History of Milton Keynes - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...

is a large town

City status in the United Kingdom

City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city". Nonetheless, this appellation carries its own prestige and, consequently, competitions...

in South East England

South East England

South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...

, founded in 1967. This history of Milton Keynes details its development from the earliest human settlements, through the plans for a 'new city' for 250,000 people in south central England, its subsequent urban design and development, to the present day.

Overview

On 23 January 1967 when the formal new town

New town

A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...

designation order was made, the 21870 acres (8,850.5 ha), area to be developed was largely farmland and undeveloped villages. Before construction began, every area was subject to detailed archaeological investigation: doing so has exposed a rich history of human settlement since Neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

times and has provided a unique insight into the history of a large sample of the landscape of north Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

.

From its establishment in 1967 to its abolition in 1992, the Milton Keynes Development Corporation

Milton Keynes Development Corporation

Milton Keynes Development Corporation was established on 23 January 1967 to provide the vision and execution of a "new city", Milton Keynes, that would be the modern interpretation of the Garden city movement concepts first expressed by Ebenezer Howard 60 years earlier...

created by far the largest and most ambitious of the British new towns: indeed its objective was to build a new city. Many of Britain's most acclaimed building and landscape architects contributed to what was to be a show-piece of British design. Unlike previous new towns, Milton Keynes has a preponderance of privately funded development but these developments were subject to an exacting design brief in line with the design principles laid out in The Plan for Milton Keynes.

Pre-history and early human settlement

Long before England existed, this area was at the bottom of a primeval sea. The most notable of the fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

s uncovered is that of an ichthyosaur

Ichthyosaur

Ichthyosaurs were giant marine reptiles that resembled fish and dolphins...

from Caldecotte

Caldecotte, Milton Keynes

Caldecotte is a district in the parish of Walton, Milton Keynes, in ceremonial Buckinghamshire that includes the site of an ancient village of the same name. It is also includes the larger part of Caldecotte Lake, an important balancing lake that manages flood water on the River Ouzel just as it...

, now on display in the central library.

Human settlement began in this area around 2000 BCE

Common Era

Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...

, mainly in the valleys of the rivers Ouse

River Great Ouse

The Great Ouse is a river in the east of England. At long, it is the fourth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The river has been important for navigation, and for draining the low-lying region through which it flows. Its course has been modified several times, with the first recorded being in...

and Ouzel

River Ouzel

The River Ouzel , also known as the River Lovat, is a river in England, and a tributary of the River Great Ouse. It rises in the Chiltern Hills and flows 20 miles north to join the Ouse at Newport Pagnell....

and their tributaries (Bradwell Brook, Shenley Brook). Archaeological excavations revealed several burial sites dating from 2000 BCE to 1500 BCE. Evidence for the earliest habitation was found at Blue Bridge

Wolverton and Greenleys

Wolverton and Greenleys is a civil parish with a Town Council in the borough of Milton Keynes, England. It is north-west of central Milton Keynes, and according to the 2001 census had a population of 8,253...

– production of flint tools from the Middle Stone Age

Middle Stone Age

The Middle Stone Age was a period of African Prehistory between Early Stone Age and Late Stone Age. It is generally considered to have begun around 280,000 years ago and ended around 50-25,000 years ago. The beginnings of particular MSA stone tools have their origins as far back as 550-500,000...

. In the same area, an unusually large (18 metres (59.1 ft) diameter) round house was excavated and dated to the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age, about 700 BCE. Other excavations in this Blue Bridge/Bancroft hill-side uncovered a further seven substantial settlement sites, dating from then until 100 BCE.

Milton Keynes Hoard

The area that was to become Milton Keynes was relatively rich: the Milton Keynes Hoard is possibly the largest (by weight, 2.2 kilograms (4.9 lb)) hoard

Hoard

In archaeology, a hoard is a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground. This would usually be with the intention of later recovery by the hoarder; hoarders sometimes died before retrieving the hoard, and these surviving hoards may be uncovered by...

of Bronze Age jewellery ever found in Britain. It was discovered in Monkston

Kents Hill, Monkston and Brinklow

Kents Hill, Monkston and Brinklow is a civil parish in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It was formed in 2001 as part of a general parishing of the Borough. The population according to the 2001 census was 4,545....

(near Milton Keynes village

Middleton, Milton Keynes

Middleton is a district in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The district is centred on Milton Keynes Village, the village that gave its name to the 'New City' of Milton Keynes, which began to be developed during the late 1960s...

) and consists of two Bronze Age gold torc

Torc

A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large, usually rigid, neck ring typically made from strands of metal twisted together. The great majority are open-ended at the front, although many seem designed for near-permanent wear and would have been difficult to remove. Smaller torcs worn around...

s and three gold bracelets in a datable clay pot.

Roman Britain

Before the Roman conquest of Britain

Roman conquest of Britain

The Roman conquest of Britain was a gradual process, beginning effectively in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, whose general Aulus Plautius served as first governor of Britannia. Great Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and...

of 43 CE, the Catuvellauni

Catuvellauni

The Catuvellauni were a tribe or state of south-eastern Britain before the Roman conquest.The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and their kings before the conquest can be traced through numismatic evidence and scattered references in classical histories. They are mentioned by Dio Cassius, who implies...

(a British Iron Age

British Iron Age

The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...

tribe) controlled this area from their hill fort

Hill fort

A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...

at Danesborough, near Woburn Sands

Woburn Sands

Woburn Sands is a small town and civil parish that is mainly located in the Borough of Milton Keynes, England, and to the south-east of Milton Keynes itself, near Wavendon...

(map). Under Roman occupation, the area thrived. The obvious reason for this is the major Roman road

Roman road

The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...

, Iter II (later known as Watling Street

Watling Street

Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...

), that runs through the area and that gave rise to an associated Roman town

Castra

The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...

at Magiovinium (Fenny Stratford

Fenny Stratford

Fenny Stratford is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England and in the Civil Parish of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford. Originally an independent town, it was included in the Milton Keynes "designated area" area in 1967...

). Possibly the oldest known gold coin

Roman currency

The Roman currency during most of the Roman Republic and the western half of the Roman Empire consisted of coins including the aureus , the denarius , the sestertius , the dupondius , and the as...

in Britain was found here, a gold stater

Stater

The stater was an ancient coin used in various regions of Greece.-History:The stater is mostly of Macedonian origin. Celtic tribes brought it in to Europe after using it as mercenaries in north Greece. It circulated from the 8th century BC to 50 AD...

of the mid-2nd century BCE.

