Willen Through the Ages

Welcome to Willen

Before the creation of the lake and local expansion of housing development for the new town of Milton Keynes, this would have been an apt description for the small village situated next to the meandering river Ouzel with its border of willow trees. It has always been a small village, its population never exceeding a hundred people. In the 1960s, Willen comprised a church, a vicarage, two big farms, around a dozen cottages and the last remnants of a watermill, reflecting a situation that had existed for nearly a thousand years.

Click on a map to take a tour of the village, meet its inhabitants and find out about daily life in the years 2000, 1881 or 1520. The church logo will bring you back to this homepage. Links depicted round the side and bottom of the page will help you explore particular themes. As you tour the village, you can find out more by clicking on hotspots on the images and highlighted text.