Editing Milton Keynes (section)

===Prior history===
[[File:Milton Keynes Hoard.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Milton Keynes Hoard]] of [[torc]]s and [[bracelet]]s, on display at the  [[British Museum]] ]]
The area that was to become Milton Keynes encompassed a landscape that has a rich historic legacy. The area to be developed was largely farmland and undeveloped villages, but with evidence of permanent settlement dating back to the [[Bronze Age]]. Before construction began, every area was subject to detailed archaeological investigation: this work has provided an insight into the history of a very large sample of the landscape of south-central England. There is evidence of [[Stone Age]],<ref>{{cite web | publisher = Milton Keynes Heritage Association | url = http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/mkm/mkarchaeology/Web%20pages/stoneage.html | access-date = 3 January 2007 | title = Archaeology in the Milton Keynes District: Stone Age | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061108044829/http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/mkm/mkarchaeology/Web%20pages/stoneage.html | archive-date = 8 November 2006 | url-status = dead }}</ref> late [[Bronze Age]]/early [[Iron Age]],<ref>{{cite web | publisher = Milton Keynes Heritage Association | url = http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/mkm/mkarchaeology/Web%20pages/Bronze%20Age.html | access-date = 3 January 2007 | title = Archaeology in the Milton Keynes District: Bronze Age | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061108044714/http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/mkm/mkarchaeology/Web%20pages/Bronze%20Age.html | archive-date = 8 November 2006 | url-status = dead }}</ref>  [[Romano-British]],<ref>{{cite web | publisher = British Museum | url = https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/cm/g/gold_stater.aspx | access-date = 10 September 2009 | title = Object 2234: "Gold stater ('Gallo-Belgic A' type) Roman, mid-2nd century BC Probably made in northern France or Belgium; found at Fenny Stratford near Milton Keynes, England" | archive-date = 18 October 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151018121026/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/cm/g/gold_stater.aspx | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | publisher = Milton Keynes Heritage Association | url = http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/mkm/mkarchaeology/Index.html | access-date = 3 January 2007 | title = Archaeology in the Milton Keynes District: archaeological sites and artefacts found at Bancroft and Blue Bridge, part of the old farmland of Stacey Hill Farm, now Milton Keynes Museum. | archive-date = 9 December 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061209140707/http://www.mkheritage.co.uk/mkm/mkarchaeology/Index.html | url-status = live }}</ref> [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]],<ref name="MynardHunt">{{cite book| last1=Mynard |first1=Dennis |last2=Hunt |first2=Julian | title=Milton Keynes, a pictorial history |	location=Chichester, West Sussex |publisher=Phillimore |isbn=978-0-85033-940-6|year=1994 }}</ref> [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]],<ref>[[Domesday Book]], Buckinghamshire</ref> [[Medieval]],<ref name=vch-new /><ref name="MynardHunt"/> and late [[Industrial Revolution]] settlements such as the railway towns of [[Wolverton]] (with its [[Wolverton railway works|railway works]]) and [[Bletchley]] (at the junction of the [[London and North Western Railway]] with the Oxford{{ndash}}Cambridge [[Varsity Line]]).<ref name=vch-ble /><ref name=vch-wt /> The most notable archaeological artefact was the [[Milton Keynes Hoard]], which the British Museum described as 'one of the biggest concentrations of Bronze Age gold known from Britain and seems to flaunt wealth.'<ref name=bm-mkh>{{cite web|url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-milton-keynes-hoard/QQGgqMW-vTh2rA|title=The Milton Keynes hoard|publisher=[[British Museum]]/[[Google Cultural Institute]]|access-date=31 January 2018|archive-date=20 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220173407/https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-milton-keynes-hoard/QQGgqMW-vTh2rA|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Bletchley Park]], the site of [[World War II]] [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[Cryptanalysis|code-breaking]] and [[Colossus computer|Colossus]], the world's first programmable electronic [[digital computer]],{{sfnb|Copeland|2006|loc=''Introduction'' p. 2}} is a major component of MK's modern history. It is now a flourishing heritage attraction, receiving hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/news/v.rhtm/Bletchley_Park_welcomes_2015s_200000th_visitor-908901.html |title=Bletchley Park welcomes 2015's 200,000th visitor |publisher=Bletchley Park |date=26 August 2015 |access-date=25 January 2017 |archive-date=2 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202043901/https://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/news/v.rhtm/Bletchley_Park_welcomes_2015s_200000th_visitor-908901.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

When the boundary of Milton Keynes was defined in 1967, some 40,000 people lived in [[#Original towns and villages|four towns and fifteen villages or hamlets]] in the "designated area".{{sfnb|Bendixson|Platt|1992|p=273}}<ref name=BBC50 />