The foundations of a large Romano-British

Romano-British

Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people of Celtic language and...

villa

Roman villa

A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...

were excavated at Bancroft Park, complete with under-floor heating

Hypocaust

A hypocaust was an ancient Roman system of underfloor heating, used to heat houses with hot air. The word derives from the Ancient Greek hypo meaning "under" and caust-, meaning "burnt"...

and mosaic floor

Mosaic

Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...

. Further excavations revealed that this site (map), overlooking the fertile valley of the Bradwell Brook, was in continuous occupation for 2,000 years, from the Late Bronze Age to the early Saxon

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

period. Cremation grave goods from the Iron Age found on the site included jewellery and fine pottery. Other Romano-British settlements were found at Stantonbury

Stantonbury

Stantonbury is a district of Milton Keynes, ceremonial Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the northern edge, between Great Linford and Wolverton...

, Woughton

Woughton

Woughton is a civil parish in south central Milton Keynes, ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. It takes its name from the original ecclesiastic parish of Woughton and its original village, Woughton on the Green....

and Wymbush. Industrial activity of the period included bronze working and pottery making at Caldecotte, pottery also at Wavendon

Wavendon

Wavendon is a village and civil parish in the south east of the Borough of Milton Keynes and ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. The village name is an Old English language word, and means 'Wafa's hill'. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 969 the village was recorded as Wafandun. The...

Gate, and many iron-working sites.

Anglo-Saxon period

It seems that most of the Romano-British sites were abandoned by the 5th century and the arable land reverted to scrub and woodland. Arriving in the 6th century, the Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons

began to clear the land again. Bletchley ("Blaeca's clearing") and Shenley ("Bright clearing") date from this period. Large settlements have been excavated at Pennyland and near Milton Keynes Village

Middleton, Milton Keynes

. Their cemeteries have been found at Newport Pagnell

Newport Pagnell

Newport Pagnell is a town in the Borough of Milton Keynes , England. It is separated by the M1 motorway from Milton Keynes itself, though part of the same urban area...

, Shenley and Tattenhoe

Tattenhoe

Tattenhoe and Tattenhoe Park are adjacent districts of Milton Keynes, England, in the ancient parish of Tattenhoe. It is located at the south-western edge of the city, not far from the ruins of Snelshall Priory...

Norman conquest and the medieval period

Excavations in and around the modern villages have failed to find any evidence of occupation before the tenth or 11th centuries, except in Bradwell

Bradwell, Milton Keynes

Bradwell is an ancient village and modern civil parish that is part of Milton Keynes . For a time, although it predates it, Bradwell was the supporting village for Bradwell Abbey, a Benedictine priory, founded in 1155 and dissolved in about 1540.The village name is an Old English language word...

where Bradwell Bury is traced to the 9th century. The Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

of 1086 provides the first documentary evidence for many settlements, listing Bertone (Broughton

Broughton, Milton Keynes

Broughton is a historic village in North Buckinghamshire that has been a constituent element of Milton Keynes since the latter's designation in 1967; a civil parish; and modernly a suburb and new district of the 'city'.-History and Location:...

), Calvretone (Calverton

Calverton, Milton Keynes

Calverton is a civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes , England and just outside Milton Keynes itself. The parish consists of three hamlets: Upper Weald, Middle Weald and Lower Weald. Lower Weald is the largest, and Manor Farm, the parish church and the former parochial school are within its...

), Linforde (Great Linford

Great Linford

Great Linford is a historic village, district and civil parish in the northern part of Milton Keynes, England, between Wolverton and Newport Pagnell.-Great Linford village:...

), Lochintone (Loughton

Loughton

Loughton is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located between 11 and 13 miles north east of Charing Cross in London, south of the M25 and west of the M11 motorway and has boundaries with Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill...

), Neuport (Newport Pagnell

Newport Pagnell

Newport Pagnell is a town in the Borough of Milton Keynes , England. It is separated by the M1 motorway from Milton Keynes itself, though part of the same urban area...

), Nevtone (Newton Longville

Newton Longville

Newton Longville is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. The village is about south-west of Bletchley.-History:...

), Senelai (Shenley), Siwinestone (Simpson

Simpson, Milton Keynes

Simpson is a village and civil parish in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It was one of the former villages of Buckinghamshire that was included in the New City in 1967. It is located south of the centre, just north of Fenny Stratford, near Walton....

), Ulchetone (Woughton

Woughton

), Waletone (Walton

Walton, Milton Keynes

Walton was a hamlet that is now a district and civil parish in Milton Keynes, ceremonial Buckinghamshire, England.The historic hamlet is located about four miles south of Central Milton Keynes and just east of Simpson, mostly along Walton Road in the modern Walnut Tree district...

), Wluerintone (Wolverton

Wolverton

Wolverton is part of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England.Wolverton may also refer to:Places in England:*Wolverton, Dorset*Wolverton, Kent*Wolverton, Hampshire*Wolverton, Shropshire*Wolverton, WarwickshirePlaces in the United States:...

) and Wlsiestone (Woolstone

Woolstone, Milton Keynes

Great Woolstone and Little Woolstone are two historic villages in modern Milton Keynes, ceremonial Buckinghamshire now called jointly Woolstone or The Woolstones and forming the heart of a new district of that name....

).

Administration of the area that was later to become the Borough of Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes (borough)

The Borough of Milton Keynes is a unitary authority and borough in south central England, at the northern tip of the South East England Region. For ceremonial purposes, it is in the county of Buckinghamshire...

was in "Hundreds

Hundred (division)

A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...

