Bletchley is a constituent town of Milton Keynes,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-eas ...

, England. It is situated in the south-west of Milton Keynes, and is split between the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

es of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and West Bletchley. Bletchley is best known for

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

, the headquarters of Britain's

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

codebreaking organisation, and now a major tourist attraction. The National Museum of Computing is also located on the Park.

History

Origins and early modern history

The town name is

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

and means ''Blæcca's clearing''. It was first recorded in manorial rolls in the 12th century as ''Bicchelai'', then later as ''Blechelegh'' (13th century) and ''Blecheley'' (14th–16th centuries). Just to the south of Fenny Stratford, there was Romano-British town, '' M'' on either side of

Watling Street 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 ...

, a

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman R ...

. Bletchley was originally a minor village on the outskirts of Fenny Stratford, of lesser importance than Water Eaton. Fenny Stratford fell into decline from the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of Kingdom of England, England's governanc ...

(17c) onwards. The arrival of the London and Birmingham Railway (now part of the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

) from 1838, and particularly of the branch lines to Bedford (1846) and Buckingham (1850) (that together subsequently became the – " Varsity Line"), made the station at Bletchley a substantial one. Bletchley grew to eclipse both its antecedents. Almost forty years after the construction of Bletchley railway station, the 1884/5

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...

shows Bletchley as still just a small village around the C of E church at

, and a (separate) hamlet near the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

chapel and ''Shoulder of Mutton''

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

at the junction of Shenley Road/ Newton Road with Buckingham Road. (These districts are known today as Old Bletchley and Far Bletchley). The major settlement of the time is nearby Fenny Stratford.

"Bigger, Better, Brighter" – Bletchley in the 20th century

In the urban growth of the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

period brought by the railway, the town merged with Fenny Stratford. The latter had been constituted an urban district (with Simpson) in 1895, and Bletchley was added in 1898. By 1911, the population of the combined parishes was 5,166 but the balance between them had changed: in that year, the name of the local council ( Urban District) changed from Fenny Stratford UD to Bletchley UD. The 1926 Ordnance Survey shows the settlements beginning to merge, with large private houses along the Bletchley Road between them. In 1933, the newly founded Bletchley Gazette began a campaign for a ''"Bigger, Better, Brighter, Bletchley"''. As the nation emerged from World War II, Bletchley Council renewed its desire to expand from its 1951 population of 10,919. By mid-1952, the Council was able to agree terms with five London Boroughs to accept people and businesses from bombed-out sites in London. This trend continued through the 1950s and 1960s, culminating in the GLC-funded Lakes Estate in Water Eaton parish, even as Milton Keynes was being founded. Industrial development kept pace, with former London businesses relocating to new industrial estates in Mount Farm and Denbigh –

Marshall Amplification Marshall is a British company that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, speaker cabinets, brands personal headphones and earphones, drums and bongos. The company also owns a record label called Marshall Records. It was founded in Lon ...

being the most notable. With compulsory purchase, Bletchley Road (now renamed to Queensway after a royal visit in 1966) became the new high street with wide pavements where front gardens once lay. Houses near the railway end were replaced by shops but those nearer Fenny Stratford became banks and professional premises. At the 1971 Census, the population of the Bletchley Urban District was 30,642.

Bletchley in Milton Keynes

Proposals for a new city in North Buckinghamshire had been floated from the early 1960s. Bletchley had fought to be the centre of the proposed new city, but it was not to be. The 1971 Plan for Milton Keynes placed Central Milton Keynes on a completely new hill-top site four miles further north, half way to Wolverton. Bletchley was relegated to the status of suburb. Bletchley thrived in the early years of the growth of Milton Keynes, since it was the main shopping area. Bletchley centre was altered considerably when the Brunel Shopping Centre was built in the early 1970s, creating a new end to Queensway. (Previously, Queensway – formerly known as Bletchley Road – was a continuous run from Fenny Stratford to Old Bletchley). Bletchley's boom came to an end when the new Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre was built and commercial Bletchley has declined as a retail destination since then.

Bletchley Park

Within the West Bletchley parish, in the Church Green district, is

, which, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, was home to the Government Code and Cypher School. The German Enigma code was cracked here by, amongst others,

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical c ...

. Another cipher machine was solved with the aid of early computing devices, known as Colossus. The park is now a museum, although many areas of the park grounds have been sold off for housing development.

Wilton Hall

The nearby Wilton Hall was built in 1943 as part of the

estate and was used by the government as a meeting place by day and a music and dance venue by night. After

, the venue continued to remain open and played host to musicians such as

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, ...

and

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. In recent years, the building was slated for demolition after its closure in 2019. However, after residents and the local MP rejected calls for the demolition of the site due to historical value, the building was sold to a new partnership in 2020 who have refurbished and reopened the building in 2022.

