Langar, Nottinghamshire

Langar is an English village in the Vale of Belvoir, about four miles (6.4 km) south of Bingham, in the Rushcliffe borough of Nottinghamshire. Its civil parish of Langar cum Barnstone had a population of 980 at the 2011 Census.[1] This was estimated at 1010 in 2019.[2]

Langar

The lawns of Langar Hall
Langar
Location within Nottinghamshire
Population980 (2011 census, including Barnstone)
OS grid referenceSK7234
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNottingham
Postcode districtNG13
Dialling code01949
PoliceNottinghamshire
FireNottinghamshire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament

Geography

In the south of the parish of Langar cum Barnstone, on Langar Airfield, the village of Langar borders Clawson, Hose and Harby, the district of Melton and Leicestershire. At Hose Lane it meets Colston Bassett. It passes north, crossing Harby Lane and following a tributary of the River Smite. At Langar Lane Bridge it briefly adjoins Cropwell Bishop, then the parish of Wiverton Hall, following the upper reach of the River Smite and a short length of Bingham Road at Wiverton Smite Bridge. It passes the western edge of Northfield Farm, then the east of Smite Hill Farm, which is outside the parish. Near the point where the old Bingham–Melton railway crossed the River Smite, it adjoins Whatton-in-the-Vale, then Granby at Granby Lane, before following the River Whipling, east of Barnstone, which is part of the parish. Further south, the border is to the east of the old railway and south of Granby Gap woods, which are outside the parish, in Leicestershire.

Langar comes under Rushcliffe Borough Council. Since December 2019, the member of Parliament (MP) for the Rushcliffe constituency, to which Langar belongs, is the Conservative Ruth Edwards.[3]

Both Langar and Barnstone lie on heavy yellow clay which can be screened to yield a decent red earthenware.

At the 2001 census, the civil parish had 378 households.

History

One of the first recorded landowners was Gerard de Rodes in the 12th century. The De Rodes family served as soldiers for King John who visited Langar in 1215. The estate then passed to the Tibetots in the 13th century. Following the marriage of Margaret Tibetot to Roger Scrope, 2nd Baron Scrope of Bolton in 1373, the estate passed to the Scrope family.[4]

The last Lord Scrope who was associated with Langar was Emanuel Scrope, 1st Earl of Sunderland. Emanuel's estate was inherited by Annabella, his illegitimate daughter. In 1677, Annabella married the Gloucestershire politician, John Howe. According to Thoroton, Langar Hall and nearly the whole parish had lately become the estate of Mr Howe.

A famous descendant of the Howe's was Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, famous for his victory in the sea battle known as the "Glorious First of June", celebrated every year at Langar Hall. Admiral Howe died in 1799 and was buried in Langar Church.

Another famous son of Langar was the author Samuel Butler whose father, Thomas, was rector of Langar-cum-Barnstone.[5]

St Andrew's Church
Main article: St. Andrew's Church, Langar

The church of St Andrew's is sometimes dubbed the Cathedral of the Vale for its relative size. This may be in part due to its importance as a place of pilgrimage in Saxon times.[6]

The former vicarage is a Grade II* listed Queen Anne house, on the junction of Church Lane and Barnstone Road.

Airfield
Langar Airfield

The village has lent its name to the Second World War airfield, RAF Langar, which is on the Nottinghamshire/Leicestershire boundary. The airfield was used for bombing operations over Germany by RAF Bomber Command. There is a war memorial there. 207 Sqn were based there. After the war it was by the Royal Canadian Air Force for many years. The airfield has served as the base for British Parachute Schools since 1977.

Economy

Lafarge Barnstone cement works lies south of Barnstone,[7] formerly owned by Blue Circle Industries, which was bought by Lafarge in 2001. It produces quick-setting cement by the addition of calcium sulphate, as the Microcem brand of special cement.[8][9] Naturescape Wildflower Farm is north of the airfield. The majority of Langar's working population find employment in nearby Nottingham. A bus service is provided by Barton.

Langar C. of E. Primary School

This is the local school of Langar[10] and educates about 100 pupils. The head teacher is Emily Brown.

Langar Hall
Langar Hall

Adjacent to the church is Langar Hall, once the home of Earl Howe. The present building was constructed in 1837 and was later bought by Annie Bayley, wife of Thomas Bayley, the former MP for Chesterfield. It is now a restaurant and hotel.

Treasure of Robert Earnstock

It is known from evidence recovered from various places around the Vale of Belvoir that in the 17th century Robert Earnstock committed a series of robberies in the area. It was later discovered from letters that he was raising money to travel to his wife-to-be, who lived somewhere to the north of England. Earnstock kept the treasure hidden away until he had raised a small fortune, but as he neared his goal he was caught and hanged for his offences. His treasure was never found.

Unicorn's Head
Unicorn's Head

The Unicorn's Head public house was built in 1717 and had its own brewhouse, which can still be identified by its unusual three-tier chimney to the south of the building. Its original name was The Feathers, taken from the plume in the Howe family crest. The current name was adopted after the purchase of the estate in 1799, after Admiral Howe's death, by John Wright the Nottingham banker and a founder of the Butterley Company. He had a unicorn's head as his family crest. It remained a coaching inn in the 19th century and the original stables can still be seen at the back of the building.

Notable people

In birth order:

References
  1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  2. City Population cite. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  3. Rushcliffe result. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  4. "Roger Scrope". thePeerage.com.
  5. I. Brown, Samuel Butler of Langar, Nottinghamshire County Council Leisure Services (1990).
  6. "Southwell & Nottingham DAC Church History Project". Archived from the original on 1 January 2005.
  7. "History of the cement works". Archived from the original on 12 January 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  8. Microcem cement Archived 19 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Special cements.
  10. Primary school
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