MKCDC learn more — Bradwell Abbey

Milton Keynes City
Discovery Centre

In pursuit of its charitable objectives, MKCDC undertakes activities in four main areas:

Educational programmes and activities to support all levels of learning in urban studies and the sustainable city
Educational programmes and activities to support learning in heritage studies
An archive, library and image library which provides access to resources about the development of Milton Keynes as a new town, the history of settlement in the area and the history of Bradwell Abbey
In collaboration with the Milton Keynes Council (the site owners) to manage and maintain the Bradwell Abbey site for the benefit of the Milton Keynes community (this function includes providing meeting and administrative space for community groups)

Staff

Learn more about our Staff, Trustees, and Heritage Partners

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Volunteer/Jobs

See our current volunteering and employment opportunities.

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Projects

Find out more about our current and archived projects.

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News

Interested in MKCDC? Read all about our latest news, funding and awards.

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Projects

With help from our generous funders, MKCDC develops and delivers new project ideas every year! Browse our site for inspiration on heritage projects, environmental work and video production. Do get in touch if you would like to collaborate!

Featured

‘You are not Alone’ MKCDC Covid-19 Music Project

During Covid, Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre at Bradwell Abbey formed a large community music group, made up of schools, community choirs and the Milton Keynes Youth Orchestra.

Good City - What Makes Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre have been awarded funding by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to embark on an exciting project animating The Plan for Milton Keynes, the original masterplan produced in 1970 that outlined the design and development of the new city.

New Town Heritage Explorers Project

MKCDC brought fun and exciting design and creative activities to celebrate the unique new town heritage of Milton Keynes.

DCMS Culture Recovery Fund

We are delighted to have been awarded a grant from the DCMS Culture Recovery Fund.

Historic England Resilience Grant

In June 2020 we were delighted to hear we would receive resilience funding from Historic England to take our educational heritage activities online.

New Pilgrim Tales of Milton Keynes

This project, in collaboration with Milton Keynes Council, Westbury Arts and Word-In-Edgeways, looks at the medieval pilgrim history and routes of Milton Keynes and invites everyone to join us as we find new pilgrim tales and trails, for a new era.

New Town Heritage Explorers

Exploring and documenting the architectural design and social heritage of Milton Keynes.

New Town Heritage Research Network

The purpose of the AHRC New Towns Heritage Research Network is to share research and policy on the architectural heritage value of the Post War New Towns in the UK and Mainland Europe.

Bradwell Abbey Gardens

Working in partnership with Inter-Action MK who have offices with us, we were fortunate to receive an Awards for All grant in September 2018 to create 3 new gardens.

Community/covid Fund

We are so pleased to have been awarded a grant from the Community Fund! This has allowed us to keep our beautiful grounds open during lockdown and has given us the resource to keep growing produce from our Community Garden, which we have been donating to local people and to the Wolverton Community Fridge.

Bradwell Abbey and Me

In 2018 we received funding from Milton Keynes Council through their Sharing Culture programme to engage the Living Archive MK to train young carers in filming, photography and oral history techniques.

Milton Keynes Community Foundation Enrichment Project

From 2019-20 we were fortunate enough to receive funding from the Milton Keynes Community Foundation to carry out a new education pilot programme with Special Educational Needs schools in Milton Keynes.