| Langtons | |
|---|---|
 Langtons House from Langtons Gardens | |
  Location within Havering | |
| General information | |
| Address | Billet Lane |
| Town or city | Hornchurch, Havering, London |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 51°33′56″N0°13′2″E / 51.56556°N 0.21722°E /51.56556; 0.21722 |
| Current tenants | Havering register office |
| Renovated | 1797, 1929 |
| Owner | Havering London Borough Council |
Langtons House andLangtons Gardens are agrade II listed 18th century house and landscaped gardens located inHornchurch, in theLondon Borough of Havering, Greater London. The house and gardens became local authority property in 1929 and are currently used as the boroughregister office and a public park. Langtons House was used as the council offices ofHornchurch Urban District Council from 1929 to 1965.
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,bath house and agazebo, 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 byJohn Mayor a brewer who became MP for Abingdon and establishedHM Stationery Office.[1] The house was purchased in 1797 by John Massu, whose family, originallyHuguenot refugees, had become wealthy silk merchants in theCity of London. He set about modernising Langtons, to which he added the two-storey wings that project on the south front.[2]
The grounds were landscaped according to the plans ofHumphrey Repton.[3] He created the serpentine pond with the bathhouse andgazebo and plantedhorse chestnuts to mask or frame the mid-18th century stables, to which he added an octagonal cupola. Ashrubbery 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; theCedar of Lebanon was planted as a central feature of the lawn. By 1805 the gardens were sufficiently advanced to be illustrated inPeacock's Polite Repository.[4]
Langtons was given toHornchurch Urban District Council 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[4] serve as one of theparks and open spaces in Havering. TheFielders Sports Ground, north of the site, was once also part of the gardens and was used as a venue forfirst-class cricket. The building housed the council offices until the council was abolished in 1965 and Havering London Borough Council, based inRomford, was created.[5]
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.[6]
Langtons House is used as aregister office and function rooms, and has become a popular venue forweddings. 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 theHigh Court to be legally valid.[7]
