Denbigh, Buckinghamshire

Denbigh is a district in Milton Keynes, ceremonial Buckinghamshire, England, to the north of Fenny Stratford and on the eastern side of the West Coast Main Line and northern side of the Marston Vale Line, from Bletchley proper. It is in the civil parish of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and is generally regarded as part of Bletchley. The overall district has five sub districts. The district names are planning designations that have persisted without ever being changed to the style "North Denbigh" etc. as is the norm elsewhere in Britain.

Denbigh North

This district includes the 22,000 all-seater for Milton Keynes Dons F.C. and an indoor basketball arena for the Milton Keynes Lions basketball team, as well as ASDA and IKEA superstores. The stores were open for business by the end of 2005. The football stadium opened in July 2007 and was ready for the start of the 2007/08 season, while all associated developments are expected to be completed sometime in 2008.

The development is on the former site of Denbigh Sports Ground and Denbigh North Leisure, an entertainment complex which was home to the Sanctuary Music Arena.

Denbigh East

Denbigh East is an employment area, best known as the home of Marshall Amplification.

Denbigh West

Denbigh West is another employment area.

Mount Farm

This district is an industrial/employment area. The Milton Keynes central sorting office is here, with the post-code MK1 1AA. Most internet mapping sites assume that this means that it is the centre of Milton Keynes and mark it according. It is actually about three miles south of Central Milton Keynes (which has the MK9 postcode).

Granby

This is a small area, just north of Denbigh Stadium. It is mainly industrial, but includes a mosque and a small, isolated, council housing block (that is planned for demolition in the expansion plans for Milton Keynes).

The West Coast Main Line bridge (number 158) over Watling Street near here bears a plaque that explains the first phase of the London and Birmingham Railway line terminated here. At this point, passengers transferred to stage coaches for onward transfer by road to Birmingham. [A SHORT HISTORY OF THE L & N. -W. RAILWAY AT RUGBY, December 26, 1908,
"April 9, 1838
"The line from London to Denbigh Hall was opened to the public. -(Denbigh Hall is a little hamlet about two miles north of Bletchley station, and was no doubt selected for a temporary terminus as the Holyhead coach Road crossed the line at this spot.) Immense crowds of people assembled along the newly opened portion of the line to see the first train pass. The line between Birmingham and rugby was opened on the same day. Owing to the delay in finishing Kilsby tunnel and Roade cutting, the line between Rugby and Denbigh Hall is not completed: and the Company have therefore arranged with Messrs Horne and Chaplin, the coach proprietors, to convey passengers by road over the intervening 36 or 37 miles between the two places. ]

Denbigh Hall

The original Denbigh Hall no longer exists, and its site is now in West Bletchley rather than in Denbigh. The coming of the London-Birmingham line separated the Hall from the bulk of its lands that stretched towards Simpson — these are the modern Denbigh district. The site of the Hall, now buried, is near the Whaddon Way/Melrose Avenue junction. Nearby, Denbigh Hall Farm was centred at the junction of Watling Street and Standing Way: there is a small industrial area here now and this retains the Denbigh Hall name.

Network Rail continues to use this name (Denbigh Hall) for its marshalling yards north of Bletchley railway station.

ee also

*Denbigh School (which is in the nearby Shenley Church End district).

References