Sites of Interest

21/04/08 — published by Mikki Thomas

Grand Union Canal

The first canal in Britain was from Worsley to Manchester which opened in 1776. It was possible to travel from London to Birmingham by 1780, by using the Thames and the Oxford Canal. The Grand Junction Canal originated from a meeting at a Stony Stratford inn headed by the Marquis of Buckingham in 1792. Much of the £500,000 needed to construct the canal was put up by the Marquis and the canal was designed by James Barnes and William Jessop. The Grand Junction Canal was to be a quicker and more direct route from London to Birmingham.

By 1797 two stretches had been completed - London to Fenny Stratford and from Braunston to Blisworth. In 1800 the aqueduct over the River Ouse between Wolverton and Cosgrove was opened and in 1805 Blisworth Tunnel opened, thus completing the canal.

Willen

The name 'Willen' comes from the old English word 'wylig' meaning 'at the willows'.

Before the creation of the lake and local expansion of housing development for the new town of Milton Keynes, this would have been an apt description for the small village situated next to the meandering river Ouzel with its border of willow trees. In the 1960s, Willen comprised a church, a vicarage, two big farms, around a dozen cottages and the last remnants of a watermill.

The new housing in Willen has been tastefully blended with the old and the village still has a very restful and rural feel about it.

Willen Church

Willen Church, St Mary Magdalene, was built for Dr Richard Busby, Head Master of Westminster School. His students included Robert Hooke the English natural philosopher and Sir Christopher Wren, one of the most famous architects of his time.

The church was designed and construction supervised by Dr Robert Hooke. Robert  Hooke helped Christopher Wren rebuild London after the Great Fire in 1666, and also worked on designing London's Monument to the fire, the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Montagu House in Bloomsbury, and the infamous Bethlem Royal Hospital (which became known as 'Bedlam').

Willen church was built around 1679 - 1682 (the date 1680 is cast into the plasterwork of the barrel-vault ceiling of the nave). Three bells were hung in the tower with fittings for full-circle ringing.  They have identical rhyming inscriptions "Richard Chandler made me 1683".

It is not in its original condition; in the 19th century an apse was added to the nave, and the cupola was removed from the tower. Hooke's original intention was for a simple nave and a decorative tower; to some extent this intention has been reversed.

Willen Lake

Willen Lake is a manmade balancing lake which captures flash floods before they cause problems down stream.   The north basin is a wild-life sanctuary and a favourite of migrating aquatic birds.   The south basin is for leisure use, favoured by wind surfers and dinghy sailors.   The circuit of the lakes is a favoured "fun run".

Overlooking the lake, Willen Hospice provides specialist care for people whose illness no longer responds to curative treatment (also known as specialist palliative care).

 

Woolstone

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

The Village and parish name comes from the Anglo-Saxon "Weitfraige's Tun"; the street names are taken from local history eg. Pattison Lane and William Smith Close.

The 'grid square' has been developed for housing and as a linear park. Pattison Lane acts as the main distributor road taking traffic away from the old villages, which were in decline. The villages are interesting and include the 14th Century Holy Trinity Church, now also used as a community centre. William Smith Close is named after a local farmer who invented the steam plough, there is also a 19th Century church now used as a music centre and two country pubs, The Cross Keys and The Barge.

Many of these and other buildings have been listed, especially in the Conservation Area around Little Woolstone. The scale and character of the area is being maintained in the development of open spaces and housing. The linear park has been developed along the flood valley of the river Ouzel, with poplar plantations in the north.

School House, Little Woolstone

The former school at Little Woolstone, built in 1861 with the assistance of The National Society on land given by William Smith.

The school is pure Victorian Gothic, complete with bell-cote. The attached school house was home for a few years to the first-ever school mistress of Little Woolstone, Doroth Pattison.  Education at that time in the 1860s was not compulsory.  About 30 children from the villages attended, aged between 7 and 11 years. By the time they left school, they were expected to be 'able to read a paragraph, write a letter, make out a shop bill, learn the Catechism, and understand an ordinary sermon'.

Cross Keys, Woolstone

The Cross Keys in Great Woolstone dates from the 17th century with later additions at the back. The walls are made of stone and the roof is thatched. Some of the chimneys are from the late 17th century. While The Barge in Little Woolstone catered for the boatmen and their horses, The Cross Keys was frequented by villagers from both the Woolstones.

Holy Trinity Church

Holy Trinity Church, Little Woolstone, dates from the 13th century. The church is built from limestone rubble and consists of a chancel and nave with a south porch. In 1662 three bells were cast by Anthony Chandler, the bellcote being added around 1450. The south porch was added around the early 16th century. The church underwent much restoration during the mid 1800s, a roof restoration in 1854, the chancel rebuilt and the north vestry added in 1861.  William Smith paid for more restoration of the interior in the Decorated style and was also responsible for the rebuilding of the road in front of the churchyard wall.

Medieval Fish Farm

The humps and bumps in this field are more significant than you might think.   They are the remains of the medieval manor house of Great Woolstone and the fish farm associated with it.  The house was the property of the Pever family up to the middle of the 14th century and the Green family of Wavendon thereafter, but very little is known of its history.