". Bletchley, Bradwell, Calverton, Fenny Stratford, Great Linford, Loughton, Newport Pagnell, Newton Longville, Shenley (part of), Simpson, Stantonbury, Stoke Hammond, Stony Stratford, Water Eaton, Willen, Great and Little Woolstone, Wolverton, and Woughton on the Green were in Secklow Hundred (Sigelai Hundred); Cold Brayfield, Castlethorpe, Gayhurst, Hanslope, Haversham, Lathbury, Lavendon, Little Linford, Olney, Ravenstone, Stoke Goldington, Tyringham with Filgrave, and Weston Underwood were in Bunsty Hundred (Bunstou Hundred); and Bow Brickhill, Great Brickhill, Little Brickhill, Broughton, Chicheley, Clifton Reynes, North Crawley, Emberton, Hardmead, Lathbury, Lavendon, Milton Keynes (village), Moulsoe, Newton Blossomville, Olney with Warrington, Ravenstone, Sherington, Stoke Goldington, Tyringham with Filgrave, Walton, Wavendon, Weston Underwood, and Willen were in Moulsoe Hundred. (These hundreds became "the three hundreds of Newport" [Pagnell] in the middle of the 16th century).

The moot mound

Moot hall

A moot hall is meeting or assembly building, traditionally to decide local issues.In Anglo-Saxon England, a low ring-shaped earthwork served as a moot hill or moot mound, where the elders of the hundred would meet to take decisions. Some of these acquired permanent buildings, known as moot halls...

of Secklow Hundred has been found, excavated and reconstructed — it is on the highest point in the central area and is just behind the Library in modern Central Milton Keynes

Central Milton Keynes

Central Milton Keynes is the central business district of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England and a civil parish in its own right.The district is approximately 2.5 km long by 1 km wide and occupies some of the highest land in Milton Keynes...

. Only one medieval manor house survives: the 15th century Manor Farmhouse in Loughton. There are sites of other manor houses in Great Woolstone, Milton Keynes village and Woughton on the Green. The oldest surviving domestic building is Number 22, Milton Keynes (village)

Middleton, Milton Keynes

, the house of the bailiff of the manor of Bradwell.

Newport Pagnell, established early in the 10th century, was the principal market town for the area. Stony Stratford

Stony Stratford

Stony Stratford is a constituent town of Milton Keynes and is a civil parish with a town council within the Borough of Milton Keynes. It is in the north west corner of Milton Keynes, bordering Northamptonshire and separated from it by the River Great Ouse...

and Fenny Stratford were founded as market towns on Watling Street in the late twelfth/early 13th centuries.

By the early 13th century, North Buckinghamshire had several religious houses: Bradwell Abbey

Bradwell Abbey

Bradwell Abbey or Bradwell Priory is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, urban studies site, district and civil parish in Milton Keynes, ceremonial Buckinghamshire, England. The site was once the location of a Benedictine priory, founded in 1155....

(1154) is within modern Milton Keynes and Snelshall Priory

Snelshall Priory

Snelshall Priory was a Benedictine priory in Milton Keynes, the United Kingdom, built around 1200.The priory was started after Sybil d'Aungerville granted land at Tattenhoe to Lavendon Abbey, who most likely started a cell at Snelshall. Snelshall Priory paid 1 mark a year to Lavendon until 1232, at...

(1218) is just outside it. Both were Benedictine

Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...

priories

Priory

A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...

. Many of the medieval trackways to these sites still survive and have become cycleways and footpaths of the Redway network

Milton Keynes redway system

The Milton Keynes redway system is a network of cycleways/paths for cyclists and pedestrians in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is generally surfaced with red tarmac, and criss-crosses most of the city....

Britain's earliest (excavated) windmill is in Great Linford

Great Linford

Great Linford is a historic village, district and civil parish in the northern part of Milton Keynes, England, between Wolverton and Newport Pagnell.-Great Linford village:...

. The large oak beams forming the base supports still survived in the mill mound and were shown by radio carbon dating to originate in the first half of the 13th century. (The present stone tower mill

Tower mill

A tower mill is a type of windmill which consists of a brick or stone tower, on top of which sits a roof or cap which can be turned to bring the sails into the wind....

at Bradwell

Bradwell, Milton Keynes

was built in 1815, on a site convenient to the new Grand Junction Canal

Grand Junction Canal

The Grand Junction Canal is a canal in England from Braunston in Northamptonshire to the River Thames at Brentford, with a number of branches. The mainline was built between 1793 and 1805, to improve the route from the Midlands to London, by-passing the upper reaches of the River Thames near Oxford...

Early modern Britain and the Industrial Revolution

Enclosures

Most of the eighteen medieval villages in Milton Keynes are still extant and are at the heart of their respective districts. But some, such as Old Wolverton, remain only as field patterns marking a deserted village

Deserted Village

The Feltville Historic District, located in the Watchung Reservation, Union County, New Jersey, is a historical part of this area which still stands to this day. It includes eight houses, a church, a carriage house and a general house. Over the years this "deserted village of Feltville" has become...

. The desertion of Old Wolverton was due to enclosure

Enclosure

Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...

of the large strip cultivation

Open field system

The open field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe from the Middle Ages to as recently as the 20th century in some places, particularly Russia and Iran. Under this system, each manor or village had several very large fields, farmed in strips by individual families...

fields into small "closes" by the local landlords, the Longville family, who turned arable land

Arable land

In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...

over to pasture

Pasture

Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...

. By 1654, the family had completely enclosed the parish. With the end of the feudal system

Feudalism

Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...

, the peasants had lost their land and tillage

Tillage

Tillage is the agricultural preparation of the soil by mechanical agitation of various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning. Examples of human-powered tilling methods using hand tools include shovelling, picking, mattock work, hoeing, and raking...

/grazing rights

Grazing rights

Grazing rights is a legal term referring to the right of a user to allow their livestock to feed in a given area.- United States :...

and were forced to find other work or starve. Thus Old Wolverton was reduced from about thirty peasant families in the mid 16th century to almost none, within the space of a century. There are also deserted village sites in Tattenhoe

Tattenhoe

and Westbury (Shenley Wood)

Shenley Church End

Shenley Church End is a village, district and civil parish in Milton Keynes England. Together with its neighbouring parish, Shenley Brook End and the districts of Shenley Wood and Shenley Lodge, the districts are collectively known as "The Shenleys".-History:...

.

Turnpike roads

Some important roads cross the site of the new city. Most important of these is Watling Street

Watling Street

from London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

to Chester

Chester

Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

. Originally, the Northampton

Northampton

Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...

to London road joined the Watling Street at Fenny Stratford

Fenny Stratford

, via Broughton

Broughton, Milton Keynes

and Simpson. The Oxford to Cambridge route came through Stony Stratford

Stony Stratford

, Wolverton

Wolverton

and Newport Pagnell

Newport Pagnell

Newport Pagnell is a town in the Borough of Milton Keynes , England. It is separated by the M1 motorway from Milton Keynes itself, though part of the same urban area...

