Walton | |
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Walton Hall, the former manor house of Walton. | |
Location within Buckinghamshire | |
Population | 12,100 (2021 Census) [1] |
OS grid reference | SP854388 |
Civil parish |
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Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | MILTON KEYNES |
Postcode district | MK7 |
Dialling code | 01908 |
Police | Thames Valley |
Fire | Buckinghamshire |
Ambulance | South Central |
UK Parliament | |
Walton was historically a hamlet and now a district and civil parish in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. [2] For local government purposes, it is part of the Danesborough and Walton electoral ward.
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. The modern H9 Groveway grid road severs a few of its houses into Walton Hall and the V10 Brickhill Street separates the Manor Farm off into the Walton grid square. The Manor Farm has been redeveloped, first into a research centre for Hoechst and subsequently as the UK headquarters of MSD Animal Health. [3]
The village name is a common one in England, and is an Old English language word, meaning either 'village of the Britons' (wale being a word meaning Briton) or 'walled village'. The village is first recorded (in the 12th century) as Wauton. [4]
Walton Hall, the manor house of the village, and its chapel of ease (now deconsecrated) are in the campus grounds of The Open University, in the Walton Hall district.
The modern Walton district is a light-industrial and residential district on the banks of the River Ouzel, a tributary of the Great Ouse and on the other side of Brickhill Street from the hamlet that gives it its name. It is largely the grounds of Walton Manor Farm. The other village farm, Walnut Tree Farm, still exists and the Walnut Tree district is on its lands.
The civil parish of Walton includes the districts of Browns Wood, Caldecotte, Old Farm Park, Tilbrook, Towergate, Walton, Walton Hall, Walton Park, Walnut Tree and Wavendon Gate. Caldecotte Lake is one of the more significant geographic features, extending from Caldecotte and Walton Park. The Parish Council is entitled a 'Community Council".
Walton Community Council is the first tier of local government serving those living, attending and working in this area of Milton Keynes. The Community Council is responsible for the estates and villages of Browns Wood, Caldecotte, Old Farm Park, Tilbrook, Tower Gate, Walnut Tree, Walton Hall, Walton Park and Wavendon Gate.
Browns Wood is a district in the south-east corner of the civil parish which, in the 2001 Census, also gave its name to an Office for National Statistics designated 'urban sub-area'.
The Sports Ground at Browns Wood contains 2 football pitches, a pump track, children's play area, outdoor gym and a Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) which is open access but can be hired from the Walton Community Council.
Caldecotte (pronounced Cold-e-cot) is another district in the parish, that includes the site of an ancient village of the same name. It is also includes the larger part of Caldecotte Lake, an important manmade balancing lake that manages flood water on the River Ouzel just as it enters Milton Keynes. The lake is used by a number of local clubs for rowing and other water sports.
The place name is fairly common in England, and is Old English meaning "cold cottage". This refers to a resting place for travellers or other strangers on the road. The original Northampton to London road (modern Brickhill Street) runs nearby, just short of its junction with Watling Street (itself a major route in continuous use since Roman times). The village declined when the Northampton road was rerouted in 1728 through Broughton and Woburn to join the Watling Street at Hockliffe.
Old Farm Park is a residential area in the south-east of the parish.
The industrial area of Tilbrook is noted for being the home of Red Bull Racing.
Walton itself is to the north-west of the parish, contained by Groveway, Brickhill Street, Bletcham Way and the River Ouzel. Walton contains a research centre for Hoechst AG as well as housing.
Walton Hall is in the northwest of the parish, and is the location of the campus and offices of The Open University. [5] The university campus covers 45 hectares (110 acres) [6]
In the university campus grounds are the manor house (Walton Hall), which gives the district its name, and the ancient chapel of ease of St Michael, now deconsecrated. [7] The manor farm-lands are divided between Walton Hall, the modern Walton, Kents Hill and Walnut Tree.
The manor house itself, built in 1830 in the Regency style for the Pinfold family, [7] is home to the vice-chancellor's offices of the Open University. [8]
Walton Hall is on the banks of the Ouzel, a tributary of the Great Ouse where Walton Lake, a small balancing lake, has become naturalised and is home to reeds, bulrushes, reed warbler, reed bunting, water rail, sparrowhawk, kestrel, green woodpecker, grass snake and many varieties of odonata. [9] Surrounding the reedbed are ponds and open water, ancient hedgerows and hay meadow.
Walnut Tree is a residential district in Walton, with a population of 3,354 in the last UK census. [10] It is named after the Walnut Tree Farm, on whose land the estate was built. All the street names in Walnut Tree are named after either wild flowers and herbs or 18th century turnpike trusts. [11]
Walnut Tree is home to a local centre, including small shopping outlets and takeaway restaurants. The district also contains a GP surgery, a sports injury clinic, a pub and a pet supplies store.
