The Domesday Book shows a small agricultural community with the manor held by Walter Tirel, the man who was accused of shooting King William Rufus while hunting for deer in the New Forest.

Langham, like most of the villages along the Stour Valley, was primarily agricultural until the 20th century, with a few large farms and many small holdings.

Up to the start of the 20th century Langham would have been a reasonably self-contained community and everyday items could have been bought at the village stores or from the variety of shops in Dedham.

During World War II a large airbase (called RAF Boxted) was built on land to the south of the main village area.

[citation needed] John Middleton Murry Literary critic, writer, socialist, pacifist who co-founded The Adelphi where George Orwell gave a summer school lecture in 1936.

[citation needed] Max Plowman Journalist, poet, authority on William Blake, and leading pacifist who lived at Little Oaks.