Langtons House and Langtons Gardens are a

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

18th century house and landscaped gardens located in

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London in the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a large ancient par ...

, in the

London Borough of Havering The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities include Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham, Lo ...

, Greater London. The house and gardens became local authority property in 1929 and are currently used as the borough

register office A register office, commonly referred to unofficially as a registry office or registrar's office is an office in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and some Commonwealth countries responsible for the civil registration of births, deaths, marri ...

and a public park. Langtons House was used as the council offices of

Hornchurch Urban District Council Hornchurch was a local government district in southwest Essex from 1926 to 1965, formed as an urban district for the civil parish of Hornchurch. It was greatly expanded in 1934 with the addition of Cranham, Great Warley, Rainham, Upminster and We ...

from 1929 to 1965.

History

The house, built on the foundations of an older house in the early 18th century, stands in a picturesque landscaped garden with a lake,

orangery An orangery or orangerie is a room or dedicated building, historically where orange and other fruit trees are protected during the winter, as a large form of greenhouse or conservatory. In the modern day an orangery could refer to either ...

bath house Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

and a

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...

, all dating from the end of the 18th century, when Hornchurch was a rural settlement. In 1776 Langtons and considerable property in Essex was owned by John Mayor a brewer who became MP for Abingdon and established

HM Stationery Office The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the Un ...

. The house was purchased in 1797 by John Massu, whose family, originally

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

refugees, had become wealthy silk merchants in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. He set about modernising Langtons, to which he added the two-storey wings that project on the south front. Langtons house london orangery

The grounds were landscaped according to the plans of

Humphrey Repton Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great designer of the classic phase of the English landscape garden, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown. His style is thought of as the precursor of the more intrica ...

. He created the serpentine pond with the bathhouse and

and planted horse chestnuts to mask or frame the mid-18th century stables, to which he added an octagonal cupola. A

shrubbery A shrubbery, shrub border or shrub garden is a part of a garden where shrubs, mostly flowering species, are thickly planted. The original shrubberies were mostly sections of large gardens, with one or more paths winding through it, a less-remem ...

walk with serpentining paths was planted east of the house and a balancing shrubbery belt to the west is probably part of Repton's plan; the

Cedar of Lebanon ''Cedrus libani'', commonly known as cedar of Lebanon, Lebanon cedar, or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of large evergreen conifer in the genus ''Cedrus'', which belongs to the pine family and is native to the mountains of the Eastern Medite ...

was planted as a central feature of the lawn. By 1805 the gardens were sufficiently advanced to be illustrated in ''Peacock's Polite Repository''.Hazel Conway, "Surviving historic landscapes in the London Borough of Havering"
/ref> Langtons was given to

by Varco Williams and his daughter in 1929, under the condition that the building must be kept as it was and used for council purposes and that the six acres (24,000 m²) of grounds remain open to the public. The gardens, one of the surviving historic landscapes serve as one of the

parks and open spaces in Havering The London Borough of Havering is a London borough in northeast London, England. Part of Outer London, much of its area is protected from development by the Metropolitan Green Belt and more than half the borough is now parkland. Its parks and open ...

. The Fielders Sports Ground, north of the site, was once also part of the gardens and was used as a venue for

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

. The building housed the council offices until the council was abolished in 1965 and Havering London Borough Council, based in

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

, was created. In 2016 the gardens were extensively restored adding many new features such as a Victorian greenhouse, ornamental bridge, entrance pillars, cobbled stable yard and new tea room.

Havering register office

Langtons House is used as a

and function rooms, and has become a popular venue for

wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

s. Due to an administration error it was found to be unlicensed from October 2004 to March 2005 with 193 marriages affected. Despite the error, all were later found by the High Court to be legally valid.

References

External links

Havering London Borough Council webpage about Langtons
{{LB Havering Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Havering Local government buildings in London Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Havering Houses in the London Borough of Havering Country houses in London Hornchurch Houses completed in the 18th century 18th-century architecture in the United Kingdom Grade II listed houses in London