[2] The name Shenley is based on the Anglo-Saxon Scenlai, Scenlei or Senlai, which means ‘fair or bright clearing or wood’.

In the early Middle Ages, southwest Hertfordshire was heavily wooded, with isolated farmsteads or hamlets in forest clearings.

The present village of Shenley apparently grew to accommodate the families of those providing a variety of services for the country estates of the gentry.

Parish registers, dating back to 1657, include service occupations such as coachmen, bailiffs, bakers and labourers.

The design was such that as many of the existing buildings as possible were incorporated, including the mansion, the walled garden, stables and coach houses.

These included preserving the orchard and spinney for pleasant walks and recreation, landscaping the walled garden, which is often open to the public and hosts a number of events throughout the year, redeveloping the tennis courts to a high standard, and, more recently, the introduction of a teashop and play area.

The school is based in a grade II listed building formerly known as Shenley Lodge which appeared as the "Cat Lady"'s house in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange.

[5] The burial place of the English Baroque architect Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1736) lies in St Botolph's graveyard, Shenleybury, Shenley.

[6] St Botolph's is also the final resting place of Formula One champion Graham Hill, who lived in Shenley during the 1970s.

The Cage on London Road dates from the 18th century and was the village lock-up, originally for prisoners awaiting trial in St Albans or Chipping Barnet.

A pointed timber plank door has strap hinges and there are two small, iron barred openings with stone tablets above bearing the inscription "DO WELL.

[11] Built in the Italianate style in 1932 by John Laing & Co to serve as a water tower for Shenley Mental Hospital.

However, Shenley has an unusually high Jewish population, in keeping with neighbouring settlements in southwestern Hertfordshire.