Bradwell Abbey | |
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Chapel at Bradwell Abbey | |
Mapping © OpenStreetMap Location within Buckinghamshire | |
OS grid reference | SP826395 |
Civil parish | |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | MILTON KEYNES |
Postcode district | MK13 |
Dialling code | 01908 |
Police | Thames Valley |
Fire | Buckinghamshire |
Ambulance | South Central |
UK Parliament | |
Bradwell Abbey or Bradwell Priory is a scheduled monument, urban studies site, district and former civil parish in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The site was once the location of a Benedictine priory, founded in 1155.
The Priory was established around 1154. [1] It grew during the Middle Ages to become an important local centre, but declined during the Black Death when, amongst others, its prior William of Loughton died. [1] The Priory was closed in 1524 (some 12 years before the general dissolution of the monasteries) and the site of the monastery and its scanty revenues were granted to Cardinal Wolsey for the endowment of his new college. [2] All that remains today is a small chapel and a farmhouse that has become a centre for cultural activities and an Urban Studies centre. Many of the medieval trackways converging on the abbey became rights of way and bridleways and subsequently became part of the Milton Keynes redway system (a network of shared paths).
The arrival of the West Coast Main Line railway split the Abbey lands, with Bradwell village to the east of the line and the Abbey to the west. Today, the small Bradwell Abbey district includes parkland and industry outside the Abbey grounds.
The Abbey site in total is a Scheduled Monument. [3] The Chapel of St Mary is a Grade I listed building. [4] There are a further five Grade II listed buildings or structures on the Abbey grounds. [5]
Today, Bradwell Abbey is home to the Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre (an urban studies centre), [6] providing a workspace, library and guidance for visiting international town planners and students who wish to study the development of Milton Keynes. It also hosts school visits to see its medieval buildings – the chapel is Grade I listed [7] – its fish ponds and its physic garden, and how they have changed since then. Finally the Abbey provides meeting space to local community groups.
An annual music festival was started on the site in 1999. Performers have included Vikki Clayton in 1999, Joe Driscoll in 2005. In 2009 the festival dates were 26 and 27 June and acts performing included The Swanvesta Social Club.
The modern Bradwell Abbey district is a relatively small one, sandwiched as it is between the West Coast Main Line to the east, the A5 to the west, H3 Monks Way (A422) to the north and H4 Dansteed Way to the south. It includes a small industrial estate and the Loughton Valley flood plain "linear park". The Swan's Way long-distance path and the Sustrans route 51 follow the valley.
Formally, it is in the Bradwell grid-square, but this square is split into three parts by the railway line (on an embankment) and the A5 (in a cutting).
From 1858 to 2011, "Bradwell Abbey" was also the name of a civil parish stretching from a little west of Watling Street to a little east of the West Coast Main Line (and thus on either side of the (modern) A5). [8] In 1971 the parish had a population of 11. [9]
On 1 April 2011, the parish was abolished and divided: the part west of the A5 became Abbey Hill CP; the part east of the A5 and north of the A422 (a tiny part of Stacey Bushes and Bancroft) became part of Wolverton and Greenleys CP; and the remainder, the Abbey site and the adjacent lands east of the A5 and south of the A422, became part of Bradwell CP. [10]
Milton Keynes is a city in Buckinghamshire, England, about 50 miles (80 km) north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms the northern boundary of the urban area; a tributary, the River Ouzel, meanders through its linear parks and balancing lakes. Approximately 25% of the urban area is parkland or woodland and includes two Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).
The City of Milton Keynes is a borough with city status, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is the northernmost district of the South East England Region. The borough abuts Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and the remainder of Buckinghamshire. The borough is administered by Milton Keynes City Council, a unitary authority.
Newport Pagnell is a town and civil parish in the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The Office for National Statistics records Newport Pagnell as part of the Milton Keynes urban area.
Bletchley is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated in the south-west of the city, and is split between the civil parishes of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and West Bletchley. In 2011, the two parishes had a combined population of 37,114.
Bow Brickhill is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is bounded to the north, west and east by the Milton Keynes urban area, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Fenny Stratford, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of Woburn Sands and 4 miles (6.4 km) south-east of Central Milton Keynes.
Bradwell is an ancient village and modern district in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, situated approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) north-west of Central Milton Keynes. It has also given its name to a modern civil parish that is part of the City of Milton Keynes. The village was adjacent to Bradwell Abbey, a Benedictine priory, founded in 1155 and dissolved in about 1540, but the abbey and its immediate environs were always a separate ecclesiastical parish.
