Bradwell, Milton Keynes#Sport and recreation

{{infobox UK place

| static_image_name = St Lawrence Church, Bradwell - geograph.org.uk - 208579.jpg

| static_image_width =

| static_image_caption = St Lawrence Church, Bradwell (built 1860)

|country = England

|coordinates = {{coord|52.05|-0.787|display=inline,title}}

| population = 9,657

| population_ref =(2011 Census)(Civil Parish) {{NOMIS2011|id=E04012178|title=Bradwell|accessdate=17 November 2019}}

|official_name = Bradwell

|civil_parish = Bradwell

|unitary_england= Milton Keynes City Council

| shire_district = City of Milton Keynes

|lieutenancy_england= Buckinghamshire

|region= South East England

|constituency_westminster= Milton Keynes North

|post_town= MILTON KEYNES

|postcode_district = MK13

|postcode_area= MK

|dial_code= 01908

|os_grid_reference= SP835395

|website=[http://www.bradwell-pc.gov.uk bradwell-pc.gov.uk]

|pushpin_map=United Kingdom Milton Keynes

|pushpin_map_caption=Mapping © OpenStreetMap

| module = {{Infobox mapframe|stroke-width=1|zoom=12|width=240}}

}}

Bradwell is an ancient village and modern district in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, situated approximately {{convert|1|mi}} 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/your-council-and-elections/councillors-and-committees/parish-and-town-councils/contact-your-parish-or-town-council | title = Contact your Parish, Town or Community Council | publisher = Milton Keynes Council | accessdate= 10 October 2020}} 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.

The village name is an Old English language word and means broad spring.{{cite web|url= http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Buckinghamshire/Bradwell | title= Key to English place names: Bradwell | publisher = Institute for Name-Studies, the University of Nottingham | accessdate = 6 April 2020}} In the Domesday Book of 1086 the village was recorded as Bradewelle.{{cite book|chapter-url= https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/bucks/vol4/pp283-288 |chapter = Parishes : Bradwell | series = Victoria History of the Counties of England | title= A History of the County of Buckingham |volume= 4 |date= 1927 |pages = 283–288 |editor= William Page |publisher= Constable & Co. Ltd. | location = London }}

There was an YHA youth hostel in the village (near the church and Bradwell Bury), at {{gbmapping|SP 831,395}}: the YHA closed it during the COVID-19 pandemic and terminated its lease in 2021.{{cite news |title=Milton Keynes's only youth hostel to be rented out as private home | first=Sally |last=Murrer |date=29 September 2021 |work=Milton Keynes Citizen}}

Civil parish

The parish of Bradwell consists of the Bradwell village grid square, along with Bradwell Abbey, Heelands, Rooksley, and Bradwell Common. The parish had a population of 9,657 according to the 2011 census. The parish is bounded by the railway line or the A5 to the west, Monks Way to the north, Portway to the east, and Dansteed Way to the south.

St. Lawrence's Church is a Grade II*-listed building,{{NHLE| num= 1310793 | desc= Church of St Lawrence| date= 17 November 1966 | accessdate= 3 December 2023}} dating from the 13th century, and receiving its first vicar in 1223.According to an information panel in the church. It is believed to contain the oldest change ringing bells still in use,{{cn|date=December 2023}} two of which were cast in 1297 by Michael de Wymbish of London.{{Cite web|title=Bradwell, Buckinghamshire, S Lawrence |url=https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/tower/13155#bell-31519 |date=24 January 2020 |access-date=3 December 2023 |website=Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers}}{{Cite web |title=Bell Ringing |url=http://bradwellchurch.com/welcome/bellringing/ |access-date=2021-09-03|website=Bradwell Church|language=en-GB}}

Adjoining the sports field is the Bradwell Conservation Area, which is centered on St Lawrence's Field and is administered by the parish council as a nature conservation area.

On Vicarage Road is the Bradwell Memorial Hall, built as the village's war memorial after World War I.

On Primrose Road is King George's Field in memorial to King George V with a children's play area.

History and heritage

= Bradwell Village<span class="anchor" id="Bradwell Bury"></span> =

Bradwell Bury beside the parish church is a moated site and the remains of an associated manor house which once formed part of a more extensive monument: it is Scheduled Monument.{{NHLE| num= 1011298 | desc= Bradwell Bury: a moated site and associated manor house remains at Moat House | date= 4 November 1993 | access-date= 6 April 2020}} The nearby Bradwell Castle mound is also a Scheduled Monument.{{NHLE| num= 1007935 | desc= Bradwell castle mound: a motte and bailey castle 80m north east of St. Lawrence's Church. | date= 9 October 1981 | access-date= 28 February 2022}} Bradwell House and the Church of St James are Grade II* listed; there are a further 25 buildings and structures listed as Grade II.{{cite web |title=Advanced search | url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/advanced-search/ | website=Historic England |access-date=28 February 2022}} Search the list with 'District/UA' set to 'Milton Keynes' and 'Parish' set to 'Bradwell'.

=Bradwell Abbey=

Bradwell Abbey is a Scheduled Monument,{{NHLE| num= 1009540 | desc= Bradwell Abbey: a Benedictine priory, chapel and fishpond | date= 16 June 1948 | accessdate= 28 February 2022}} urban studies site (and a modern district). The site was once the location of a Benedictine priory, founded in 1155. The only remaining ecclesiastic building, the Chapel of St Mary, is a Grade I listed building.{{NHLE| num= 1125271 | desc= CHAPEL TO NORTH OF BRADWELL ABBEY HOUSE | date= 3 March 1952 | accessdate= 28 February 2022}} There are a further five Grade II listed buildings or structures on the Abbey grounds.{{cite web |title=Search Results for 'Bradwell Abbey' |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/results/?searchType=NHLE+Simple&search=Bradwell+Abbey | website=Historic England |access-date=28 February 2022}}

=Bradwell railway station=

File:Fomer Bradwell Halt, July 2009.JPG ]]

Bradwell railway station, which was on the Wolverton–Newport Pagnell branch line, served Bradwell from 1867 to 1964. In the present day, the former railway line (now a rail trail that is part of the redway network) forms the boundary between Bradville (in Stantonbury CP) and New Bradwell CP; the station platform is on the New Bradwell side.

Sport and Leisure

Bradwell has a Non-League football team Old Bradwell United F.C. who play at Abbey Road, where there is a large sports field with a cricket pitch and several football pitches. The Old Bradwell Tennis Club is also affiliated to the Bradwell Sports and Social Club which has the use of these facilities.

Bradwell Bowls Club enters competitive teams in the local league.[http://www.bradwellbowls.uk/ Bradwell Bowls Club]

Rooksley, at the western edge of the parish, has an important Karting track (not in Bradwell parish).

Demography

The demography of Bradwell electoral ward is given at {{NOMIS2011|id=1237322025|title=Bradwell ward}}.

References

External links

[http://www.bradwell-pc.gov.uk/ Bradwell Parish website]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20050905212252/http://www.mkweb.co.uk/Places_to_visit/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=391 Bradwell Abbey and City Discovery Centre] (located within the parish)
[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=62585 'Parishes : Bradwell'] – Victoria History of the Counties of England, A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 4 (1927), pp. 283–288.
[http://www.oldbradwelltennisclub.co.uk Old Bradwell Tennis Club]
[http://www.bradwellmemorialhall.org Bradwell Memorial Hall]

Category:Villages in Buckinghamshire

Category:Areas of Milton Keynes

Category:Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire