Langton Herring

Human settlement in England

Dorset

Dorset

Region

South West

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townWEYMOUTHPostcode districtDT3Dialling code01305PoliceDorsetFire Dorset and Wiltshire Ambulance South Western

List of places: UK; England; Dorset

50°38′28″N 2°32′51″W / 50.64111°N 2.54750°W / 50.64111; -2.54750

Langton Herring is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in South West England. It lies about 5 miles (8.0 km) north-west of the coastal resort town of Weymouth. It is "prudently set on a ridge above the Fleet",^[2] the Fleet being a brackish lagoon behind Chesil Beach. Dorset County Council estimate that in 2013 the population of the civil parish was 120.^[1] In the 2011 census the population of the parish combined with the small parish of Fleet to the south was 240.^[3]

The name of the village comes from the Old English 'Lang + tun' meaning 'long farmstead or estate' with the 13th Century 'Harang' family affix, from their time as Lords of the Manor. Literature in the church records that all the men of Langton Herring returned from both World Wars, making it one of only a handful of doubly Thankful Villages in the country, and the only village in Dorset to be spared fatalities in the Great War.

Just over half a mile to the east of the village, by the B3157 road, is Langton Cross, a medieval stone monolith, which is missing the top arm.^[4]

Langton Herring has one public house the 'The Elm Tree Inn', a historic building dating back approximately 400 years.^[5]

Notable people

April FitzLyon
Stephen Harris (painter)

References

^ ^a ^b "Parish Population Data". Dorset County Council. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
^ Gant, R., Dorset Villages, Hale, 1983, p168
^ "Area: Langton Herring (Parish), Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
^ West Dorset District Council, Holiday and Tourist Guide, c.1983, p10
^ "About". The Elm Tree Inn. Retrieved 27 February 2023.