. Unfortunately, the heavy clay soils, poor drainage and many streams made these routes frequently impassable in winter. The Hockliffe

Hockliffe

Hockliffe is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire on the crossroads of the A5 road which lies upon the course of the roman road known as Watling Street and the A4012 road.It is about four miles east of Leighton Buzzard...

to Dunchurch

Dunchurch

Dunchurch is a civil parish and village on the south-western outskirts of Rugby in Warwickshire, England. The 2001 census recorded a population of 2,842 in the village.- History :...

stretch of Watling Street became a (paved) Turnpike

Turnpike trust

Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...

in 1706 (the first turnpike to be approved by parliament). Simpson remained a quagmire and in 1870 the new Northampton/London turnpike diverted away at Broughton to take the higher route through Wavendon

Wavendon

and Woburn Sands

Woburn Sands

Woburn Sands is a small town and civil parish that is mainly located in the Borough of Milton Keynes, England, and to the south-east of Milton Keynes itself, near Wavendon...

to join Watling Street near Hockliffe. On the east/west route, the Stony Stratford to Newport Pagnell turnpike of 1814 extended the Woodstock, Oxfordshire

Woodstock, Oxfordshire

Woodstock is a small town northwest of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. It is the location of Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Winston Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace in 1874 and is buried in the nearby village of Bladon....

/Bicester

Bicester

Bicester is a town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in England.This historic market centre is one of the fastest growing towns in Oxfordshire Development has been favoured by its proximity to junction 9 of the M40 motorway linking it to London, Birmingham and...

/Stony Stratford turnpike of 1768. Turnpikes provided a major boost to the economy of Fenny Stratford and particularly Stony Stratford. In the stage coach era, Stony Stratford was a major resting place and exchange point with the east/west route. In the early 19th century, over 30 coaches a day stopped here. That traffic came to an abrupt end in 1838 when the London–Birmingham Railway (now the West Coast Main Line

West Coast Main Line

The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...

) opened at nearby Wolverton.

Grand Junction Canal

The Grand Junction Canal

Grand Junction Canal

came through the area between 1793 and 1800, with canal-side wharfs in Fenny Stratford, Great Linford, Bradwell and Wolverton. The route bypassed Newport Pagnell but, in 1817, an arm was dug to it from Great Linford. Trade along the canal stimulated the local economy. A large brickworks

Brickworks

A brickworks also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock often with a quarry for clay on site....

was established near the canal in Great Linford: two bottle kilns

Kiln

A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...

and the clay pits can still be seen on the site. Pottery from the Midlands begins to appear in excavations of dwellings from that period.

London and Birmingham Railway, Wolverton and New Bradwell new towns

The London and Birmingham Railway

London and Birmingham Railway

The London and Birmingham Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway ....

brought even more profound changes to the area. The coach trade on the turnpike through Stony Stratford collapsed, taking many businesses with it. Fortunately, Wolverton was the half way point on the rail route, where engines were changed and passengers alighted for refreshments. Wolverton railway works

Wolverton railway works

Wolverton railway works was established in Wolverton, Buckinghamshire, by the London and Birmingham Railway Company in 1838 at the midpoint of the 112 mile-long route from London to Birmingham...

was established here, creating work for thousands of people in the surrounding area. In the period 1840 to 1880, new towns were built in New Bradwell and Wolverton (about 2 km (1.2 mi) east of the original deserted village) to house them. A narrow gauge railway, the Wolverton to Newport Pagnell Line

Wolverton to Newport Pagnell Line

The Wolverton to Newport Pagnell Line was a railway branch line in Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom running from Wolverton on the London and North Western Railway to Newport Pagnell. The line fully opened to passengers in 1867, with an extension to Olney planned in 1865, but this scheme was...

, was built to Newport Pagnell in 1866, much of it by closing and reusing the Newport Arm of the canal. The Wolverton and Stony Stratford Tramway

Wolverton and Stony Stratford Tramway

The Wolverton and Stony Stratford Tramway was a narrow gauge street tramway between the London and North Western Railway's Wolverton railway works and Wolverton railway station and Stony Stratford in Buckinghamshire, two miles to the east, and onwards to Deanshanger, Northamptonshire.- History...

ran to Stony Stratford from 1888 (to 1926) and, in 1889, was extended to Deanshanger

Deanshanger

Deanshanger, pronounced deans-hanger, is a village and civil parish in South Northamptonshire, just north of Milton Keynes. In 2007 it was joined with the civil parish of Wicken to form Deanshanger ward, returning two councillors...

in Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...

.

Bletchley, on the 1846 junction of the London and Birmingham railway with the Bedford branch, was to become an important railway town

Railway town

A railway town is a settlement that originated or was greatly developed because of a railway station or junction at its site.In Victorian Britain, the spread of railways greatly affected the fate of many small towns...

too. In 1850, another branch from Bletchley to Oxford was built, later to become the (Cambridge/Oxford) Varsity Line

Varsity Line

The Varsity Line is an informal name for the railway route that formerly linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated successively by the London and North Western Railway, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, and British Railways...

. Bletchley, originally a small village in the parish of Fenny Stratford, grew to reach and absorb its parent. In Stony Stratford, expertise learned in the works was applied to the construction of traction engine

Traction engine

A traction engine is a self-propelled steam engine used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin tractus, meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any traction engine is to draw a load behind it...

s for agricultural use and the site of the present Cofferidge Close was engaged in their manufacture.

Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park is a former private estate located in Old Bletchley and modern Museum of Cryptography

Cryptography

Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...

. Conveniently located at the junction of the Varsity Line

Varsity Line

with the West Coast Main Line

West Coast Main Line

, Bletchley Park, code-named Station X, was the location of the Allied

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

main code-breaking establishment during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Code

Code

A code is a rule for converting a piece of information into another form or representation , not necessarily of the same type....

s and cipher

Cipher

In cryptography, a cipher is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption — a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is encipherment. In non-technical usage, a “cipher” is the same thing as a “code”; however, the concepts...

s of several Axis powers

Axis Powers

The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...

were deciphered there, most famously the German Enigma. The high-level intelligence

Intelligence (information gathering)

Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...

produced by Bletchley Park, codenamed Ultra, is frequently credited with aiding the Allied war effort and shortening the war, although Ultra's effect on the actual outcome of World War II is debated.