The area features three schools, all operated by the Milton Keynes Education Trust (MKET) [12] – Walton High for secondary education as well as the Heronshaw and Heronsgate schools [13] for primary education, serving both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 respectively.
There is a cricket ground and football pitch with changing facilities. There are a number of play parks for children scattered throughout the area.
Wavendon Gate is a district within the civil parish which borders the village of Wavendon. It is a mainly residential area which contains the Wavendon Gate junior school [14] and also a cricket green and pavilion [15] for recreational activities.
For the 2001 Census, the Office for National Statistics designated urban sub-areas called Walnut Tree and Browns Wood that are far bigger than the districts of that name. [16] The Walnut Tree and Browns Wood urban sub-areas together approximated to that part of the former Newport Pagnell Rural District that is west of the River Ouzel and east of the M1. The ONS discontinued this usage in the 2011 Census.
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 unitary authority area with both borough and city status, in Buckinghamshire. It is the northernmost district of the South East England Region. The borough abuts Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and the remainder of Buckinghamshire.
Woughton is a civil parish in south central Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The parish council uses the term Community Council.
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.
Broughton is a historic village, modern district and civil parish in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Central Milton Keynes. It is governed by Broughton and Milton Keynes Joint Parish Council, shared with the neighbouring Milton Keynes parish. Broughton district was developed during the 2000s and 2010s largely to the south and east of the historic village.
Middleton is an area of Milton Keynes, a city in Buckinghamshire, England, and part of the civil parish of Milton Keynes. Its historic centre is Milton Keynes Village, the village that in 1967 gave its name to the city of which it is now a small part. It is delineated by Childs Way to the north, Tongwell Street to the east, Chaffron Way to the south and Brickhill Street to the west. The River Ouzel runs diagonally through it, from west to north.
Great Linford is a historic village, district and wider civil parish in the north of Milton Keynes, England, between Wolverton and Newport Pagnell, and roughly 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Central Milton Keynes.
Simpson is a village in Milton Keynes, England. It was one of the villages of historic Buckinghamshire that was included in the "New City" in 1967. It is located south of the centre, just north of Fenny Stratford.
Wavendon is a village and civil parish in the south east of the Milton Keynes urban area, in Buckinghamshire, England.
Woburn Sands is a town that straddles the border between Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire in England, and is part of the Milton Keynes urban area. The larger part of the town is in Woburn Sands civil parish, which is in the City of Milton Keynes, Smaller parts of the town are in the neighbouring parishes of Aspley Guise and Aspley Heath. The meandering boundary between Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire means the Lower and Middle Schools that serve all of the town are both in Aspley Guise CP. Bedfordshire Police and Thames Valley Police both deal with law enforcement issues in the town. At the 2011 Census, the population of the civil parish (only) was 2,916, that of the built-up area was 5,959. Woburn Sands, Aspley Guise and Aspley Heath each has its own centre but together the three settlements are a contiguous built-up area.
Kents Hill, Monkston and Brinklow is a civil parish that covers the Kents Hill, Brinklow, Monkston, Monkston Park and Kingston 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.
The Milton Keynes redway system is an over 200 miles network of shared use paths for cyclists and pedestrians in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is generally surfaced with red tarmac, and criss-crosses most of the city.
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.
MK Metro was a bus company operating in Milton Keynes from 1997 until 2010.
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.
Oakgrove is a district of Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, England, in the civil parish of Milton Keynes. The district includes a small retail centre consisting of a Waitrose Supermarket, a Metro Bank branch, and other small services units. A large portion of the district is reserved as linear park to accommodate the flood plain of the river Ouzel, a tributary of the river Great Ouse.
Old Woughton is a district and civil parish in south central Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The parish was established in April 2012 by the division into two parts of Woughton parish. The original (undivided) civil parish was itself originally called "Woughton on the Green".
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
Campbell Park is a civil parish in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The parish is bounded by Childs Way (H6) to the north, the River Ouzel to the east, the A5 to the west, and Chaffron Way to the south. The parish includes the § Fishermead, § Newlands, § Oldbrook, § Springfield, § Winterhill, Willen and The Woolstones grid-squares. The parish was originally known as Woolstone-cum-Willen, and was formed on 1 April 1934 as a merger of Great Woolstone, Little Woolstone and Willen. The parish was part of Newport Pagnell Rural District until the latter became part of the Borough of Milton Keynes in 1974. The parish was redefined in 2012, when the districts of Campbell Park (sic), Newlands and Willen were reallocated to other parishes. Despite the loss of its eponymous district, the Parish Council continues to use its name. As of December 2022, the parish council is consulting on changing its name.
Intervet UK Ltd trading as MSD Animal Health. Registered office Walton Manor, Walton
A church existed here in 1225, but the structure of that period was entirely rebuilt about the middle of the 14th century, the date of the present chancel and nave.
Media related to Walton, Milton Keynes at Wikimedia Commons