{{Short description|Historic site in Milton Keynes, England}} {{Use British English|date=September 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox UK place |country = England |official_name= Bradwell Abbey |civil_parish= [[Bradwell, Milton Keynes|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 (UK Parliament constituency)|Milton Keynes North]] |post_town= MILTON KEYNES |postcode_area= MK |postcode_district= MK13 |dial_code= 01908 | population = 6544 | population_ref = (2001 census) | area_total_km2=4 |archive-url= |os_grid_reference= SP826395 |coordinates = {{coord|52.0480|-0.7947|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |static_image_name=Bradwell abbey chapel 0494.JPG |static_image_caption= Chapel at Bradwell Abbey | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 13 | mapframe-wikidata = yes | mapframe-point = on }} '''Bradwell Abbey''' or '''Bradwell Priory''' is a [[scheduled monument]] and urban studies site in [[Milton Keynes]], [[Buckinghamshire]], England. It was a [[Benedictine]] [[priory]], founded around 1154 and dissolved in 1524. The name Bradwell Abbey is also used for the district around the abbey site. In addition, Bradwell Abbey was the name of a [[civil parish]] which existed from 1858 until 2011. In 2001 the parish had a population of 6544.<ref>{{NOMIS2001|id=00MG004|accessdate=6 October 2025}}</ref>
==Historic Bradwell Priory== The Priory was established around 1154.<ref name="markham">{{cite book| title=History of Milton Keynes and District |first=Sir Frank |last=Markham |year=1986 |orig-year=1973 |isbn=0-900804-29-7 |pages=105–108 |publisher=White Crescent Press}}</ref> It grew during the [[Middle Ages]] to become an important local centre, but declined during the [[Black Death]] when, amongst others, its prior William of Loughton died.<ref name="markham" /> The Priory was closed in 1524 (some 12 years before the general [[dissolution of the monasteries]]) and the site of the monastery and its scanty revenues were granted to [[Thomas Wolsey|Cardinal Wolsey]] for the endowment of [[Christ Church, Oxford#History|his new college]].<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40304 'Houses of Benedictine monks: The priory of Bradwell'] – [[Victoria History of the Counties of England]], A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 1 (1905), pp. 350–352. Date accessed: 22 September 2009.</ref> All that remains today is a small chapel and a farmhouse that has become a centre for cultural activities and an Urban Studies centre. Many of the medieval trackways converging on the abbey became [[Right of way (transit)|rights of way]] and [[bridleway]]s and subsequently became part of the [[Milton Keynes redway system]] (a network of [[shared path]]s).
The arrival of the [[West Coast Main Line]] railway split the Abbey lands, with [[Bradwell, Milton Keynes|Bradwell village]] to the east of the line and the Abbey to the west. Today, the small Bradwell Abbey district includes parkland and industry outside the Abbey grounds.
The Abbey site in total is a Scheduled Monument.<ref>{{NHLE| num= 1009540 | desc= Bradwell Abbey: a Benedictine priory, chapel and fishpond | date= 16 June 1948 | accessdate= 28 February 2022}}</ref> The '''Chapel of St Mary''' is a Grade I listed building.<ref>{{NHLE| num= 1125271 | desc= CHAPEL TO NORTH OF BRADWELL ABBEY HOUSE | date= 3 March 1952 | accessdate= 28 February 2022}}</ref> There are a further five Grade II listed buildings or structures on the Abbey grounds.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
==Bradwell Abbey today== Today, Bradwell Abbey is home to the '''Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre''' (an [[urban studies]] centre),<ref>[http://www.mkcdc.org.uk/ Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre]</ref> providing a workspace, library and guidance for visiting international town planners and students who wish to study the [[History of Milton Keynes#Plan for Milton Keynes|development of Milton Keynes]]. It also hosts school visits to see its medieval buildings – the chapel is Grade I listed<ref>{{NHLE |num=1125271 |access-date=6 January 2009}}</ref> – its fish ponds and its [[physic garden]], and how they have changed since then. Finally the Abbey provides meeting space to local community groups.
==Togfest== An annual music festival was started on the site in 1999. Performers have included Vikki Clayton in 1999, [[Joe Driscoll (rapper)|Joe Driscoll]] in 2005. In 2009 the festival dates were 26 and 27 June and acts performing included [[The Swanvesta Social Club]].
==Bradwell Abbey district== The modern Bradwell Abbey district is a relatively small one, sandwiched as it is between the [[West Coast Main Line]] to the east, the [[A5 road (Great Britain)|A5]] to the west, H3 Monks Way ([[A422 road|A422]]) to the north and H4 Dansteed Way to the south. It includes a small industrial estate and the Loughton Valley flood plain "linear park". The [[Swan's Way (footpath)|Swan's Way]] long-distance path and the [[Sustrans]] route 51 follow the valley.
Formally, it is in the Bradwell grid-square, but this square is split into three parts by the railway line (on an embankment) and the A5 (in a cutting).
==Civil parish== The abbey was named after the neighbouring [[ancient parish]] of [[Bradwell, Milton Keynes|Bradwell]], but the abbey complex and its estate constituted an [[extra-parochial area]], outside any parish. Bradwell Abbey continued to be an extra-parochial area long after the dissolution of the abbey itself. Such extra-parochial areas were made [[civil parish]]es in 1858.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Youngs |first1=Frederic |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England: Volume I, Southern England |date=1979 |publisher=Royal Historical Society |location=London |isbn=0901050679 |page=32}}</ref>
The civil parish of Bradwell Abbey stretched from a little west of [[Watling Street]] to a little east of the [[West Coast Main Line]] (and thus on either side of the (modern) [[A5 road (Great Britain)|A5]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10176591/boundary|title=Boundary Map of Bradwell Abbey CP/ExP|publisher=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]]|accessdate=15 May 2024}}</ref>
On 1 April 2011, the parish was abolished. The part west of the A5 became the new civil parish of [[Abbey Hill]], the part east of the A5 and north of the [[A422 road|A422]] (a tiny part of Stacey Bushes and Bancroft) became part of [[Wolverton and Greenleys]], and the remainder, including the Abbey site and the adjacent lands east of the A5 and south of the A422, became part of [[Bradwell, Milton Keynes#Civil parish|Bradwell]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/milton%20keynes.html|title=Milton Keynes Registration District|publisher=UKBMD|accessdate=15 May 2024}}</ref>
==See also== *[[New Bradwell]] *[[Bradwell, Milton Keynes|Bradwell village]] *[[History of Milton Keynes]] * [[Snelshall Priory]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Bradwell Abbey}} *[https://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/articles/2007/05/30/hwbb_milton_keynes_feature.shtml "The architectural secrets of Milton Keynes"] – [[BBC]] (with audio content) *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050905212252/http://www.mkweb.co.uk/Places_to_visit/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=391 Places to go: Bradwell Abbey and City Discovery Centre] *[https://www.mkcdc.org.uk/abbey-timeline The history of Bradwell Abbey] – City Discovery Centre. Includes video tour. *[https://www.mkcdc.org.uk/ Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre] (Urban Studies educational centre). *[http://www.togfest.org Togfest Music Festival] *{{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 & Robinson|Constable & Co. Ltd.]] | location = London }}
{{Benedictine houses of England and Wales}}
[[Category:Areas of Milton Keynes]] [[Category:Former civil parishes in Buckinghamshire]] [[Category:Monasteries in Buckinghamshire]] [[Category:Scheduled monuments in Buckinghamshire]] [[Category:1150s establishments in England]] [[Category:1524 disestablishments in England]] [[Category:Christian monasteries established in the 1150s]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Milton Keynes]]