"Bigger, Better, Brighter" – Bletchley in the twentieth century

Almost forty years after the construction of Bletchley railway station

Bletchley railway station

Bletchley is a railway station that serves the southern districts of Milton Keynes , and the north-eastern parts of the Buckinghamshire district of Aylesbury Vale....

, the 1884/5 Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...

shows Bletchley as still just a small village around the C of E

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

church at Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Museum of Computing...

, and a hamlet near the Methodist chapel and Shoulder of Mutton public house

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

at the junction of Shenley

Shenley, Milton Keynes

Shenley is one of the parts of Buckinghamshire that went to make up the "new city" of Milton Keynes in the 1960s...

Rd/Newton

Newton Longville

Newton Longville is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. The village is about south-west of Bletchley.-History:...

Rd with Buckingham

Buckingham

Buckingham is a town situated in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. The town has a population of 11,572 ,...

Rd. (These districts are known today as Old Bletchley and Far Bletchley). The major settlement of the time is Fenny Stratford.

By 1911, the population of the combined parishes was 5,166 but the balance between them had changed: in that year, the name of the local authority (Urban District

Urban district

In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....

) changed from Fenny Stratford UD to Bletchley UD. The 1926 Ordnance Survey shows the settlements beginning to merge, with large private houses along the Bletchley Road between them. In 1933, the newly founded Bletchley Gazette began a campaign for a "Bigger, Better, Brighter, Bletchley". As the nation emerged from World War II, Bletchley Council renewed its desire to expand from its 1951 population of 10,919. By mid 1952, the Council was able to agree terms with five London Boroughs to accept people and businesses from bombed-out sites in London. This trend continued through the 1950s and 1960s, culminating in the GLC-funded Lakes Estate in Water Eaton

Water Eaton, Milton Keynes

Water Eaton is an area of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England and in the civil parish of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford. It is to the south of Fenny Stratford, and is one of the ancient villages of Buckinghamshire that became incorporated as part of Milton Keynes in 1967.By the date of...

parish, even as Milton Keynes was being founded. Industrial development kept pace, with former London businesses relocating to new industrial estates in Mount Farm and Denbigh – Marshall Amplification

Marshall Amplification

Marshall Amplification is a British company, founded by drummer Jim Marshall, that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, brands personal headphones/earphones , and, after acquiring Natal Drums, drums and bongos. Marshall amplifiers, and specifically their guitar amplifiers, are among the most...

being the most notable. With compulsory purchase

Compulsory purchase order

A compulsory purchase order is a legal function in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland that allows certain bodies which need to obtain land or property to do so without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for public betterment - for...

, Bletchley Road (now renamed Queensway after a royal visit in 1966) became the new high street with wide pavements where front gardens once lay. Houses near the railway end were replaced by shops but those nearer Fenny Stratford became banks and professional premises. At the 1971 Census, the population of the Bletchley Urban District was 30,642.

Bletchley had fought to be the centre of the proposed new city, but it was not to be. The 1971 Plan for Milton Keynes placed Central Milton Keynes

Central Milton Keynes

on a completely new hill-top site four miles further north, half way to Wolverton. Bletchley was relegated to the status of suburb.

1960s Plans for a new city in North Buckinghamshire, 1967 designation of Milton Keynes

In the 1960s, the Government decided that a further generation of new towns in South East England was needed to take the projected population increase of London

London

, after the initial 1940s/1950s wave. Bletchley had already been considered as a new town in this first wave, and had subsequently in the 1950s the London County Council

London County Council

London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...

constructed overspill

London overspill

London overspill is the term given to the communities created - largely consisting of publicly provided housing - as a result of the Government policy of moving residents out of Greater London, England into other towns around the South East, East Anglia and beyond.-Policy development:The policy...

housing for several London boroughs there.

Buckinghamshire County Council's architect, Fred Pooley

Fred Pooley

Fred Bernard Pooley CBE is best known as the county architect of Buckinghamshire, and his futuristic monorail proposals for a new town in north Bucks that eventually became Milton Keynes. Pooley was born in West Ham, east London and trained at the Northern Polytechnic in the evenings, while...

, had spent considerable time in the early sixties developing ideas for a new town in the Bletchley and Wolverton

Wolverton

area. He developed a futuristic proposal based on a monorail

Monorail

A monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track...

linking a series of individual townships to a major town centre. The county council published the proposals in 1966, but it was too late to influence the government.

In 1964, a Ministry of Housing and Local Government study recommended "a new city" near Bletchley. A further MoH&LG study in 1965 proposed that the proposed new city would encompass the existing towns of Bletchley, Stony Stratford

Stony Stratford

and Wolverton

Wolverton

. It was to be the biggest new town yet, with a with a target population of 250,000. A Draft Order was made in April 1966. The Housing Minister, Anthony Greenwood, made his formal announcement on 23 January 1967. The designated area was 21870 acres (8,850.5 ha), somewhat smaller than the 27000 acre (10,926.5 ha) in the Draft Order (due to the exclusion of the Calverton Wealds

Calverton, Milton Keynes

). The name "Milton Keynes" was also unveiled at this time, taken from the existing village of Milton Keynes

Middleton, Milton Keynes

on the site. The site was deliberately located (roughly) equidistant from London, Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

, Oxford and Cambridge. With its large target population, Milton Keynes was eventually intended to become a city. All subsequent planning documents and popular local usage make use of the term "city" or "new city", even though formal city status

City status in the United Kingdom

has not been awarded.

When the boundary of Milton Keynes was defined, some 40,000 people lived in the "designated area" of 88.51 km² (21,833 acres). The area was split between five existing local authorities: Bletchley, Newport Pagnell

Newport Pagnell Urban District

Newport Pagnell Urban District was a local government authority in the administrative county of Buckinghamshire, England, from 1897 to 1974....

and Wolverton Urban District

Wolverton Urban District

Stratford and Wolverton Rural District , Stratford and Wolverton Urban District and Wolverton Urban District were local government districts in Buckinghamshire, England, covering the town of Wolverton and its environs.It was created as a rural district in 1894 and took over the responsibility for...

s together with the Newport Pagnell Rural District

Newport Pagnell Rural District

Newport Pagnell was a rural district in the administrative county of Buckinghamshire, England, from 1894 to 1974. The rural district took over the responsibilities of the disbanded Newport Pagnell Rural Sanitary District...

and the Winslow Rural District

Winslow Rural District

Winslow was a rural district in the administrative county of Buckinghamshire, England from 1894 to 1974. The rural district took over the responsibilities of the disbanded Winslow Rural Sanitary District...

