New Bradwell is (mainly) an

Edwardian era The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

village, modern district and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in north-west

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

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-ea ...

, England. Together with

Wolverton Wolverton is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, England. It is located at the northern edge of Milton Keynes, beside the West Coast Main Line, the Grand Union Canal and the river Great Ouse. It is the administrative seat of Wolverton and Gre ...

(on the other side 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 ...

), it was built primarily to house the workers on the

Wolverton railway works Wolverton railway works, known locally as Wolverton Works or just The Works, was established in Wolverton, Buckinghamshire, by the London and Birmingham Railway Company in 1838 at the midpoint of the route from London to Birmingham. The line w ...

. The original village of Bradwell lies south of New Bradwell.

History

New Bradwell is roughly 150 years old. Exact dates are hard to figure, as buildings such as mill houses and farm houses existed on the site of what is now the village of New Bradwell, long before then. Around 1851 the area was little more than a hamlet, with 381 inhabitants and a local industry of stone quarrying and lime kilns. The first purpose built houses were constructed in 1854 – 1856 as dwellings for workers in the nearby Wolverton works. By 1861 the village had 1,658 inhabitants and over 4,000 by 1906. Perhaps the most significant date was the expansion of the parish of Stantonbury on 16 July 1857. The old parish of Stanton Barry, or Stantonbury, contained but , and about a dozen scattered houses. By an Order in Council, dated 16 July 1857, a new parish was formed by adding to the old one the hamlet of New Bradwell. The area of the newly formed parish was . There was a ceremony of laying the foundations for the Church of St. James and other buildings such as the church schoolhouse on Monday 24 May 1858, which may mark the foundation of the village of New Bradwell as an entity in its own right. The church of St. James was completed in 1860. Originally this new village was called Stantonbury after the name of the parish. From 1867 to 1964 the village was served by

Bradwell railway station Bradwell railway station was a railway station on the Wolverton–Newport Pagnell line. It served both Bradwell and the new village of New Bradwell in Buckinghamshire. The station, which consisted of a brick-built station building, and single p ...

on the now defunct

Wolverton to Newport Pagnell line Wolverton is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, England. It is located at the northern edge of Milton Keynes, beside the West Coast Main Line, the Grand Union Canal and the river Great Ouse. It is the administrative seat of Wolverton and ...

. The line has been repurposed as a rail path, part of the

Milton Keynes redway network The Milton Keynes redway system (locally known as ''redways'') is an over network of shared use paths for cyclists and pedestrians in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is generally surfaced with red Asphalt concrete, tarmac, and cris ...

. The

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...

passes between Bradwell and New Bradwell, providing boating and fishing facilities. The modern Bradwell Aqueduct was the first of its kind to be constructed over the Grand Union in over 100 years

Heritage

New Bradwell has one Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

(the Church of St James) and a further eight grade II (where 5759 Spencer Street have a single listing).

Bradwell Blitz

When 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

broke out in September 1939, blackout precautions were immediately put into effect, due to the dangers of night time bombing raids. Ironically, New Bradwell's new electric street lights, which had only been completed two weeks previously, were switched off and not used again for six years. Bradwell's Blitz consisted of two bombs on Sunday 20 October 1940. First, two flares were dropped at the end of Bridge Street, landing on the allotments, now the school playing fields. An unconfirmed theory surmises that the bombs may have been aimed at the

, then engaged in war work. Then the two bombs were dropped on the western end of the high street, the first landing on the road outside "the Laurels", creating a crater, the second at the end of the high street, demolishing numbers 71, 73 & 75, killing five people andinjuring 20 more. The "Bradwell Blitz" was one of the more dramatic events in this part of North Buckinghamshire. (The activities at

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 ...

a few miles south were top secret. Nevertheless, Old Bletchley was hit by four bombs one of which hit the Park's main gate without exploding). The Bradwell Blitz was so-called because it happened during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

, the fourth and last phase of the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

Civil parish

The

of New Bradwell was created in 1919 from part of the Bradwell parish, then choose tab "Relationships and changes" and formed part of the

Wolverton Urban District 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 ...

urban district (with the rest of the Bradwell parish remaining in

Newport Pagnell Rural District Newport Pagnell was a rural district in the administrative county of Buckinghamshire, England, from 1894 to 1974, covering an area in the north-east of the county. History The district had its origins in the Newport Pagnell Poor Law Union, wh ...

). The parish continued to exist as part of Wolverton UD until 1934, when it was absorbed into Wolverton CP. It was re-established in 2001 as part of a general parishing of all the unparished areas of Milton Keynes. The parish is bounded to the north by the

Great Ouse The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the Wa ...

, to the west by V6 Grafton Street, to the south by the route of the former Wolverton/Newport Pagnell railway line (now a redway) and to the east by a short stretch of the

. At the 2011 census, the population of the parish was 3,109, compared with 2,990 in 2001.

Sport and leisure

New Bradwell has a

Non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

team New Bradwell St Peter F.C. who play at The Recreation Ground. It also has two cricket teams. New Bradwell is known in Milton Keynes for its

silver band In Britain, a brass band (known regionally as a silver band or colliery band) is a musical ensemble comprising a standardized range of brass and percussion instruments. The modern form of the brass band in the United Kingdom dates back to the 1 ...

. The band has been in existence for over 100 years and is famous locally for waking the residents of New Bradwell on Christmas morning, playing carols in the street.

Primary school

New Bradwell School is situated on Bounty Street and is just to the side of Grafton Street and Spencer Street, an off-road street with some historic houses named 'Railway Cottages'. The current headteacher is Philip Webster, the successor to John White.

References

External links

* {{authority control Populated places on the River Great Ouse Villages in Buckinghamshire Areas of Milton Keynes Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire