Willen is a district of Milton Keynes, England and is also one of the ancient villages of Buckinghamshire to have been included in the designated area of the New City in 1967. The original village is now a small but important part of the larger district that contains it and to which it gives its name.
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Environment and amenities
The tiny parish church (1680) at Willen was designed by the architect and physicist Robert Hooke and is a classic of the early English Baroque period.
Further around the lake, there is a Buddhist Temple/monastery and a large stupa, a Peace Pagoda built in 1980 by the Monks and Nuns of the Nipponzan-Myōhōji. It was the first to be built in the western hemisphere. There is a grass labyrinth nearby.
Willen Lake
One of the more important features of the district is a large balancing lake on the River Ouzel, designed to capture flash floods lest they cause problems down stream. The north basin is a wild-life sanctuary and a favourite of migrating aquatic birds. The south basin is for leisure use, favoured by wind surfers and dinghy sailors. The circuit of the lakes is a favoured "fun run".
Overlooking the lake, Willen Hospice provides specialist care for people whose illness no longer responds to curative treatment (also known as specialist palliative care).
History
The village was first recorded as Wilinges (xii cent.) and later as Wylie, Wilies (xiii cent.); Wilne, Wylyene (xiv cent.); and Wyllyen, Wyllyn (xv cent.) Willen is not recorded by name in the Domesday Survey, but it can be identified with the 4 hides 1 virgate assessed under Caldecote, part of the neighbouring parish of Newport Pagnell, and held under the Count of Mortain by Alvered.[1] The name Willen is probably from Anglo-Saxon or Old English meaning (at the) 'willows'[citation needed] the River Ouzel meanders through land ideal for willows.
Miscellaneous
The parish church was dedicated to St Mary Magdalene. The district is also home to Willen Cricket Club formed in the mid 1990s by Ken Jones and Tony Walsh and Willen Juniors FC who both play at Willen Fields on Portland Drive.
External links
- Map and detailed aerial photography from MKWEB
- The official website for the Milton Keynes Peace Pagoda
- A Panoramic Virtual Tour of Willen Church by Peter Loud
- Other location maps
References
- ^ 'Parishes : Willen', Victoria History of the Counties of England: A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 4 (1927), pp. 502-505. URL: Date accessed: 12 August 2009.
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