Archaeological evidence indicates continuous human activity in the Kings Langley area from the
Lower Palaeolithic period. A
Roman villa of the winged-corridor type, dated to the 2nd century AD, stood in the southern part of the present village, just east of the
River Gade, between what is now the Roman Gardens
housing estate and Home Park
Industrial Estate, probably overlying an earlier 1st-century elite
Catuvellauni residence. The site was first identified in 1825 during works for
Kings Langley railway station, and was later largely excavated between June 1981 and March 1982. Identified features included a
bath suite and
hypocaust heating. The earliest known written reference to the manor of Langley dates to the 1040s, when the Saxon
thegn Æthelwine Niger granted the land to Leofstan, abbot of
St Albans Abbey. Leofstan subsequently granted the western portion of the district to a
knight named Turcoht, an act which may have led to the later division between Kings Langley and
Abbots Langley. By 1066 the manor had been lost to the abbey and was held by Saeric and Thori as
vassals of
Leofwine Godwinson (–1066). Following the
Norman Conquest, the manor formed part of the
Hundred of Danish and was among the lands granted to
Robert, Count of Mortain (–), uterine half-brother of
William the Conqueror (–1087); his tenant was a certain Ralf. The assessed value declined from £8 in 1066 to £2 in 1086, a reduction likely caused by
post-Conquest disruption. The present village developed as a
linear village along the old road from London to
Berkhamsted and beyond to
the Midlands. Following the forfeiture of
William, Count of Mortain (before 1084–after 1140) after his
failed rebellion in 1106, the manor was granted to the Chenduit family as part of the
Honour of Berkhamsted. The
Gesta Abbatum reports that
Paul (abbot 1077–1093), abbot of
St Albans Abbey, recovered Kings Langley for the abbey in the late 11th century; however, the Chenduit family retained control of the manor as vassals of the
Crown, suggesting either a short-lived recovery or a reassertion of specific ecclesiastical rights. By the 1270s Sir Stephen de Chenduit (before 1235–after 1278) had fallen into debt, and the manor was acquired by
Eleanor of Castile (1241–1290),
queen consort of
Edward I (1239–1307). Shortly afterwards a royal palace was developed to the west of the village on Le Corte Hill (now Langley Hill), with a
deer park extending to the south. It is unclear whether this represented a new foundation or an enlargement of an earlier complex.
Edward III (1312–1377) later held
court at Kings Langley during the
Black Death to avoid London, and the village briefly served as a seat of government.
King's Langley Priory, a
Dominican house, was founded in 1308 by
Edward II (1284–1327) adjacent to the royal palace. Both the palace and the priory church fell into ruin after the
Dissolution of the Monasteries, although elements of each site survive.
Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall (–1312), the favourite of Edward II, was interred with "great ceremony" in the priory church. Having been summarily executed without trial in
Warwickshire in June 1312, his burial had to be deferred since he had been
excommunicated by
Robert Winchelsey,
Archbishop of Canterbury earlier that year. The exact location of his remains is unknown. Following his deposition on 30 September 1399,
Richard II (1367–1400) died in captivity, probably of starvation, at
Pontefract Castle. After his body was displayed at
St Paul’s Cathedral, he was interred in the priory church on 6 March 1401; on 4 December 1413 his remains were removed and taken to
Westminster Abbey. Other notable burials at the priory included the fourth surviving son of Edward III,
Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (1341–1402), who was born at the palace.
Ralph Stafford (–1385), a knight in the household of Richard II, and
Anne de Mortimer (1388–1411), an ancestor of the
House of York and grandmother of
Edward IV (1442–1483) and
Richard III (1452–1485). The
All Saints' Church was built in the 14th century on the site of an earlier church. The tomb of Edmund of Langley was moved there following the Dissolution of the Priory (c.1539) and placed in a specially built north-east chapel in 1878. Housing developments in the 20th century have led to the village spreading out on either side of the main road. The A41 has now been diverted west of the village leaving the high street to local traffic for the first time in centuries. During the
Second World War, Barnes Lodge, a former
country house located off Hempstead Road near Rucklers Lane, served as the principal
radio communications centre linking the
Polish Underground (Armia Krajowa) in
occupied Poland with the
Polish government-in-exile and its military staff in London. It worked in close coordination with the
Polish Section of the Special Operations Executive. The house was
demolished in , and the present building, retaining the name Barnes Lodge, was constructed on the site of its former stables. Kings Langley was the site of the factory making
Ovaltine chocolate drink; the listed factory facade, designed by James Albert Bowden is now all that is left and still stands alongside the railway line among a new housing development. The Ovaltine factory itself has been converted into a series of flats and duplexes. The former Ovaltine Egg Farm was converted into
energy-efficient offices which house
Renewable Energy Systems. The complex incorporates a
highly visible 225 kW
Vestas V29
wind turbine, nicknamed "Lofty" alongside the M25.
Kings Langley School is the local
comprehensive school, situated on Love Lane to the west of the village. Kings Langley was also the site of a
Waldorf School, the
Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley which closed in 2019. This was built on the grounds of the old palace. There was a small display cabinet of finds from the palace period in the school entrance foyer. The village became twinned with
Achiet-le-Grand in France in November 2009, in honour of
Christopher Cox from the village who won a
Victoria Cross in fighting near Achiet-le-Grand in the
First World War. == Transport ==