East Langdon comes from the Old English ‘lang’ meaning ‘long, tall’ with ‘dūn’ as
a ‘hill’; therefore, a ‘long hill or down’. The prefix ‘east’ distinguishes it from
West Langdon.
East Langdon parish church is a Grade: II listed building, dedicated to Saint Augustine.
The Normans built it in the 11th and 12th centuries with additions in the 14th and
15th and the north porch in the 16th centuries. Joseph Hatch cast and hung four bells
in 1627. In 1800, Edward Hasted described the East Langdon church as ‘small and mean,
consisting of a nave, a samll isle on the south side only, and a chancel; a wooden
tower at the west end, with a spire much out of the perpendicualr, in which are four
bells, none of which are antient’. The Victorian architect Loftus Brock carried out
restoration work, mainly to the tower, in 1892.