Loughton is an ancient village and modern district in the civil parish of Loughton and Great Holm 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, Central Milton Keynes.
Shenley Brook End is a village, district and wider civil parish in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, located about 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Bletchley, and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south-west of Central Milton Keynes. Together with its neighbouring districts of Shenley Church End, Shenley Wood and Shenley Lodge, the districts are collectively known as "The Shenleys".
Stantonbury is a district and civil parish of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, situated roughly 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Central Milton Keynes. The toponym Stanton is derived from an Old English term for "stone-built farmstead" and the bury element from the French family Barri who held it in 1235. The original Stantonbury is a deserted medieval village now known as Stanton Low; the Stantonbury name has been reused for the modern district at the heart of the civil parish.
Stony Stratford is a market town in Buckinghamshire and a constituent town of Milton Keynes, England. It is located on Watling Street, historically the Roman road from London to Chester. It is also a civil parish with a town council in the City of Milton Keynes. It is in the north-west corner of the Milton Keynes urban area, bordering Northamptonshire and separated from it by the River Great Ouse. In 2011 the parish had a population of 7736.
Wolverton is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, England. It is located in the north-west of the city, beside the West Coast Main Line, the Grand Union Canal and the river Great Ouse. It is the administrative seat of Wolverton and Greenleys civil parish.
New Bradwell is (mainly) an Edwardian era village, modern district and civil parish in north-west Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, about 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Central Milton Keynes. Together with Wolverton, it was built primarily to house the workers on the Wolverton railway works.
Central Milton Keynes is the central business district of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England and a civil parish in its own right, with a town council.
The A422 is an "A" road for east–west journeys in south central England, connecting the county towns of Bedford and Worcester by way of Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Banbury and Stratford-upon-Avon. For most of its length, it is a narrow single carriageway.
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 northern Southeast England, its subsequent urban design and development, to the present day. Milton Keynes, founded in 1967, is the largest settlement and only city in Buckinghamshire. At the 2021 census, the population of its urban area was estimated to have exceeded 256,000.
The Milton Keynes grid road system is a network of predominantly national speed limit, fully landscaped routes that form the top layer of the street hierarchy for both private and public transport in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. The system is unique in the United Kingdom for its innovative use of street hierarchy principles: the grid roads run in between districts rather than through them. This arrangement permits higher speed limits due to the absence of buildings close to the roads – although more recently some have been limited in part to 40 mph (64 km/h). The grid road system also serves an important purpose of discouraging through-traffic from travelling through neighbourhoods and thus reduces traffic noise and pollution in pedestrian areas. Motor traffic is segregated from pedestrian and leisure cycling traffic, which uses the alternative Milton Keynes redway system. Almost all grid junctions are roundabouts, and the absence of traffic lights enables free and efficient movement of traffic.
Snelshall Priory was a Benedictine priory in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire in the United Kingdom, built around 1200. The priory was founded after Sybil d'Aungerville granted land at Tattenhoe to Lavendon Abbey, a Premonstratensian monastery of 'White canons' who most likely started a cell at Snelshall. This did not thrive and was abandoned about 1207. About 1219, the founder's son brought in Benedictine monks, increased the endowment and the new monastery began again. However Snelshall Priory paid 1 mark a year to Lavendon until 1232, at which point the Bishop of Lincoln decided that Snelshall owned its own lands and chapel. The priory accumulated various land through gifts, but even with all these grants, in 1321 when Henry Burghersh visited, it was so poor that "the monks scarcely had the necessities of life and had to beg even for these".
Abbey Hill is a civil parish that covers the Two Mile Ash, Kiln Farm, and Wymbush districts of Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, England. As the first tier of Local Government, the parish council is responsible for the people, living and working in this area of Milton Keynes.
Loughton and Great Holm is a civil parish in the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It includes the districts of Loughton, Great Holm, the National Bowl and Elfield Park, West Rooksley, Loughton Lodge, and Knowlhill. It is bordered by H4 Dansteed Way to the north, V4 Watling Street to the west, a tiny stretch of H8 Standing Way to the south, and the West Coast Main Line to the east. Originally named Loughton, it was renamed to Loughton and Great Holm in 2013
Whitehouse is a neighbourhood and civil parish that covers a large new development area on the western flank of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. As the first tier of Local Government, its community council is responsible for the people, living and working in this area of Milton Keynes.