. Planning control was taken from elected local authorities and delegated to the Milton Keynes Development Corporation

Milton Keynes Development Corporation

(MKDC).

Existing settlements and oral history

The designated area outside the four main towns (Bletchley, Newport Pagnell, Stony Stratford, Wolverton) was largely rural farmland but included many picturesque North Buckinghamshire villages and hamlets: Bradwell

Bradwell, Milton Keynes

village and Abbey, Broughton

Broughton, Milton Keynes

, Caldecotte

Caldecotte, Milton Keynes

, Fenny Stratford

Fenny Stratford

, Great Linford

Great Linford

Great Linford is a historic village, district and civil parish in the northern part of Milton Keynes, England, between Wolverton and Newport Pagnell.-Great Linford village:...

, Loughton

Loughton, Milton Keynes

Loughton is an ancient village, modern district and civil parish in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The village spreads between Watling Street and the modern A5 road, to the west of, and about 1 mile from, the city centre....

, Milton Keynes Village

Middleton, Milton Keynes

, New Bradwell

New Bradwell

New Bradwell is a Victorian era new village, modern district and civil parish that is now part of Milton Keynes , on its northern edge...

, Shenley Brook End

Shenley Brook End

Shenley Brook End is a village, district and civil parish in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Together with its neighbouring parish, Shenley Church End and the districts of Shenley Wood and Shenley Lodge, the districts are collectively known as "The Shenleys".The name 'Shenley' is an Old...

, Shenley Church End

Shenley Church End

, Simpson

Simpson, Milton Keynes

, Stantonbury

Stantonbury

Stantonbury is a district of Milton Keynes, ceremonial Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the northern edge, between Great Linford and Wolverton...

, Tattenhoe

Tattenhoe

, Tongwell

Tongwell

Tongwell is a district and ancient hamlet in the civil parish of Great Linford in Milton Keynes, England.Historically, it was in the parish of Newport Pagnell but today it is separated from Newport Pagnell by the M1 motorway and has become part of Milton Keynes. Just a few farms remained before...

, Walton

Walton, Milton Keynes

, Water Eaton

Water Eaton, Milton Keynes

, Wavendon

Wavendon

, Willen

Willen

Willen is a district of Milton Keynes, England and is also one of the ancient villages of Buckinghamshire to have been included in the designated area of the New City in1967...

, Great and Little Woolstone

Woolstone, Milton Keynes

, Woughton on the Green. All of these had a rich oral history, which has been recorded.

Milton Keynes Development Corporation: designing a city for 250,000 people

Following publication of the Draft Master Plan for Milton Keynes, the government appointed Lord Campbell

Jock Campbell, Baron Campbell of Eskan

John "Jock" Middleton Campbell, Baron Campbell of Eskan was the Chairman of Booker Brothers, McConnell and Co in British Guiana between 1952 and 1967. He was knighted in 1957 and was created a life peer on the 14 January 1966, taking the title Baron Campbell of Eskan, of Camis Eskan in the...

("Jock" Campbell) to lead the Milton Keynes Development Corporation

Milton Keynes Development Corporation

. He and his Chief Executive, Walter Ismay, appointed Llewellyn Davies as principal planning consultants – the team included Richard Llewellyn-Davies

Richard Llewelyn-Davies, Baron Llewelyn-Davies

Richard Llewellyn-Davies, Baron Llewelyn-Davies was a British architect. Llewelyn-Davies was Professor of Architecture at the University College London from 1960 to 1969, and Professor of Urban Planning and Head of the School of Environmental Studies from 1970 to 1975...

, Walter Bor and John de Monchaux. The goals declared in the master plan were these:

opportunity and freedom of choice
easy movement and access
good communications
balance and variety
an attractive city
public awareness and participation
efficient and imaginative use of resources

The Corporation was determined to learn from the mistakes made in the earlier new towns

New towns in the United Kingdom

Below is a list of some of the new towns in the United Kingdom created under the various New Town Acts of the 20th century. Some earlier towns were developed as Garden Cities or overspill estates early in the twentieth century. The New Towns proper were planned to disperse population following the...

and revisit the Garden City ideals

Garden city movement

The garden city movement is a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by "greenbelts" , containing proportionate areas of residences, industry and...

. They set in place the characteristic grid roads

Milton Keynes grid road system

The Milton Keynes grid road system is a network of national speed limit, fully landscaped routes that form the top layer of the street hierarchy for both for private and public transport in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire...

that run between districts, the Redway system

Milton Keynes redway system

of independent cycle/pedestrian paths

Segregated cycle facilities

Segregated cycle facilities are marked lanes, tracks, shoulders and paths designated for use by cyclists from which motorised traffic is generally excluded...

, and the intensive planting, lakes and parkland that are so appreciated today. Central Milton Keynes was not intended to be a traditional town centre but a business and shopping district that supplemented the Local Centres in most of the Grid Squares. This non-hierarchical devolved city plan was a departure from the English New Towns tradition and envisaged a wide range of industry and diversity of housing styles and tenure

Tenure

Tenure commonly refers to life tenure in a job and specifically to a senior academic's contractual right not to have his or her position terminated without just cause.-19th century:...

s across the city. The radical grid plan was inspired by the work of Californian urban theorist Melvin M Webber (1921–2006), described by the founding architect of Milton Keynes, Derek Walker, as the city's "father". Webber thought that telecommunications meant that the old idea of a city as a concentric cluster was out of date and that cities that enabled people to travel around them readily would be the thing of the future, achieving "community without propinquity" for residents.

Urban design
Since the radical plan form and large scale of the New City attracted international attention, early phases of the city include work by celebrated architects, including (Sir) Richard MacCormac, (Lord) Norman Foster

Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank

Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, OM is a British architect whose company maintains an international design practice, Foster + Partners....

