Langley (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Langele

In the civil parish of Birmingham.
In the historic county of Warwickshire.
Modern Authority of Birmingham.
1974 county of West Midlands.
Medieval County of Warwickshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SP15139553
Latitude 52.55776° Longitude -1.77825°

Langley has been described as a certain Fortified Manor House.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

Langley Hall - The moat probably belongs to the fortified Manor House of Edmund de Barford (licence to crenellate AD 1327). The possible remains of this building may be seen in the eastern half of the moated enclosure, where there is a bank containing fragments of stone. In the 17th century the Pudseys had a house here: it was pulled down about 1817, and the present farmhouse built from the material of the stables. (Chatwin and Harcourt) In the western half of the enclosure are traces of foundations showing Tudor brickwork; possibly belonging to the Pudsey house. The western arm of the moat has been filled in and the southern arm straightened. North of the moat are two fishponds. (Chatwin and Harcourt; Chatwin) No trace of the foundations mentioned were seen during fieldwork. The area is now occupied by chicken runs and fruit trees. The moat has been further mutilated. All that now remains is the semi-circular fragment to the north, which is water-filled. The two fish-ponds to the north-west are still extant, though now dry. (Field Investigators Comments–F1 AC 14-DEC-53) The remaining shallow stretch of moat, on the north side, is 120.0m in length, from 11.0 to 18.0m in width and up to 0.5m in depth. It is now dry. The now-dry fishponds to the north each measure 50.0m in length and 17.0m in width and they are up to 1.5m in depth. There is an overflow channel from the southern pond into the northern one. (Field Investigators Comments–F3 ASP 06-FEB-76). (PastScape)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1327 Oct 7 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 331879.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MBM516; MBM71.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Wikipedia entry
Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 2 East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
  Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p. 60
  Salter, Mike, 1992, Castles and Moated Mansions of Warwickshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 39
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 486 (possible)
  Salzman, L.F. (ed), 1947, 'The borough of Sutton Coldfield' VCH Warwickshire Vol. 4 p. 230-45 online transcription
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 408 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Chatwin, P.B., 1947-8, 'Castles in Warwickshire' Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Vol. 67 p. 27-8
  Chatwin and Harcourt, 1941-2, Transactions of the Birmingham Archaeological Society Vol. 64 p. 6-7
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1891, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1327-30) Vol. 1 p. 179 online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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