Langley

Title

Langley

Also Known As

Langeleye, Langelec, Langeleia, Langeley, Langelyth, Langle, Langlen, Langleya, Longele

Dates

Founded ca. 1195; dissolved 1536

Dedication

Assumption of Mary

Affiliation

Alnwick

Medieval Diocese

Norwich

History

The abbey of Langley was founded in ca. 1195 by Robert FitzRoger, or Clavering. It was a moderately prosperous community.

Langley was suppressed in 1536. Some ruins of the monastic complex survive. The site was partially excavated in 1908 and in 1921.

Heads of Community

Abbots

Gilbert, early 13th c.
Hugh, ca. 1233-ca. 1249
Simon de Milham, ca. 1251-1269
Richard of Massingham, 1269-?
William I, fl. 1270s
Thomas, fl. 1280
Adam de Phileby, ca. 1288-ca. 1297
Ralph, fl. 1300
Geoffrey, ca. 1316-ca. 1340
John de Strumpeshagh, 1340-?
William II, fl. 1350
Geoffrey, 1368-?
Peter, 1375-?
John de Norwich, 1392-?
John Walsham, 1399-?
John Waterden, 1422-?
Nicholas de Wenyngton, ca. 1428-ca. 1463
Nicholas Wamerton (or Weverton), ca. 1467-ca. 1478
John Myntynge, ca. 1482-bef. 1491
Walter Alpe, fl. 1488-1503
William III Curlew, 1503-?
John Maxe, fl. early 16th c.
Henry Purfett, fl. early 16th c.
Robert Walkington, 1516-1536

Status

Abbey

Archival Sources

Kew, The National Archives

C 1/600/44 (16th c.)

E 42/430 (13th c.)

SC 6/3481/47 (16th c.)

SC 12/12/45 (16th c.)

SC 12/36/34 (16th c.)

London, British Library

Add. MS 5948. (13th/14th c.; register)

Add MS 6275, p. 45, p. 71, p. 98 (rental)

Add. Ch. 19291, 22446 (1267)

Norwich, Norfolk Record Office

Phi/111 577 x 1 (13th c.)

Phi/112/1 577 x 1 (13th c.)

Phi/141 577 x 1 (1302)

Oxford, Bodleian Library

MS Bodley 242. (13th/14th c.; cartulary)

Bibliography

Blomefield, Francis. “Loddon Hundred: Langley Town and Abbey.” In An Essay Towards A Topographical History of the County of Norfolk, 10:147–52. London, 1809. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-hist-norfolk/vol10/pp147-152.

Clarke, G. “Archaeological Monitoring at Langley Abbey, Norfolk.” Project Report. Oxford Archaeological Unit Ltd, 2010. https://library.oxfordarchaeology.com/1851/.

Elliston Erwood, F.C. “The Premonstratensian Abbey of Langley, Co. Norfolk.” Norfolk Archaeology 21 (1923): 175–234. https://books.google.com/books?id=0Wg9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA175.

———. “The Premonstratensian Abbey of Langley, Co. Norfolk; With a Report on Some Excavations Made on the Site on Behalf of the British Archæological Association.” Journal of the British Archaeological Association 28 (1992): 49–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/00681288.1922.11894492.

Freeling, Francis. “Iron Matrix of the Seal of the Abbey of Langley in Norfolk.” Archaeologia 25 (1834): 617–18. https://archive.org/details/s2id13276840/page/n781/mode/2up.

Moore, Nicholas J. “Vaulting Stones from Langley Abbey.” Norfolk Archaeology 34, no. 4 (1969): 436–37. https://doi.org/10.5284/1078016.

Page, William, ed. “Houses of Premonstratensian Canons: The Abbey of Langley.” In A History of the County of Norfolk, 2:418–21. London, 1906. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/norf/vol2/pp418-421.

Image Credit

Remains of Langley Abbey, 2009. Wikimedia.

Files

Collection

Southern England

Citation

“Langley,” A Premonstratensian Atlas, accessed October 16, 2026, https://yvonneseale.org/atlas/items/show/96.

Geolocation

Item Relations

Item: Wendling DependentOn This Item