Langleybury

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Langleybury was a country house and estate in Hertfordshire, England situated 2 miles north of the town of Watford on a low hill above the valley of the River Gade. It was purchased in 1711 by Robert Raymond later Baron Raymond who was Lord Chief Justice of England from 1724 until 1732.

In 1720 he demolished the original house, of which little is known and built a mansion which still stands on the site today. A park was laid out around the house in the later eighteenth century. His cipher, a griffin in a crown, can still be seen on the building.

Around this time the new transport routes of the Grand Union Canal and Sparrows Hearne Turnpike passed along the valley bottom at the lower edge of the park.

In the 1970s a modern school building was built to the south of the mansion which remained in use as part of the school and as teacher accommodation.

The school closed in 1996 and for a time partly housed Hertfordshire County Council offices. The empty modern school became a favoured film location site, notably for the Hope and Glory TV Series of 1999. The mansion has been divided into apartments for sale.

A children’s farm is situated in the old farm attached to the mansion house.

[edit] References

Williamson , Tom & The Hertfordshire Gardens Trust The parks and Gardens of West Hertfordshire pub. The Hertfordshire Gardens Trust , 2000 ISBN 0-9538417-1-5