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Langley is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Langelai, a settlement that was home to 19 families. The area was inhabited since the early days thanks to easy access to water. In the 19th century, archaeologist Sir John Evans discovered the first evidence of human occupation in the area from earlier times. In the 11th century, Ethelwine the Black gave the upper part of this WD5 area to St Albans Abbey. That’s how it came to be known as Langlai Abbatis. The area comprised of four manors. In the 16th century, Sir Richard Lee bought Langley from King Henry VIII.
In the 17th century, the manor passed to Sidney Sussex College and Trinity College as stated in Francis Combe’s will. The Prince Albert’s Model Cottage on Tibbs Hill Road is one of the notable Langley buildings. The design was created for the 19th-century Great Exhibition. The area features many houses in this style. Blackhill can be found nearby Manor Park House. This is a well-known sledging hill. The Dell is a wooded area that can be accessed from this hill. St Lawrence the Martyr church has a stained-glass window in honor of British engineer George Turnbull. He designed Langley’s sewerage system in the 19th century.
Scenes from Harry Potter, Sleepy Hollow, and James Bond: GoldenEye were filmed at Leavesden Film Studios in this part of North London. The studio sits on the site of a former RAF airfield that was later also a Rolls Royce facility. The British comedy The Inbetweeners was filmed in various Langley housing estates. Nicholas Breakspear that became Pope Adrian IV, the only English pope, was born in a nearby village. Comedian Bradley Walsh lived in Langley on Breakspear Road. Singer Nicky Stevens lived here as well. Competitive swimmer and former record holder Judy Grinham and professional footballer Joe Lane are other famous residents.
