{cite book |editor-last=Page |editor-first=W.H. |editor-link=William Henry Page |series=[[Victoria County History]] |title=A History of the County of Buckingham, Volume 3 |date=1925 |pages=294–301 |url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42562 }}
*{{cite book |last=Pevsner |first=Nikolaus |author-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |year=1960 |title=Buckinghamshire |series=[[Pevsner Architectural Guides#Buildings of England|The Buildings of England]] |location=Harmondsworth |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=0-14-071019-1 |pages=181–183 }}
*{{cite book |last=Pudney |first=John |year=1955 |title=Six Great Aviators – A V Roe; Alcock & Brown; Lindbergh; Kingsford-Smith; Saint-Exupery; Neville Duke |publisher=Hamish Hamilton }}
*{{cite journal |last=Shaw |first=Stuart |date=July 2000 |title=The History of Langley Aircraft Factory and Airfield |journal=Airfield Review |pages=17–19}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/1502 |website=visionofbritain.org.uk |title=Langley Marish Buckinghamshire |access-date=1 May 2016}}

==External links==
* [http://www.langleyvillage.co.uk/ Langley Village website]
*{{cite web |url=http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/country-parks/langley-park/history/ |title=History of Langley park |publisher=Buckinghamshire County Council |access-date=8 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226044151/http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/country-parks/langley-park/history/ |archive-date=26 February 2014 }}

{{Slough suburbs}}

[[Category:Suburbs of Slough]]