Civil parishes: Bletchley and Fenny Stratford, and West Bletchley

''For more details about the districts of Bletchley, see these civil parish articles.'' The Bletchley built-up area is divided for administrative purposes into two civil parishes, Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and West Bletchley The districts that make up Bletchley and Fenny Stratford CP are: Brickfields (includes the Blue Lagoon), Central Bletchley, Denbigh (including Denbigh North), Eaton Manor, Fenny Stratford, Granby, Manor Farm, Mount Farm,

Newton Leys Newton Leys is a district that covers the southern tip of Bletchley (a constituent town of Milton Keynes) and straddles the boundary between the City of Milton Keynes and the rest of Buckinghamshire. The larger fraction of Newton Leys lies wi ...

and Water Eaton (includes "Lakes Estate"). At the 2011 Census, the population of the parish was 15,313. West Bletchley CP covers that part of Milton Keynes that is south of Standing Way ( A421), west of the

and north of the Varsity Line. At the 2011 Census, the population of the parish was 15,313. The districts and neighbourhoods in the parish are: Church Green (including

); Far Bletchley; Old Bletchley; West Bletchley (district); Whaddon (ward around Whaddon Way, not to be confused with nearby

Whaddon Whaddon may refer to several places in England: *Whaddon, Buckinghamshire *Whaddon, Cambridgeshire *Whaddon, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire * Whaddon, Stroud, in Brookthorpe-with-Whaddon, Gloucestershire *Whaddon, Wiltshire, hamlet near Trowbridge * Wh ...

in Aylesbury Vale).

Transport

The town is served by Bletchley railway station, on Sherwood Drive and Bletchley Bus Station, on South Terrace off Saxon Street. Major grid roads serving the town include

(which has the V4 designation between Denbigh North and Stony Stratford), V7 Saxon Street (connecting Central Bletchley with the rest of the city) and H8 Standing Way ( A421) (which runs westwards towards Buckingham,

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and the M40, and eastwards through the south-east of the city towards

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

and the M1 at Junction 13). The A5 passes along the eastern flank of Fenny Stratford, connecting it and Bletchley with the city centre, the A422,

A508 The A508 is a short A-class road for north–south journeys in central and south central England, forming the route from Market Harborough in Leicestershire, via Northampton, to Old Stratford, just outside Milton Keynes (and the Buckinghamshir ...

and A509 roads. The

A4146 The A4146 is an A-class road in England running from (near) M1 junction 14 at Milton Keynes, around Linslade and Leighton Buzzard as far as the A505 to Dunstable. Route Milton Keynes In Milton Keynes, the road begins at a junction with the ...

southern bypass serves Water Eaton,

and Fenny Stratford. Watling Street, originally the

between

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

and

Wroxeter Wroxeter is a village in Shropshire, England, which forms part of the civil parish of Wroxeter and Uppington, beside the River Severn, south-east of Shrewsbury. ''Viroconium Cornoviorum'', the fourth largest city in Roman Britain, was sited ...

and serving '' Magiovinium'' (the Romano-British town that preceded Fenny, runs through Fenny Stratford and on through Stony Stratford.

Sport and leisure

Bletchley has a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

club, Bletchley RUFC, both of which play at Manor Fields just south of Fenny Stratford. Bletchley Leisure Centre was completed in 2009, having replaced a much-loved leisure centre built in the 1970s. Stadium MK, home of Milton Keynes Dons is at the northern edge of the town. This area also contains what is known as the "MK1" shopping centre. This includes shops, restaurants, and an Odeon cinema (which moved to MK1 from The Point building in Milton Keynes Central in 2015).

Political representation

Bletchley is divided between three electoral wards of Milton Keynes City Council, consisting of Bletchley East (3 Labour), Bletchley West (2 Labour, 1 Conservative) and Bletchley Park (1 Labour, 2 Conservative), and is in the parliamentary constituency of Milton Keynes South.

ONS built up area

For the 2011 census, the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for ...

designated a "built up area sub-division", being that part of Milton Keynes that is west of the A5 and south of the A421, some . At the 2011 census, the population of the area was 37,114. For the 2001 census, it designated a (larger) "urban sub-area" that approximates to the boundaries of the former Bletchley Urban District Council at the time of the designation of Milton Keynes. It also included that part of Winslow Rural District that fell within the designation. In outline, the ONS Sub-area consisted of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford Civil Parish, West Bletchley Civil Parish and part of Shenley Brook End Civil Parish (specifically Furzton, Emerson Valley, Tattenhoe and Snelshall). At the 2001 Census, the population of the Sub-area was 47,176.KS01 Usual resident population: Census 2001, Key Statistics for urban areas, line 1809
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