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Explore the Hidden History of Milton Keynes Enhancing health and healing through creativity Who we are MK Arts for Health : MK Arts for Health is an arts charity • Offer participative arts & heritage based at Milton Keynes Hospital. activities with professional artists and The organisation grew out of the archaeologists. voluntary Hospital Arts Committee • Deliver community arts projects in that successfully developed one of the schools, residential care homes and largest hospital arts collections in the day care centres. UK, and was established in 2004 as a • Provide supportive work experience professionally managed organisation. for people with learning disabilities and mental health issues. The hospital art collection contains • Provide young people and recent artworks and artefacts from national graduates work experience with and local collections including the Arts highly qualified professionals. Council’s Hayward Collection and • Commission artwork for healthcare Buckinghamshire County Museum. settings. • Manage and deliver arts and health What we do education for healthcare staff. • Enhance the hospital environment Our aim is to offer people in our local with artworks, music and community enriching experiences that performance. aid health and well-being. www.mkartsforhealth.org.uk 1837 - 2000 1066 - 1500 MK Underground is an exhibition and programme of activities by 43 - 410 MK Arts for Health in partnership with Buckinghamshire County Museum and is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Visit the Exhibition The exhibition brings together Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman, Medieval, 2500 BC - 43 AD Victorian and 20th Century objects all found in Milton Keynes. The exhibition is on display at Milton Keynes Hospital’s Cardiology Department for patients, staff and visitors to enjoy. A team of volunteers worked directly with the museum staff to select, research and display the objects for MK Underground. Watch the Film A film exploring heritage sites in Milton Keynes was made as part of the project to raise awareness of the history of Milton Keynes to wider audiences. Watch it online at www.mkartsforhealth.org.uk Many thanks to all the volunteers who worked so hard to put the exhibition and film together. Bronze and Iron Ages and Iron Bronze Roman Period Period Medieval Victorian and 20th Century We hope you enjoy looking through this booklet and exploring a different side of Milton Keynes... Images © MK Arts for Health unless otherwise stated Explore the Hidden History of Milton Keynes A project by In partnership with Supported by North West East Milton Keynes Objects from ancient civilisations have been found in archaeological excavations across Milton Keynes. Other objects from more recent centuries are donated to local museums by residents. The objects pictured in this book are held at Buckinghamshire County Museum. Use this map to pin-point where the objects are from. Are any from near where you live? South Bronze & Iron Age Milton Keynes Reconstruction of an Iron Age Roundhouse, Wavendon Gate Photograph © MKCDC 8 Bronze Age (2500 - 700 BC) Iron Age (800 BC - 43 AD) There is evidence of Bronze and Iron Age occupation across Milton Keynes, with settlements at Bancroft, Pennyland, Furzton and Wavendon Gate. On the present-day area of Blue Bridge, overlooking Bancroft, stood an imposing roundhouse, the largest Bronze Age roundhouse yet to have been found in Britain. The Wavendon Gate area, to the south-east of Milton Keynes, was first settled in the late Iron Age, around 100 BC. There is evidence of a cluster of Iron Age roundhouses and a sizeable settlement developed there in the Roman period. 9 Palstave Axe Head Bronze Age 1200 BC Found in Shenley Brook End This Axe Head was found in Shenley Brook End and is over 3,000 years old. 10 Ceremonial Sun Cult Items Iron Age Found in Wavendon Gate Made of bronze, they are thought to have been used in ceremonies of worship to Celtic sun-gods. 11 Roman Milton Keynes Artist’s impression of the Roman Villa at Bancroft Photograph © MKCDC 12 Roman Period (43 AD - 410 AD) By the time of the Roman conquest in AD 43, the area which is now Milton Keynes was extensively settled and farmed. A major Roman villa containing fine mosaic floors has been excavated at Bancroft. Other villas are known to have existed at Stantonbury, Wymbush and Shenley Brook End. A villa was a working farm forming the centre of a larger farming estate. The villa at Bancroft is rather more lavish, suggesting it belonged to a wealthy merchant. To the south of Fenny Stratford the Roman town of Magiovinium was established on Watling Street, the famous Roman Road which passes through Milton Keynes (and is now the grid road V4). It was along this road that Boudicca marched her army after burning St Albans, heading for a final showdown with the Roman forces. 