Old Woughton ( ) is a 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in south central

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, England. The parish was established in April 2012 by the division into two parts of Woughton parish. The original (undivided) civil parish was itself originally called "Woughton on the Green".

History

Woughton-on-the-Green is listed in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086. The parish church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin dates from the 13th century. The tower was added in the 15th century, and the church was extended in the 19th century, adding the north porch and organ loft. The Old Swan Inn dates back to 1700. Woughton House was built in 1813, and was the home of Major W J Levi JP of the Royal Bucks Hussars. It is now a hotel. The Methodist Chapel dates from 1867.

Creation of the modern parish

The parish was created following a campaign by residents of Woughton parish who petitioned

Milton Keynes Council Milton Keynes City Council is the local authority for the City of Milton Keynes, a local government district in Buckinghamshire, England. The council was established in 1974 as Milton Keynes Borough Council. Since 1997 it has been a unitary au ...

in 2010. The Council originally rejected the proposals, however it agreed to instigate a further review. The proposal was reconsidered by Milton Keynes Council in November 2011 who decided to split the Woughton parish into two and establish a new parish from April 2012 The new parish was given the temporary name of 'Ouzel Valley' and elections to the parish council were held in May 2012. At the first meeting of the nine-member parish council on 9 May 2012 the name of Old Woughton Parish was adopted.Minutes of the first meeting of Old Woughton parish council 9 May 2012
, Accessed 4 February 2013

Geography

The parish includes the areas of Woughton on the Green, Woughton Park and Passmore. The boundaries of the parish run from the Netherfield Roundabout (H8/V8), south along the V8 (Marlborough Street) to a point where it intersects a redway north of Tinkers Bridge, then east along the redway to the Grand Union Canal, then south along the Canal to a point where it intersects H9 (Groveway), then along H9 (Groveway) to a point where it intersects the River Ouzel, then north along the River Ouzel to a point where it intersects H7 (Chaffron Way), then west along H7 (Chaffron Way) to a point where it intersects the Grand Union Canal, then south along the Grand Union Canal to a point where it intersects H8 (Standing Way), then west along H8 (Standing Way) to the Netherfield Roundabout (H8/V8).

Woughton on the Green

Woughton on the Green is a traditional

village that is now part of

. It gave its name to the parish of Woughton, of which it was a part until March 2012. The village name is

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

in origin and means "Weoca's farm". Names for the village have included ''Ulchetone'' (11 cent.,

Domesday Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

); ''Woketon'' (13 and 14 c.); ''Wocton'' (14 c.); ''Woughton on the Green'' (16 c.); ''Woughton alias Wokington super the Green'' (17 cent.). The suffix 'On the Green' refers to the large grassy area that lies in the centre of the village: the traditional

village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...

. By the time of the coronation of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, Woughton on the Green was a large village, due largely to the nearby

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...

and later to the nearby

Wolverton Works Wolverton railway works, known locally as Wolverton Works or just The Works, was established in Wolverton (Milton Keynes), Wolverton, Buckinghamshire#Ceremonial county, Buckinghamshire, by the London and Birmingham Railway Company in 1838 at t ...

that served 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, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

. Its population peaked at 350 in 1850, declining to 150 by 1960. Today the village is part of a larger grid square, though separated from its neighbours by the Grand Union and the flood plain of the

River Ouzel The River Ouzel , also known as the River Lovat, is a river in England, and a tributary of the River Great Ouse. It rises in the Chiltern Hills and flows north to join the Ouse at Newport Pagnell. It is usually called the ''River Ouzel'', e ...

. The

parochial church council A parochial church council (PCC) is the executive committee of a Church of England parish and consists of clergy and churchwardens of the parish, together with representatives of the laity. It has its origins in the vestry committee, which looke ...

still meets at the

ecumenical Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

parish church of

St. Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. According to legend, Woughton on the Green was one of the bases of

Dick Turpin Richard Turpin (bapt. 21 September 1705 – 7 April 1739) was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's trade as a butcher ear ...

. His ghost, and that of his mare Black Bess, have occasionally been reported in the area.

Woughton Park

Woughton Park lies between the Grand Union Canal and the River Ouzel, in the same grid square as Walton Hall (home to the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

), Tinkers Bridge and Passmore, although it is not connected by road to any of them: all development is accessed via Newport Road, the former B488. The housing is predominantly private, mainly built in the 1970s. The only employment in the area is a working farm. In terms of population, it is the smallest wholly residential area recognised by the council in Milton Keynes.

Passmore

'Passmore' is a small, mainly owner occupied, housing development located close to the H8/V8 intersection and bordered to the east by the Grand Union Canal.

Facilities

Approximately 60% of the parish is green space. Leisure facilities include the Woughton Pavilion and sports fields, a section of the Ouzel Valley Park and 'The Patch'

allotment Allotment may refer to: * Allotment (Dawes Act), an area of land held by the US Government for the benefit of an individual Native American, under the Dawes Act of 1887 * Allotment (finance), a method by which a company allocates over-subscribed ...

s, a large site comprising over 200 plots.Old Woughton Parish Council Website Facilities
Accessed 5 February 2013

References

External links

* {{Authority control Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire Villages in Buckinghamshire