Marshworth:Milton Keynes

SITE & LOCATION

When originally built, the bungalows sat disconsolately amid muddy fields in the middle of nowhere; in a 'city' which was itself in the middle of nowhere!

GRAND UNION CANAL

But this offered significant opportunities where the main design choice the MKDC made at that time was for space, especially for access to open space. Thus, the site was chosen in order to feature the Grand Union Canal, and the bungalows were promoted as canal-side executive housing.

Even the southern stretch of bungalows which does not have direct rearward access to it is no more than 50-100 yards from it.

Better still, from the point of view of the planners, just on the other side of the canal was to be the linear park – running most of the 10 mile length of Milton Keynes. Residents would, in this way, be able to walk for miles in both directions either through the park or along the towpath.

Indeed, the canal by itself already offered a range of pursuits; from simple exercise to picking blackberries to fishing.

All of this still remains true, with the addition of Woughton Playing Fields (with literally acres of playing space just across the canal).

SEMI-PRIVATE OPEN SPACES

The key features though are the ‘semi-private’ open spaces contained within the site. That in front of the bungalows, the mound covered in mature trees is an effective screen against what was to become the council estate; exactly as it clearly was intended to be.

That behind, however, is an extension of the gardens; a large recreation area, which - since it was deliberately planned to be semi-private (with public access hidden) - is effectively dedicated to the use of the residents of the bungalows.

Indeed, space for privacy seems to have been the highest design priority. Thus, apart from through the open pergolas which originally stood at the bottom of the gardens and even now through the garden gates of the bungalows, the open space is quite deliberately only accessible by indirect routes; thus restricting access by the general public. That to the north is by a narrow winding path hidden amongst trees. That to the south is discretely hidden – without any signposting - between buildings from the cul-de-sac leading to the existing canal-side houses.

The layout of the bungalows themselves is equally designed for privacy, and the planners were quite willing to pay a price for this. The staggered layout probably reduced the number of units by a third, and the size of the open space itself – much of which would normally have been incorporated into the housing - by a further half. Indeed, the end result is relatively unique for Milton Keynes. Other housing on prime canal-side locations is much more densely developed, at 10-20 per acre, as at Peartree Bridge and Pennylands, or even turns its back on the canal, as at Passmore and Simpson. Only the equally expensive housing at Woolstone matches the approach, and even it works to a higher density.

SHOPPING

The planners were, of course, aware of the planned site for the regional shopping centre – the first in the UK - just two miles away; due to be only just over 5 minutes by car once the grid of fast dual carriageways was built. At that time, this central shopping – with the only supermarkets in its food centre – was to be supplemented by local corner shops, and one of these was incorporated at the southern end of the site. Taking this to its logical extreme, this has now graduated to become a Tesco Express; offering much the same range that a full size supermarket would have carried in the old days! Even so, and despite its successful trading, its partially screened car park – and the hedging of the bungalows opposite - ensures that this does not greatly impact on the site.

Retailing has, of course, been subject to significant changes over the 35 years since. Not least, out of town developments have come to the fore. Once more the flexibility of planning in Milton Keynes has accommodated this new trend, with two of the largest developments in the UK. Less than a mile to the east (and three minutes by car) there is one of the largest Tesco Extras, along with a full scale Marks & Spencer store, a Boots and a Costco. Just over half a mile to the west there is one of the largest ASDAs, 100,000 sq ft of it, along with an IKEA and the new football stadium.

TRAVEL

As another priority of the planners for the whole of the new city, travel was also to be well catered for, with the mainline train station just a couple of miles (and less than 7 minutes by car) away. The site is also midway between junctions 13 & 14 of the M1.

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Last modified: 01/26/06