13 Silver Denarius Coin Roman 118 AD Found in Shenley Brook End This coin bears the head of the Roman Emperor Trajan. 14 Pefume Bottle Roman 1st Century AD Found in Wavendon Gate This bottle is made of very fine blue glass and would have belonged to a wealthy lady. Strap End Roman 4th Century AD Found in Wavendon Gate This metal item would be worn at the end of a belt and has an image of a peacock on it as decoration. 15 Pottery Roman Early Roman (43 AD) Found in Wavendon Gate A jar such as this one would have probably been used for storage of dried foods. 16 Samian Ware Dish Roman 1st - 2nd Century AD Found in Wavendon Gate Samian ware pottery was highly valued and expensive in Roman times. What is striking about this dish is that after it was broken large repairs were made to it by its Roman user, showing how valuable it would have been to them. 17 Medieval Milton Keynes St. Lawrence’s Church, Broughton Photograph © The Churches Conservation Trust 18 Medieval Period (1066 - 1485) In around 1200 markets were established at Stony Stratford and Fenny Stratford, along the Roman-built Watling Street. In the north-west of Milton Keynes the Benedictine Priory of Bradwell was founded in 1154. The Chapel of St. Mary, added in the 14th Century and still standing today, became part of a larger Manor estate known as Bradwell Abbey in the 16th Century. Medieval villages were established in the area. Those at Tattenhoe and Westbury (near modern-day Shenley Brook End) once thriving, declined and were abandoned by the 16th Century. St. Lawrence’s Church in Broughton, built in the 14th Century, retains its Medieval wall paintings. The paintings were refurbished in the 1930s and give an impression of how the church would have looked in Medieval times. 19 Gaming Piece Medieval 13th - 14th Century Found in Shenley Brook End A single games counter was found - presumeably lost from its original set - for a game similar to draughts or 20 backgammon. Silver Penny, Henry II Silver Penny, Scottish, Robert III 1154 - 1189 1393 Found in Shenley Brook End Found in Shenley Brook End Cut Silver Pennies Medieval 13th - 14th Century Found in Shenley Brook End Instead of separate coins of the value of half or quarter of a penny, the penny coins, cut correctly, could be used as both smaller denominations and as change for larger purchases. 21 Buckle Medieval 14th - 15th Century Found in Shenley Brook End The image of a beast, probably a lion, is visible on this small buckle which measures just 3cm across. 22 Star Rowel, part of a spur Medieval 14th Century Found in Wavendon A rowel is part of a spur used for riding a horse. Rowels would have been attached to the bottom of the spur on the rider’s boot, and were most probably used as weapons in battle. 23 Victorian and 20th Centruy Milton Keynes Church Street, Wolverton, early 1900s Photograph © The Living Archive 24 Victorian and 20th Century (1837 - 2000) Up until the 19th Century Fenny Stratford was one of the largest villages in the south of Milton Keynes, as it was at the crossroads of Watling Street and the road that connected London and Northampton. When the London to Birmingham railway was built in the 19th Century, thousands of jobs were created due to the establishment of Wolverton railway works. New towns at Wolverton, New Bradwell and Bletchley were built in order to house the growing population. During World War II, Bletchley Park was the site of the Enigma machine which helped to crack the German’s codes and ultimately helped shorten the war. 25 Insurance Plaque Early 19th Century From Bletchley Fire insurance originated in the 17th Century, each insurance company had its own fire brigade. The plaques showed brigades which buildings were insured by which company. This plaque is for the Phoenix Insurance company and is from a building at Adstockfields Farm in Bletchley. Policeman’s notebook 1938 From Bletchley This notebook was issued by Bletchley police force. It was ued by Special Constable Sergeant Thomas E. Brace. He used it as a log book to record what happened during each working day. 26 Peg Wooden Doll Late 19th Century Found under floorboards in a house in Bletchley This type of doll was in fact usually made from turned wood, although poorer children would have had a simple version made out of clothes pegs. Sometimes the dolls were sold plain and young girls would make their own clothing from scraps of fabric or ribbon. 27 Lace-Making Project Book 1926 - 1936 From Stony Stratford Primary School This book contains notes on lacemakers, pictures of bobbins drawn by children, samples of lace, photographs and newspaper clippings. Lace-Making Bobbin 1945 From Bletchley Bobbins are used to weave fine threads into lace.

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