Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes, England, United Kingdom

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Newport Pagnell is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The Office for National Statistics records Newport Pagnell as part of the Milton Keynes urban area.

It is separated from the rest of the urban area by the M1 motorway, on which Newport Pagnell Services, the second service station to be opened in the United Kingdom, is located.

The town is more widely known for having the only remaining vellum manufacturer in the United Kingdom, and being the original home of the exclusive sports car manufacturer Aston Martin.

History The town was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Neuport, Old English for 'New Market Town', but by that time, the old Anglo-Saxon town was dominated by the Norman invaders. The suffix 'Pagnell' came later when the manor passed into the hands of the Pagnell (Paynel) family. It was the principal town of the "Three Hundreds of Newport", a district that had almost the same boundary as the modern City of Milton Keynes UA.

The Grade I listed Tickford Bridge, over the River Ouzel (or Lovat), was built in 1810. It is one of just a few cast iron bridges in Britain that still carry modern road traffic. Near the footbridge at the side, there is a plaque placed by Newport Pagnell Historical Society that gives details of its history and construction. The Ouzel joins the Great Ouse nearby, and a large set of sluice gates, used to control downstream flooding, is located near the bridge.

Between 1817 and 1864, the town was linked to the Grand Junction Canal at Great Linford via the Newport Pagnell Canal. In 1862, the canal owners sold the route to the London and North Western Railway. For a hundred years (1867 to 1967), Newport Pagnell was served by Newport Pagnell railway station, the terminus on the Wolverton to Newport Pagnell branch line. (The route is now a rail trail, part of the Milton Keynes redway system.)

The population of Newport Pagnell and its hinterland at the 1801 Census was 17,576; by 1911 it had grown to 14,428. The population of Newport Pagnell Urban District alone is first recorded at the 1911 Census as 4,238 and had reached 4,743 by 1961.

Industry From 1954 until 2007, the town was the home to the sports car manufacturer Aston Martin. The Newport Pagnell factory was considered outdated and a new production facility was built near Gaydon in Warwickshire. There is still a service facility in Newport Pagnell, but the factory on the north side of Tickford St has since been demolished apart from the engine shop, board room and offices that are listed buildings. The land behind these has been developed by a housing developer. The buildings at the front, including the house used as a board room, have been restored and will be used as commercial sites. In 2012, Aston Martin completely modernised the service facility and the site also houses a bespoke sales department.

Notable industries in the town include the only remaining vellum manufacturer in the United Kingdom, William Cowley, located at Parchment Works, 97 Caldecote Street.

Over the past 50 years, Newport Pagnell has attracted an increasing amount of investment and of economic growth, due to its fortunes being intertwined with the growth of Milton Keynes. This has led to a number of new housing developments in the area.

Location and transport The town is located at the north-eastern corner of the Milton Keynes urban area, overlooking the rural parts of the Unitary Authority area. It is served by the M1 motorway from Junction 14 (2 miles (3.2 km) to the south) via the A509 which, along with the A422 and Wolverton Road, connects it with (the rest of) the Milton Keynes BUA. To the east of the town, the A422 and A509 multiplex northwards to form the Newport Pagnell Eastern Bypass, providing links to Bedford, Wellingborough and Kettering. The historic Newport Pagnell-Northampton road (B526) runs through the centre of the town, linking rural villages to the north, and provides a secondary route to Northampton.

In February 2021, developers presented to Milton Keynes City Council proposals for the development of a new community to the south of Newport Pagnell, with the construction of approximately 5,000 homes. In planning documents, the new area is called "Milton Keynes East", and is proposed to include a local centre with two primary schools and a secondary school. It is to have direct road links to Newport Pagnell town centre, and Central Milton Keynes via an expansion of the Milton Keynes grid road system. If undertaken, it will be the first major expansion of Milton Keynes to the east of the M1.

It was proposed in January 2021 that, with the money that had been given to Milton Keynes City Council as part of the UK Government's Active Travel Fund, Tongwell Lane in Newport Pagnell would be converted into a redway, which would better link the town with the Milton Keynes designated area. Since its completion in March 2021, the town has been served by three connections to the wider redway network of Milton Keynes, all heading westwards into Blakelands first: Tongwell Lane, Stanmore Gardens and the Wolverton-Newport Pagnell railway walk.

Rail The closest passenger rail service is at Wolverton railway station (approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 km) distant), with inter-city services accessible from Milton Keynes Central (approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) distant).

Bus Bus 21 (Red Rose) operates an hourly service from Monday to Friday, connecting the town with Olney and Lavendon to the north, and Central Milton Keynes to the south-west. Operating roughly every 30 mins from Monday to Friday are the Arriva-operated Bus 1 (serving Willen and CMK), and Bus 2/2A (serving Crownhill).

Sport and leisure Newport Pagnell has a Non-League football team Newport Pagnell Town F.C., nicknamed the Swans, who play at The Pavilion on Willen Road. An ITF Taekwon-Do club, Kicks Taekwon-Do Academy, trains at Cedars Primary School, Bury Street, and a swimming pool. Between 1959-1960 it was the headquarters of the Aston Martin F1 team.

Lawn Bowls Bowls has been played in Newport Pagnell for over 400 years as maps of the Town dating from the mid 17 Century show a public House called “The Bowling Green”. The Newport Pagnell Bowling Club was founded in 1905 and the club used the Bowling Green behind the George pub in Tickford Street (currently The Magic Wok 2019). The game was developing locally due to the Railways, with clubs at Wolverton existing already and Olney forming in 1906. After the Great War, the Club purchased a plot of land known as “The Bully” and the Club remains at this site in Castle Meadow to the current day.