The village grew up around the
Templar holdings at
Temple Dinsley. The first church was mentioned in 1252, when six acres (24,000 m2) of land was given to nuns from
Elstow, Bedfordshire. Temple Dinsley passed on to the
Knights Hospitaller after the dissolution of the Templars. When the Hospitallers were in turn dissolved in 1542, the manor went to Sir
Ralph Sadleir. The current house at Temple Dinsley dates from 1714, and served as
Princess Helena College between 1935 and 2021. In the 17th century the village became linked with
John Bunyan, who used to hold services in a natural
amphitheatre now called Bunyan's Dell. Prior to 1894, Preston and neighbouring
Langley were part of the parish of Hitchin, together forming a long
salient to the south of the town itself. Preston and Langley became separate civil parishes as a result of the
Local Government Act 1894, with effect from the first parish meeting on 4 December 1894. Preston civil parish was then included in the
Hitchin Rural District between 1894 and 1974, when it became part of North Hertfordshire. The parish of Preston was enlarged in 1955 with the addition of territory from the neighbouring parishes of
St Ippolyts and
King's Walden. St Martin's, the local
Anglican church, opened in 1900. The ruined
Minsden Chapel, reputed to be haunted, is located near the village, though is actually in
Langley civil parish. The village pub, the Red Lion, was purchased by the community in 1983. ==Governance==