Langley, Hampshire

The name Langley means "long wood/clearing".[1] Langley is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, when it was held by Hugh of St Quentin.[2] In 1372 John Baron of South Langley and Julia his wife held a messuage and land in South Langley.[3] Thence the tenement passed indirectly to Richard Goolde and his wife Joan in 1413.[3] John Ludlowe held the land in 1482.[3] In 1500 the right of the Ludlowes to hold the manor (here so called for the first time) was fiercely disputed in the Court of Chancery by one William Fletcher.[3] The Ludlowes evidently won, for in 1609 Sir Edward Ludlowe sold the manor of Langley to Sir Walter Longe.[3] This united the manor of Langley to the manors of Cadlands (now beneath Fawley Refinery) and Holbury, all three following the same descent henceforward.[3] One part of the merged estate eventually became Langley Farm held by the Stanley family at the beginning of the 20th century.[3]

The modern village now lies on the site of the old manor house.[4] At the beginning of the 20th century Langley and Fawley were the only two villages in the parish.[3] With the growth of the village of Blackfield the ward is now referred to as the Fawley, Blackfield and Langley Ward.

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