, Henning Larsen

Henning Larsen

Henning Larsen is a Danish architect.He is internationally known for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Riyadhand the Copenhagen Opera House...

, Ralph Erskine

Ralph Erskine (architect)

Ralph Erskine, CBRE, RFS, ARIBA was an architect and planner who lived and worked in Sweden for most of his life.-Upbringing and influences :...

, John Winter, and Martin Richardson. The Corporation itself attracted talented young architects led by the young and charismatic Derek Walker. Its strongly modernist

Modern architecture

Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...

designs featured regularly in the magazines Architectural Design

Architectural Design

Architectural Design, also known as AD, is a UK-based architectural journal first launched in 1930.In its early days it was more concerned with the British scene, but gradually became more international. It also moved away from presenting mostly news towards theme-based issues...

and the Architects' Journal. Though strongly committed to sleek "Miesian" minimalism inspired by the German/ American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....

, they also developed a strand of contextualism

Contextualism

Contextualism describes a collection of views in philosophy which emphasize the context in which an action, utterance, or expression occurs, and argues that, in some important respect, the action, utterance, or expression can only be understood relative to that context...

in advance of the wider adoption of commercial Post-Modernism as an architectural style in the 1980s. In the Miesian tradition were the Pineham Sewage Works, which Derek Walker regarded as his finest achievement, and the Shopping Building designed by Stuart Mosscrop and Christopher Woodward. The contextual tradition that ran alongside it is exemplified by the Coproration's infill scheme at Cofferidge Close, Stony Stratford, designed by Wayland Tunley, which inserts into a historic stretch of High Street a modern retail facility, offices and car park.

"City in the forest"

The original Development Corporation design concept aimed for a "forest city" and its foresters planted millions of trees from its own nursery in Newlands in the following years. As of 2006, the urban area has 20 million trees. Following the winding up of the Development Corporation, the lavish landscapes of the Grid Roads and of the major parks were transferred to the MK Parks Trust, an independent non-profit charity which is quite separate from the municipal authority and which was intended to resist pressures to build on the parks over time. The Parks Trust is endowed with a portfolio of commercial properties, the income from which pays for the upkeep of the green spaces, a city-wide maintenance model which has attracted international attention.

Public art

The Development Corporation had an ambitious public art programme and over 50 works were commissioned, mostly still extant. This programme also had two strands: a populist one which involved the local community in the works, the most famous of which is Liz Leyh's Concrete Cows

Concrete Cows

The Concrete Cows in Milton Keynes, England are an iconic work of sculpture, created in 1978 by Canadian-born artist, Liz Leyh. There are three cows and three calves, approximately half life size....

, a group of concrete Friesian

Holstein (cattle)

Holstein cattle is a breed of cattle known today as the world's highest production dairy animal. Originating in Europe, Holsteins were bred in what is now the Netherlands and more specifically in the two northern provinces of North Holland and Friesland...

cows which have become the unofficial logo of the city; and a tradition of abstract geometrical art, such as Lilliane Lijn's "Circle of Light" hanging in the Midsummer Arcade of the Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre

Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre

Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre is a regional shopping centre located in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England which is about 50 miles north-west of London. It is managed in two separate parts, thecentre:mk and Midsummer Place...

.

Demographics
Unusually for a new town

New town

, Milton Keynes has arrived at a bias in favour of private sector investment, with about 80% of owner-occupied homes. The political climate determined this: previous new towns were mainly controlled by Labour Governments but Milton Keynes was mainly built during the Conservative years.

Further development plans

In January 2004, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott

John Prescott

John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010...

announced the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

government's Expansion plans for Milton Keynes

He proposed that the population of Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes

should double in the next 20 years. He appointed English Partnerships

English Partnerships

English Partnerships was the national regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by Regional Development Agencies on a regional level...

to do so, taking planning controls away from Milton Keynes Borough Council

Milton Keynes (borough)

and making EP the statutory planning authority. In turn, EP established a subsidiary Milton Keynes Partnership to manage the programme locally. Their proposal for the next phase of expansion moves away from grid squares to large scale, mixed use, higher density developments which are more based on assumptions about public transport than private car usage.

Milestones since 1967

1960s

1961 Census: Population of districts to become the Borough of Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes (borough)
The Borough of Milton Keynes is a unitary authority and borough in south central England, at the northern tip of the South East England Region. For ceremonial purposes, it is in the county of Buckinghamshire...

= 52,931
1967 Designation
1969 The Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...

moves to its new headquarters in Walton Hall
Walton Hall, Milton Keynes
Walton Hall is a district in Milton Keynes, in the English county of Buckinghamshire, and is the location of the campus and offices of The Open University. The University campus covers 48 hectares and the first buildings were designed by Maxwell Fry & Jane Drew in 1969.It is in the ancient parish...

.

1970s

1970 First section of new city grid road system (H2 from V4 Watling Street
Watling Street
Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...

).
1971 First major housing scheme (Galley Hill, Stony Stratford
Stony Stratford
Stony Stratford is a constituent town of Milton Keynes and is a civil parish with a town council within the Borough of Milton Keynes. It is in the north west corner of Milton Keynes, bordering Northamptonshire and separated from it by the River Great Ouse...

).
1971 Census: Population of future Borough of Milton Keynes = 66,949;
population of designated area = 46,500
1974 Stantonbury Campus
Stantonbury Campus
Stantonbury Campus is a secondary school located in Milton Keynes, England.It is the second largest secondary comprehensive school in the United Kingdom and in Europe with more than 2,900 school students aged 11–18 ....

opens; first major grid road (V8 Marlborough Street connects Bletchley to Stantonbury
Stantonbury
Stantonbury is a district of Milton Keynes, ceremonial Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the northern edge, between Great Linford and Wolverton...

(for New Bradwell
New Bradwell
New Bradwell is a Victorian era new village, modern district and civil parish that is now part of Milton Keynes , on its northern edge...

and Wolverton); work begins on the Shopping Building (now The Centre:MK); the first balancing lake
Balancing lake
A balancing lake is a term used in the U.K. describing an element of an urban drainage system used to control flooding by temporarily storing flood waters...

(Willen Lake
Willen
Willen is a district of Milton Keynes, England and is also one of the ancient villages of Buckinghamshire to have been included in the designated area of the New City in1967...

