INTRODUCTION
The Church of St Lawrence The Martyr
"Langley" derives from the Anglo Saxon word meaning long "ley". A ley was a clearing in a region of woods and swamps. Farms and later villages grew up in this "long clearing", and during the reign of Edward the Confessor the area was given to the Abbot of St Albans – hence "Abbots Langley". "Langlei" is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as having among its people, a priest. A Saxon Church therefore probably existed at that time.
Abbots Langley Parish Church was then closely linked to the Monastery at St Albans and some aerial photographs taken during a period of very dry weather, have revealed a direct path from the Abbey Church to the Church at Abbots Langley. Links with the Abbey were severed following the reformation and St Lawrence Church became part of the Diocese of London. The Diocese of St Albans was formed in 1877 and St Lawrence Church was transferred back to St Albans in 1906.
The present building was largely constructed in 1150 and dedicated to St Lawrence in 1154. Nicholas Breakspeare, from the Parish of Abbots Langley became the only English Pope, Adrian IV in 1154. These two facts are probably purely coincidental.