Milton Keynes is a city and the largest settlement 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).
Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main Roman roads in Britannia. The route linked Dover and London in the southeast, and continued northwest via St Albans to Wroxeter. The line of the road was later the southwestern border of the Danelaw with Wessex and Mercia, and Watling Street was numbered as one of the major highways of medieval England.
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.
Calverton is a civil parish in the unitary authority area of the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England and just outside the Milton Keynes urban area, situated roughly 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Stony Stratford, and 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Central Milton Keynes. The parish consists of one village, Lower Weald, and two hamlets, Upper Weald and Middle Weald. Lower Weald is the largest of the three settlements, and Manor Farm, the parish church and the former parochial school are within its boundaries.
Fenny Stratford is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, 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" in 1967. From 1895 it formed an urban district with Bletchley, until 1974 when it became part of the (then) District of Milton Keynes. It is located at the southern edge of the city, just east of Bletchley and west of the A5.
Stony Stratford is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Historically it was a market town on the important route from London to Chester. It is also the name of 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.
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.
The coaching inn was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point (layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of travellers, for food, drink, and rest. The attached stables, staffed by hostlers, cared for the horses, including changing a tired team for a fresh one. Coaching inns were used by private travellers in their coaches, the public riding stagecoaches between one town and another, and the mail coach. Just as with roadhouses in other countries, although many survive, and some still offer overnight accommodation, in general coaching inns have lost their original function and now operate as ordinary pubs.
Potterspury is a populous village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The nearest main town is Milton Keynes, the centre of which is about 7 miles south-east. At the time of the 2011 census, the parish's population was 1,453 people.
Denbigh is a district in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, to the north of Fenny Stratford and on the eastern side of the West Coast Main Line. It is in the civil parish of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and is categorised by the Office for National Statistics as part of the Bletchley built-up area. The A5 forms its eastern and northern boundary; parts of Bletcham Way and Saxon St form its southern boundary. The overall district has five sub districts, divided by Watling St/Denbigh Rd, the 'uptick' of Bletcham Way and Grafton Street, and Saxon Street northbound. The district names are planning designations that have persisted without ever being changed to the style "North Denbigh" etc. as is the norm elsewhere in Britain.
Fenny Stratford is a railway station that serves the Fenny Stratford area of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. It is on the Marston Vale Line that links Bletchley and Bedford, about one mile east of Bletchley railway station.
Wolverton railway station serves Wolverton, a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The station is on the West Coast Main Line, about 52 miles (84 km) from Euston, between Milton Keynes Central and Northampton. The station is one of the seven stations serving the Milton Keynes urban area.
Old Stratford is a village and wider civil parish in the south of the English county of Northamptonshire. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 1,935. The 'Stratford' part of the village name is Anglo-Saxon in origin and means 'ford on a Roman road'. The Roman road in this sense is the Watling Street that runs through the middle of the village.
Bletchley and Fenny Stratford is a civil parish with a town council, in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It was formed in 2001 from the unparished area of Milton Keynes, and according to the 2011 census had a population of 15,313. Together with West Bletchley, it forms the Bletchley built-up area.
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.
Two Mile Ash is a district of north-west Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, England, two miles south of Stony Stratford, just off Watling Street. The district was named after the Two Mile Ash toll gate on Watling Street. It is one of the larger districts, but a large part of its area is taken up by Abbey Hill, an 18-hole golf course. Consequently, many of the streets here are named after famous golf courses. The district was one of the first to be built in the (mainly) private housing period of the development of Milton Keynes. It is in Abbey Hill civil parish.
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 neighborhoods 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.
Wolverton Urban District was a local government district in Buckinghamshire, England, from 1920 to 1974, covering the town of Wolverton and its environs, including the town of Stony Stratford. A district covering this area existed from 1894 to 1974, but was initially a rural district called Stratford and Wolverton Rural District. It was redesignated an urban district in 1919, briefly being called Stratford and Wolverton Urban District before being renamed Wolverton Urban District in 1920.
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.
