Magiovinium

Watling Street crosses the River Ouzel close to Dobbies Garden Centre and the Bletchley Rugby Club (Manor Fields). Along the Roman road was a small town with buildings, (possibly some were shops) and a cemetery outside the defences of a bank and ditch. This is on a spur of land which gently slopes down to the Ouzel.

There have been a number of small excavations - starting in 1911 by Bradbook and Berry. In 1964 there were excavations of a bathing station, and a number in the 1970s to 1990s associated with the roadbuilding in the area.

(see for example the reports on the Little Brickhill by-pass, 1989-90 (link here) or the excavations that preceded the construction of the garden centre (link here))

A Roman coin manufacturing site was discovered in 1990, beneath the line of Galley Lane (the A4146), adjacent to a mid first century fort. Those coins are now on show in Room 49 (Roman Britain) in the British Museum. Two separate groups of coins were found, one set were fourth-century bronzes and the other were second century denarii.

The fort, a double-ditched rectangular enclosure, is likely to have build during the reign of Nero, and abandoned within 30 years. It is situated in the field which is bordered by Watling Street and Galley Lane (A4146)

Milton Keynes History

Last month the city of Milton Keynes celebrated its 50th birthday - but the area has much of historical interest. It is overlooked by the iron-age fort of Danesborough, includes the Roman settlement of Magiovinium, a Roman villa, the historic Watling Street coaching town of Stony Stratford, Bletchley Park and transport routes from across the ages (Watling Street, Grand Union Canal, Railway, M1). It includes a number of ancient villages and the historic towns of Bletchley, Stony Stratford, Wolverton and Newport Pagnell.

In this and subsequent posts, I will share something of that history. There is an excellent map called "Milton Keynes Heritage". I believe that it may still be available from the Visitor Information Centre in Centre:MK [the huge indoor shopping centre]

I've always believed that to understand the history of an area, it is necessary to study its geography. Milton Keynes is built on a low plateau, crossed by three rivers.

The biggest river forms the Northern boundary of the city itself, then crosses through some of the rural parts and through the town of Newport Pagnell. The Great Ouse runs 143 miles from its sources in Northamptonshire (near the village of Syresham), through Brackley, Buckingham, Milton Keynes, Olney, Bedford, St Neots, Huntingdon, St Ives and Kings Lynn before entering the Wash. The Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum - which settled the border between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and Danelaw ran along the Great Ouse between Stony Stratford and Bedford.

The second river is the Ouzel (also known elsewhere and in other eras as the Lovat). It rises not far from Whipsnade Zoo - and flows through Leighton Buzzard and through the city close to the site of Magiovinium; past the Open University, meeting the Great Ouse in Newport Pagnell.

The third 'river' is a brook - but it has carved out a pleasant valley which is partly used by the railway. Loughton Brook rises a little outside the City to its south west. It flows through the estates of Tattenhoe Park, Tattenhoe, Emerson Valley, and Furzton - where it feeds Furzton Lake, past the Milton Keynes (National) Bowl, Knowlhill (where the Teardrop lakes are), Loughton, past Bradwell Abbey and close to the Roman Villa in Bancroft, eventually meeting the Great Ouse in New Bradwell.