) is finished. Borough of Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes (borough)
The Borough of Milton Keynes is a unitary authority and borough in south central England, at the northern tip of the South East England Region. For ceremonial purposes, it is in the county of Buckinghamshire...

created (as a district of Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

until 1997)
1975 The first office building in Central Milton Keynes
Central Milton Keynes
Central Milton Keynes is the central business district of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England and a civil parish in its own right.The district is approximately 2.5 km long by 1 km wide and occupies some of the highest land in Milton Keynes...

(Lloyds Court) opens.
1979 First concert at Milton Keynes Bowl (Desmond Dekker/Geno Washington); Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

opens the Shopping Building.

1980s

1980 A5D opens, bypassing Watling Street; Peace Pagoda
Peace Pagoda
A Peace Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa designed to provide a focus for people of all races and creeds, and to help unite them in their search for world peace. Most have been built under the guidance of Nichidatsu Fujii , a Buddhist monk from Japan and founder of the Nipponzan-Myōhōji Buddhist Order...

dedicated at Willen
Willen
Willen is a district of Milton Keynes, England and is also one of the ancient villages of Buckinghamshire to have been included in the designated area of the New City in1967...

.
1981 Homeworld, Central Library, Willen Hospice
1981 Census: Population of the Borough of Milton Keynes = 123,289;
population of designated area 95,800
1982 Central Milton Keynes railway station officially open.
1983 Caldecotte balancing lake ready.
1984 A421 road
A421 road
The A421 is an important road for east/west journeys across England. Together with the A428, the A43 and A34, it forms the route from Cambridge through Milton Keynes to Oxford...

connects to M1 motorway
M1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...

at Junction 13; Milton Keynes General Hospital
Milton Keynes General Hospital
Milton Keynes General Hospital is a district general hospital serving Milton Keynes, its borough in Buckinghamshire and the surrounding area of south Northamptonshire and north-west Bedfordshire. It is located in the neighbourhood of Eaglestone, and opened in 1984. It is managed by Milton Keynes...

opens.
1985 Britain's first multiplex cinema
Multiplex (movie theater)
A multiplex is a movie theater complex with multiple screens, typically three or more. They are usually housed in a specially designed building. Sometimes, an existing venue undergoes a renovation where the existing auditoriums are split into smaller ones, or more auditoriums are added in an...

, The Point
The Point, Milton Keynes
The Point is an entertainment complex in Central Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. When it opened in 1985, it included the UK's first multiplex cinema....

, opens.
1986 Energy World
Energy World
Energy World was a demonstration project of 51 low-energy houses constructed in the Shenley Lodge area of Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. The project was promoted by the Milton Keynes Development Corporation and culminated in a public exhibition in August and October 1986 that attracted...

; new County Court
County Court
A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of county courts held by the High Sheriff of each county.-England and Wales:County Court matters can be lodged...

; Forte Crest Hotel (now Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is a brand of hotels, formally a economy motel chain, forming part of the British InterContinental Hotels Group . It is one of the world's largest hotel chains with 238,440 bedrooms and 1,301 hotels globally. There are currently 5 hotels in the pipeline...

); Gyosei school
1987 Woughton Marina opens.
1989 Furzton balancing lake, Bradwell aqueduct (first aqueduct on Grand Union in over 100 years).

1990s

1991 Census: Population of the Borough of Milton Keynes = 179,252;
population of designated area = 144,700.
1991 Ecumenical Church of Christ the Cornerstone was completed; De Montfort University
De Montfort University
De Montfort University is a public research and teaching university situated in the medieval Old Town of Leicester, England, adjacent to the River Soar and the Leicester Castle Gardens...

opens Milton Keynes campus. (Closes 2003).
1992 Milton Keynes Development Corporation
Milton Keynes Development Corporation
Milton Keynes Development Corporation was established on 23 January 1967 to provide the vision and execution of a "new city", Milton Keynes, that would be the modern interpretation of the Garden city movement concepts first expressed by Ebenezer Howard 60 years earlier...

wound up, replaced by Commission for New Towns; Kingston District Centre; Woodhill (HM Prison)
Woodhill (HM Prison)
HM Prison Woodhill is a Category A men's prison and Young Offenders Institution, located in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Woodhill Prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.-History:...

.
1994 Westcroft
Westcroft
Westcroft is a district in the west side of Milton Keynes, in the civil parish of Shenley Brook End.Westcroft District Centre is a large retail development that serves this side of Milton Keynes...

district centre.
1996 National Hockey Stadium
National Hockey Stadium
The National Hockey Stadium was a sports stadium in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, with a nominal capacity of around 4,000 seats . It was used by England Hockey as their national stadium from 1995 to 2003 and as a professional football stadium from 2003 to 2007...

opens.
1997 Borough of Milton Keynes unitary authority
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
1999 Milton Keynes Theatre, Art Gallery and new Visitor Centre.

2000s

2000 Xscape
Xscape (building)
Xscape buildings are large, strikingly designed and unusually shaped buildings. Typically they contain a real snow indoor ski slope, leisure facilities and related shops...

opens.
2001 Census: Population of Borough of Milton Keynes = 207,063;
population of designated area = 177,500.
2003 Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional association football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football before being elected to the Football...

moves
Relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes
Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football prior to a "fairytale" rise through the divisions following election to The Football League...

to the National Hockey Stadium.
2004 ("MMIV") Wimbledon F.C. renamed and relaunched as Milton Keynes Dons F.C.
Milton Keynes Dons F.C.
.Milton Keynes Dons Football Club is an English professional football club founded in 2004 and based since 2007 at Stadium mk, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire...

.
2007 Stadium:mk opens and Milton Keynes Dons move in.
2008 University Centre Milton Keynes
University Centre Milton Keynes
The University Centre Milton Keynes is a small higher education institute in Milton Keynes, England that is formally part of Milton Keynes College. The centre was opened on 29 September 2008: its long term aim is to be the seed for a new, independent university in Milton Keynes...

opens.

2010s

2010 National Hockey Stadium
National Hockey Stadium
The National Hockey Stadium was a sports stadium in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, with a nominal capacity of around 4,000 seats . It was used by England Hockey as their national stadium from 1995 to 2003 and as a professional football stadium from 2003 to 2007...

is demolished, construction begins on Network Rail
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...

National Centre, Milton Keynes Shopping Centre grade II listed.

External links

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