The Parish of Abbots Langley is one of the largest in England, covering a total of 5445 acres. It stretches from Leavesden and Hunton Bridge in the south to Pimlico and Nash Mills in the north, eastwards to take in parts of Garston and west over the Gade Valley to the edge of Kings Langley.

MEDIEVAL TIMES

The settlement of Abbots Langley was first given a name in 1045, when Ethelwine and his wife Wynfleda gave 'Langelei' (a long meadow or lea) to the Abbot of St Albans.

According to the Domesday Book, there was a Saxon church in the village, but the current day Church of St Lawrence the Martyr was dedicated in 1154. The tower of the church dates from the twelfth century, as do the fine Norman arches that adorn the north and south arcades.

The international significance of Abbots Langley is as the birthplace of the only Englishman ever to become Pope in Rome. Nicholas Breakspear was born at Breakspear Farm, near Bedmond in approximately 1100 and became Pope Adrian IV (1154-1159).

THE REFORMATION AND COUNTRY HOUSES

Henry VIII seized Abbots Langley from the Abbot and monks in 1539. He sold the manor to the military engineer Sir Richard Lee. St. Albans and the nearby villages supported the Parliamentarians in the Civil War and were brought to a state of near starvation.

With the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, there followed a long period of relative calm in England. Abbots Langley became a popular and well-thought of place to build a country house and many sprung up in the countryside. These included the Manor House itself and the original Causeway House, Trowley House, Rosehill, and Cecil Lodge, all of which live on only in their names.

However Hazelwood is now the Hunton Park Conference Centre, Langley House is now converted to flats as Breakspear Court, Abbots Hill, the former home of John Dickinson, is home to an independent girls' school. The Abbots House is still standing in all its Queen Anne glory opposite the church and the Booksellers Retreat fulfils its original purpose on its site at the bottom of Abbots Road.

AGRICULTURE

Due to its position high on the eastern slope of a river valley, Abbots Langley has always enjoyed the benefit of fertile land and good natural water supplies. The area was home to many profitable farms, most famously the Ovaltine Model Poultry and Dairy Farms founded in 1929. The farm buildings here are interesting, being copies of the farm buildings built by Louis XVI for his Queen, Marie Antoinette.

TRANSPORT

Abbots Langley owes much of its continuing popularity over the years to its excellent transport links. The Grand Union Canal was built over an 11 year period starting in 1794 and ran from London to Birmingham. The route was followed some 40 years later by the London to Birmingham Railway.

The main coaching route from London to Berkhamsted Castle travelled along Gypsy Lane, then Upper Highway and Gallows Lane, along what is now Primrose Hill and onwards to Nash Mills. By the start of the 20th century, the main route followed that which became the A41 trunk route. The route remained much unchanged until the bypasses of many settlements including Kings Langley, began in the 1980s.

The construction of the Watford leg of the M1 motorway took place in 1958, brushing the eastern edge of the parish; and the last section of the M25, which goes over the Gade Valley on a viaduct and cuts under the Bedmond Road, was opened in October 1986.

EMPLOYMENT

Over the years, there have been a number of major employers based in the parish. In 1825, John Dickinson added to his paper mills at Nash Mills and Apsley with a factory at Home Park, now home to an industrial estate and a campus of West Herts College.

Leavesden Hospital started life as Leavesden Asylum in 1870, with many staff living in the grounds and homes for married staff in Tanners Hill. The site of the hospital, together with its sister site of Abbots Langley hospital on the opposite side of College Road, now houses 900 new homes built in the mid/late 1990s.

Probably the most famous employer of Abbots Langley for many years, the Ovaltine factory was first operational in 1913. Together with its Egg Farm at Numbers Farm and Dairy Farm at Parsonage Farm, production of the world-famous malted drink employed many local people. The Dairy Farm was converted into residential properties, known as Antoinette Court, in 1985, whilst the Egg Farm is now Beaufort Court, home of Renewable Energy Systems. The factory ceased production in 2003, and the site is now home to almost 400 flats and houses, with the building façade retained after action from local councillors.

Leavesden Aerodrome was established on land in the south of the parish, after the land was subject to compulsory purchase in 1940. Here a total of 1390 Mosquito aircraft and 710 Halifax bombers were built for the war effort. After the war, the factory was leased to de Havilland, with work on the first jet engine. In 1952, the Ghost 50 was the engine used by the world's first civilian jet aircraft, the Comet, when it entered service on the London to Johannesburg route.

The factory went through several amalgamations, becoming Hawker Siddeley, then Rolls Royce. The Aerodrome also had its own operations as a private airfield. However a downturn in manufacturing, together with the end of the Cold War, eventually led to the closure of the factory in 1993 and the airfield soon afterwards. The site is now home to 316 houses, with its roads named after some of the site's most famous products, the Leavesden Park business park and Leavesden Studios, the location for the filming of all the Harry Potter films, as well as James Bond's Goldeneye and the first Star Wars prequel.

THE FUTURE

Abbots Langley in the 21st century is a place that may have changed much in appearance from even 50 years ago, but it still possesses many features that make it a popular and prosperous community. The population has risen from 1205 in 1801, to 4245 in 1921. After great post-war growth, by 1991 the population had stabilised at 16,611, but further housing growth has now taken the population to an estimated 24,000.