Langley Vale
Encyclopedia
Langley Vale is a small village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in Epsom and Ewell
Epsom and Ewell
Epsom and Ewell is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England, covering the town of Epsom and the village of Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It was made a municipal borough in 1937...

 borough, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, 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...

. It is bordered to its north-east by Epsom Downs
Epsom Downs
Epsom Downs is an area of chalk upland near Epsom, Surrey; in the North Downs. Part of the area is taken up by the racecourse, the gallops are part of the land purchased by Stanly Wootton in 1925 in oder that racehorses can be trained without interference. It is open to users such as ramblers,...

, and to the south-east by Walton Downs. It is surrounded by open land: the nearest towns/villages are Great Burgh to the east, Tadworth
Tadworth
Tadworth is a large suburban village in Surrey, on the south-east slope of Epsom Downs. It forms part of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. The census area Tadworth and Walton has a population of 7,016. Neighbouring settlements include Walton-on-the-Hill, Kingswood, Epsom, Burgh Heath, Banstead,...

 to the south-east, Walton on the Hill and Headley, Surrey
Headley, Surrey
Headley is a small village and civil parish in Surrey, England covering 675 hectares.The village is bordered to its west by Leatherhead, to the north by Ashtead and Langley Vale, Walton-on-the-Hill to the east and to its south by Box Hill. It is just outside the M25 motorway encircling...

 to the south, Ashtead
Ashtead
Ashtead is a village situated within the Metropolitan Green Belt of Surrey, England, and is just outside of the suburbia of London. It is separated from Leatherhead by the M25, and from Epsom by Ashtead Common.- History :...

 to the west and Epsom
Epsom
Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. Small parts of Epsom are in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. The town is located south-south-west of Charing Cross, within the Greater London Urban Area. The town lies on the chalk downland of Epsom Downs.-History:Epsom lies...

 to the north. The village's telephone area code is shared with Epsom, Ashtead, Leatherhead and Esher.

History

It appears that Langley was originally a settlement with several tenants and later it became in effect a single farm (Langley Bottom Farm) and that after the Black Death or at least after the 14th century it started to disappear from the map. In a ducument dated 1255/1268 the land appears to be held by a William de Langley. John at Ley from Headley takes it on in 1331/2 and again in 1333/4, succeeding John de Langley. In 1347/8 the tenant is a John at Ley then the records give out. In 1435/6 another John Langley is tenant as subtenant of a William de Langhead of Epsom. The manorial survey of 1496 suggests it was being farmed as a single holding.

Historically, the land which comprised the village of Langley Bottom was, until 1877, part of the Ashtead Park Estate
Ashtead
Ashtead is a village situated within the Metropolitan Green Belt of Surrey, England, and is just outside of the suburbia of London. It is separated from Leatherhead by the M25, and from Epsom by Ashtead Common.- History :...

, although it was in the parish of Epsom
Epsom
Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. Small parts of Epsom are in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. The town is located south-south-west of Charing Cross, within the Greater London Urban Area. The town lies on the chalk downland of Epsom Downs.-History:Epsom lies...

.

It was subsequently sold as building land. OS maps show gradual development - in 1895, the road layout is shown but no development. By 1913 roads and some houses are named. By 1932 there are more houses but still some undeveloped areas. A great deal of development took place after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and in the 1970s infil houses were built on some of the large gardens.

Originally known as Langley Bottom the village changed its name, likely in the 1930s to Langley Vale.

The village has a long association with the racing industry and Epsom Racecourse. Many trainers set up training stables within the village and by the 1950s as there was as many as 15 training stables in Langley Vale. Many villagers worked in the racing industry, too.

Traditionally Derby Day was always at 3.30 pm on the 1st Wednesday in June and it was always a great event in the calendar of Langley Vale. The local school finished early that day so that the children could go to the Derby. Not many villagers ventured out of the village that day because of the traffic, so we would 'party' instead. Most of the shops, the banks and the council offices in Epsom closed half-day on Derby Day. And, there were many more Gypsies - the women would come around the houses selling pegs and 'lucky' heather. Sadly, since the Derby is now run on a Saturday those days are long gone.

Today

The village is suffering from back-land development which is producing some very high density properties which are not in keeping with the village. It is still a nice area to live in and is surrounded by lovely countryside. It has still retained some of its original unique houses.

The village has no pub, and very little in the way of shops, a small community centre and church. There is a single petrol station on the main road, and one school. Although no pub was ever in the village the Rubbing House on the Downs was always looked upon as our 'local'.

During the Epsom Downs, Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...

 race weekend, the village roads get very busy, leaving almost no parking for residents.

Road

The village is accessed by one road.

The village has only two bus services (the E5 to Watersedge via Epsom and the 676 school bus to Therfield, Rosebery and St Andrew's),

Rail

The nearest stations are Tattenham Corner
Tattenham Corner railway station
Tattenham Corner railway station is in Surrey, in England. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Southern, and it is the terminus of the Tattenham Corner Line. London-bound trains head south as far as Tadworth, then turn east and finally north....

 (2 miles by road or 1 mile on foot across the fields) and Epsom Downs
Epsom Downs railway station
Epsom Downs railway station is a railway station located on the boundary of the Reigate and Banstead and Epsom and Ewell boroughs of Surrey with the railway to the north forming a continuation of the boundary....

 (about 2.5 miles).

Emergency services

  • Surrey Police
    Surrey Police
    Surrey Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Surrey in the south of England.The force is led by Chief Constable Mark Rowley and has its headquarters at Mount Browne, Guildford, Surrey...

  • South East Coast Ambulance Service
    South East Coast Ambulance Service
    The South East Coast Ambulance Service is the NHS Ambulance Services Trust for south-eastern England, covering Kent , Surrey, West Sussex and East Sussex . It also covers a part of north-eastern Hampshire around Aldershot...

    , formed, as of 1 July 2006 by the merger of the Surrey Ambulance Service
    Surrey Ambulance Service
    Surrey Ambulance Service was the ambulance service for the County of Surrey in England until July 1, 2006, when it was succeeded by a South East Coast Ambulance Service also covering Sussex and Kent....

    , Sussex
    Sussex
    Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

    , and Kent
    Kent
    Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

     ambulance services
  • Surrey Fire & Rescue Service

External links

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