Langford, Bedfordshire
Encyclopedia
Langford is a village and civil parish situated alongside the River Ivel
in the county of Bedfordshire
.
Langford is three miles (5 km) south of Biggleswade
and has been a settlement on the east bank of the river Ivel since Saxon times. It is a long straggling village which at one time had two or three fording points over the river, hence its name. The village now starts at the Baulk corner and it is nearly three miles to the Running Waters at the north end of the village.
On the west side of the river Ivel is part of the Ivel Valley countryside project, namely, Henlow common and Langford meadows local nature reserve. This is a 47 acres (190,202.4 m²) reserve and despite its name, Henlow common is situated in Langford parish. It came to Langford in 1985 after an exchange of land between the two parishes, as a registered common it keeps its original name. Dams ditch, earlier called Adams ditch, runs through the middle of the reserve. It is more like a small river than a ditch.
The village has grown enormously since 1961 when the population was 1,250, then the housing estates were taking over the fields and meadows, so that by 1976 it had doubled to 2,500 and in 2001 it was 4,000.http://langfordparishcouncil.org.uk/
This is the home of Langford Youth the local youth football side, they play here between September and March and during the summer months it is the home of Langford Cricket Team, at the bottom of the field is a cricket score board.
The Bowls club's bowling green is at the bottom of the field next to the village hall.
The Village also has its own football ground, Forde Park, this can be found half way to Henlow
. It is the Home of both the Men's and Women's Football sides. The women's team currently play in the South East Combination Women League, A few seasons back the women's side was in the FA Nationwide Women's Premier League, playing the likes of Chelsea L.F.C.
. Forde Park is one of the biggest parks in England
along with the likes of the world famous Wembley Stadium
.
Langford Tennis Club is an active, friendly, village tennis club with two floodlit courts, organised social play, club ladders and league play in the Bedfordshire LTA leagues. Regular coaching courses for all standards are run by Justin Layne our LTA qualified coach. The club also hosts Get Back Into... courses for people wanting to refresh their way back to playing tennis. Members are welcome from all the surrounding villages
, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge
and the youngest brother of T. E. Lawrence
(Lawrence of Arabia).
River Ivel
The River Ivel is a river in the east of England. It is a tributary of the River Great Ouse.-Course of the Ivel:The river Ivel rises just north of Baldock in Hertfordshire, but most of its course lies within Bedfordshire. It flows through Stotfold, Arlesey, Henlow, Langford, Biggleswade, Sandy and...
in the county of Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
.
Origins
The village is of Saxon origin, first mentioned in 944AD. and at one time it had one or more fording points across the river. The name is based on the words long ford from the length of the settlement. At the time of the Domesday Book 1086,the population was around one and twenty. The parish church is St. Andrews. Before 1066 the lord of Langford was Lewin, a thane of Edward the Confessor. William the Conqueror granted the village to Walter le Fleming. In 1142 Walter's descendant Simon de Wahull gave land to the Knights Templar, who established themselves as Lords of the Manor of Langford Rectory. From: 'The People at the Long Ford' by Michael Rutt – pub. Bedfordshire Countu Council 1975.Langford is three miles (5 km) south of Biggleswade
Biggleswade
Biggleswade is a market town and civil parish located on the River Ivel in Bedfordshire, England. It is well served by transport routes, being close to the A1 road between London and the North, as well as having a railway station on the main rail link North from London .-Geography:Located about 40...
and has been a settlement on the east bank of the river Ivel since Saxon times. It is a long straggling village which at one time had two or three fording points over the river, hence its name. The village now starts at the Baulk corner and it is nearly three miles to the Running Waters at the north end of the village.
On the west side of the river Ivel is part of the Ivel Valley countryside project, namely, Henlow common and Langford meadows local nature reserve. This is a 47 acres (190,202.4 m²) reserve and despite its name, Henlow common is situated in Langford parish. It came to Langford in 1985 after an exchange of land between the two parishes, as a registered common it keeps its original name. Dams ditch, earlier called Adams ditch, runs through the middle of the reserve. It is more like a small river than a ditch.
The village has grown enormously since 1961 when the population was 1,250, then the housing estates were taking over the fields and meadows, so that by 1976 it had doubled to 2,500 and in 2001 it was 4,000.http://langfordparishcouncil.org.uk/
Sport and recreation
Langford has a King George's Field in memorial to King George VGeorge V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
This is the home of Langford Youth the local youth football side, they play here between September and March and during the summer months it is the home of Langford Cricket Team, at the bottom of the field is a cricket score board.
The Bowls club's bowling green is at the bottom of the field next to the village hall.
The Village also has its own football ground, Forde Park, this can be found half way to Henlow
Henlow
Henlow is a village and civil parish in the district of Central Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire, England.RAF Henlow, is located nearby, but is in fact nearer to the village of Stondon...
. It is the Home of both the Men's and Women's Football sides. The women's team currently play in the South East Combination Women League, A few seasons back the women's side was in the FA Nationwide Women's Premier League, playing the likes of Chelsea L.F.C.
Chelsea L.F.C.
Chelsea Ladies Football Club are a semi-professional English women's football club affiliated with Chelsea F.C.. They have competed in the top tier of women's football in England, the Premier League National Division, since 2005...
. Forde Park is one of the biggest parks in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
along with the likes of the world famous Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
.
Langford Tennis Club is an active, friendly, village tennis club with two floodlit courts, organised social play, club ladders and league play in the Bedfordshire LTA leagues. Regular coaching courses for all standards are run by Justin Layne our LTA qualified coach. The club also hosts Get Back Into... courses for people wanting to refresh their way back to playing tennis. Members are welcome from all the surrounding villages
Notable residents
A.W. LawrenceA.W. Lawrence
Arnold Walter Lawrence was a British authority on classical sculpture and architecture. He was Laurence Professor of Classical Archaeology at Cambridge University in the 1940s, and in the early 1950s in Accra he founded what later became the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board as well as the...
, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and the youngest brother of T. E. Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18...
(Lawrence of Arabia).