The fish ponds date from the 14th century.  They were built near the river so a supply of fresh water could be maintained.

The need for fish

Fish was important in the middle ages because the Church forbade the eating of meat on Fridays and during Lent.  Most people ate salted fish, but those who could afford it had fresh fish whenever possible; it was something of a status symbol to be able to do so.  These ponds would have produced fish for the manor house and for sale or to be given as presents.

Varieties of fish

The most common fresh water fish were pike, eel, bream, tench, roach and perch.   Carp was not introduced until the 16th century; trout was not valued as a food.

How the farm worked

The first pond to be built here would probably have been used simply to store live fish caught elsewhere, for example from the river.

Later a system of breeding fish was developed: seven ponds held fish at different stages of growth starting with a breeding pond and finishing with a storage pond for mature fish.   At each stage of the fattening process the number was reduced and the surplus fed to carnivorous fish such as pike which were held in a separate pond.

 

Campbell Park

The park takes up the larger part of the district.   It was named in honour of the first chairman of Milton Keynes Development Corporation, Lord Campbell of Eskan.  It stretches from the Theatre end of Central Milton Keynes down to the Grand Union Canal.

A marina is planned for the canal here and it is the planned junction for the proposed Bedford Arm.

Peace Pagoda

"may eternal peace prevail on earth"

Built by the monks and nuns of the Nipponzan Myohoji, this was the first Peace Pagoda to be built in the western hemisphere and enshrines sacred relics of Lord Buddha. A thousand cherry trees and cedars are planted on the hill around the Pagoda in remembrance of the victims of all wars. They were donated by the ancient Japanese town of Yoshino, famous for the beauty of its cherry blossom.

The Pagoda is a sanctuary and permanent refuge for all beings. It is built to further humanity's quest and prayer that the world may be saved from nuclear annihilation.

 

Oldbrook

The estate's roads are named after cricketing terms or famous cricketers. It is said that the street layout is based on the markings of a cricket pitch.

The estate is well served by shops on Oldbrook Boulevard, with two small units, one a newsagent, the other a mini supermarket. The local centre at the other, western end of the Boulevard has a large supermarket (Lidl), a Tesco store, a Blockbuster video shop and a take-away pizza store, all with ample off-road parking. There is also a Chinese restaurant adjacent to the Grafton Retail Park, a bulk-purchase off-licence store, a snowboard shop and a private nursery situated here.

Oldbrook is separated from Central Milton Keynes by Child's Way (H6). Oldbrook is also home to Milton Keynes Christian Centre which is one of the larger churches in the city.

Christian Centre

Milton Keynes Christian Centre, based in Oldbrook, was opened in 1986. It runs a nursery, playgroup and other activities for the benefit of the local community.

The Christian Centre is a growing church of many nationalities - worshipping God together and learning from each other.  There is a varied programme of activities for all age groups, which engage the church with the local community.

 

Fishermead

Fishermead is named after a field called Fishers Mead.  The fishing theme is continued in the street naming.   All of the streets are named after Cornish fishing terminology.

The original housing was grouped around squares.   A particularly striking area is the Kernow Crescent built in 1981 which encloses the local park.   The area takes on a grid design like many others in the city, with a central boulevard with the services running off it.

Chinese Overseas Christian Mission

Chinese Overseas Christian Mission (COCM) headquarters are based in Fishermead. COCM is an inter-denominational mission with the objectives of bringing the gospel to the Chinese scattered over Europe through pioneering evangelism, church planting, training and literature work.

The mission's vision is "where there are Chinese, may Christ be there also".

 

Springfield

Just to the east of the city centre, the name Springfield comes from a field name.   The road names are taken from historical rivers and wells of London.   Developed since 1975 it was one of the earlier areas of the city built mainly in terraces and around squares.

(It also shares its name with the fictional city in which the animated American sitcom The Simpsons is set.)

 

Stone Circle

The Milton Keynes Millennium Sculpture represents a coming together of North American Indian Medicine Wheels and the ancient stone circles of Britain.

The Circle of Hearts Medicine Wheel was built by people from Milton Keynes to welcome the new millennium and to bring spiritual peace and harmony to the wounded earth.   It embraces, and is beyond, all sects and religions and harnesses the earth's powerful energies to help the development of spiritual growth.

This place is a focus within the rich and varied landscape of Milton Keynes and everyone is welcome to seek spiritual healing and to find peace, reconciliation and enjoyment here.

The large flat Africa Stone outside the circle is seen as a symbol of the earth's healing which must grow from that continent.

The two concentric rings of stones symbolize stages of spiritual focus.

Tall Gateway stones at the north, south, east and west cardinal points invite participation and spread the spiritual influence from the Wheel.

The grass space inside the circle has four sectors representing the elements: fire, water, earth and air.

The Wheel brings together the races of humankind around the fire pit and the healing ashes from ceremonies here and in other parts of the world are kept at the Buddhist Temple nearby.

The Lesser Gateways and the Needle Stone mark the Midsummer energy line which extends from Midsummer Boulevard, through Campbell Park Belvedere and the Tree Cathedral to the island in Willen North Lake.