Newport Pagnell

Newport Pagnell is a town in the Borough of Milton Keynes (ceremonial Buckinghamshire), England. It is separated by the M1 motorway from Milton Keynes itself, though part of the same urban area. Newport Pagnell services on the M1 are named after the town.

History
The town was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Neuport, which is Old English meaning 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 Borough.

At one time, Newport Pagnell was one of the largest towns in the County of Buckinghamshire (the assizes of the County were occasionally held there) though today, despite its own substantial expansion, it has been completely dwarfed by the growth of Milton Keynes.

There were also at one time two hospitals in Newport Pagnell and six fairs were held for the townsfolk throughout the year.

Newport Pagnell became the headquarters of Newport Pagnell Rural District under the Local Government Act 1894. In 1897 Newport Pagnell became the sole civil parish comprising the newly created Newport Pagnell Urban District.

For a hundred years (1867 to 1967) Newport Pagnell was served by Newport Pagnell railway station the terminus on Wolverton to Newport Pagnell branch line.

Modern times
Tickford Bridge, over the River Ouzel (or Lovat), was built in 1810 and is the only iron bridge in Britain that still carries main road traffic and is the oldest iron bridge in the world that is still in constant use. There is a plaque near the footbridge at the side that gives details of its history and construction. A large set of sluice gates used to control downstream flooding of the River Great Ouse 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.

From 1954, Tickford Street was the home of the Aston Martin factory, where all Aston Martin cars were built, until the recent opening of the new Ford Motor Company luxury division plant for Aston Martin that was built at Gaydon, Warwickshire. The town is also home to the only remaining vellum manufacturer in the United Kingdom, William Cowley, located at Parchment Works, 97 Caldecote Street.

The modern civil parish of Newport Pagnell stops at the M1, but the ecclesiastical parish extends to include Broughton and Caldecote. The parish ‎church is dedicated to St Peter and St Paul.

Population and growth
Although Newport Pagnell is formally outside the designated area of Milton Keynes, its growth has been at a similar level to that of the constituent towns of the latter; the two now join at the M1 and there is little distinction between them. The Office for National Statistics regards Newport Pagnell as part of the Milton Keynes Urban Area. Its population in 1971 was 6,000: by 2001 it had reached 15,020. The Borough Council projects that the population will remain broadly stable at this level. However, in its comments on the expansion plans for Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire County Council challenges this assumption, calling for any further expansion to be to the east of the M1 rather than south across the border into Aylesbury Vale.

Famous names

 * Nigel Benson, the author, was born in Newport Pagnell.
 * Steve Brooker, footballer, was born in Newport Pagnell.
 * Kelly George, actor and star of BBC children's television series Grange Hill lived and was educated in Newport Pagnell.
 * Gordon Moakes, bassist of Indie band Bloc Party was educated in Newport Pagnell.
 * The members of the ska punk band Capdown were educated in Newport Pagnell.
 * David Oldfield who played for Leicester City, Stoke City & Oxford United lived in Newport Pagnell.
 * The town is briefly mentioned in the song "Is It Really So Strange?" by Manchester band The Smiths.
 * Oliver Cromwell (son of his more famous father) is rumoured to have died in Newport Pagnell in the spring of 1644
 * George Walters, born 15 September 1829 in Newport Pagnell, won the Victoria Cross at the Battle of Inkermann on 5 November 1854 by saving the life of Brigadier-General Adams. He was a Sergeant with the 49th Regiment of Foot.
 * Charles Sanford Terry, the historian, musicologist and authority on J. S. Bach, was born in Newport Pagnell in 1864.
 * Letitia Dean went to Cedars School in Newport Pagnell