A public park opened in 1984, based on a design of 1973-1975 by Derek Walker, Stuart Mosscrop and Andrew Mahaddie, revised by Neil Higson around 1980, with later alterations and developments.
LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM AND SETTING
Location: Campbell Park is the central part of a large grid square immediately east of Central Milton Keynes, bounded to the north-east by the Grand Union Canal. The central south-west to north-east axis of the grid square that runs through the city centre, is called Midsummer Boulevard because the sun rises along it on that day. This line continues into the park and terminates at the Belvedere. In many sources, the alignment of the park is often given as running west-east and this can make descriptions clearer and is used here. A path leading down the eastern side of the Belvedere links the city centre to the canal, from which a greenway runs through the adjoining grid square (Newlands) leading to Willen Lake a mile away, a settling lake created alongside the River Ouzel.
Area: 113.67 acres / 46ha.
Boundaries: the park is bounded to the south-west by Marlborough Gate (with the busier V8 Marlborough Street set in a cutting alongside crossed by a bridge from Midsummer Boulevard); to the north by Silbury Boulevard, to the south by Avebury Boulevard and a horseshoe block of flats, and to the east by the Grand Union Canal, with a bridge leading to a green corridor connecting the park to Willen Lake (see below). The double row of Lombardy Poplars which flank the canal towpath on its eastern side are part of a linear park called 'The Canal Broadwalk' which extends to the north and south.
Setting: the park forms the eastward extension of the town centre. The sites to the north and south were intended for high-value projects that would provide a worthy frame to the park, but are still only partly developed. However, there is a major project in progress in the south-east corner of the park by the canal.
Landform and Soils: the site slopes sharply down to the east towards the River Ouzel and Grand Union Canal. It has a distinctive central ridge made up by tipping of spoil, terminating in the Belvedere, with a steep valley to the north, and one less steep to the south where a wooded ridge runs along the boundary. The dry valley from the Belvedere runs into a stream. This follows the north side of the park which has more formal gardens.
The area is formed largely of Oxford clays, which dip south-east towards the chalk hills to the east and south. They are cut through by the valley of the River Ouzel, a tributary of the River Ouse that forms the northern boundary of Milton Keynes, and topped by glacial gravels that form the high land on which the city centre is built. The park drains from south-west to north-east towards the canal. Excavated earth from the city centre and road network was used to form the ridge of the Belvedere.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES
The most important entrance is at the centre of the south-west boundary where a pedestrian underpass leads from the central reservation of Midsummer Boulevard, under Marlborough Gate and across a footbridge over Marlborough Street. Other access is from the boulevards to the north-west and south-east.
There are two important approaches which cross the Grand Union Canal on footbridges, one at an oblique angle from Woolstone and the River Ouzel, and the other from a wide grassy corridor that continues the axis of the park across the neighbouring grid square, Newlands, towards Willen Lake, with round pavement setts forming an exedra.
To the north-west, on Silbury Boulevard, the most important pedestrian entrance is marked by the sculpture Chain Reaction.
Cars can cross the park along Overgate, and a car park entered from the north on the Cricket Green roundabout serves the cricket pavilion and Parks Trust offices. Car parks off Avebury Boulevard serve the events plateau, with a smaller screened car park to the east and by the canal on Silbury Boulevard; there is also a helipad, close to the Events Plateau at the south-west corner.
VIEWS
There are views west to the city with its skyline of modern buildings, and dramatic long views to the north-east and east across the river valley (though the river and Willen Lake are concealed by a road bridge). Views northwards are deliberately restricted by banking and the landscaping of the City Gardens, and to the south by trees (the Woodland Ridge). The effect may change dramatically once the land here is developed.
PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS
The cricket pavilion also includes the offices of the Parks Trust, and opened in about 1998. A planned entertainments pavilion and café was delayed in mid-2018, but may be built in a revised form in the future, possibly including a play area for children.
To the south the park is overlooked by a horseshoe development of flats, Campbell Heights by Hadden Few Montuschi with Inbo Architecten Bna of The Netherlands, first envisaged as a terminating feature to Enmore Gate in 1980. The Plan: MK Draft Plan of February 2017 envisages the building of 3,500 new homes in the grid squares either side of the park. GSA/ Crest Nicholson and Urban Splash have been appointed to produce a design for development on the northern side of the park.
The Events Plateau area includes an amphitheatre with terraces cut into the grass. The stage area is circular and the built backdrop has gabion baskets with steel arches supporting a canopy.
At the eastern end of the park, the Grand Union Canal is crossed by two early-C19 canal bridges of brick and stone, neither of which is statutorily listed.
SCULPTURES
The Belvedere, the highest point of the site, is demarcated by the steel white beacon Light Pyramid by Liliane Lijn. It was lit to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee on 4 June 2012. A traditional fire beacon was erected here for the Armada celebrations in 1988 as part of the nationwide official chain of beacons, but was struck by lightning in 2002 and removed.
Milton Keynes Rose by Gordon Young, completed 2014, is an open-air circle bounded by hedges that replaced a round pond, with markings based on the mathematical beauty of a flower. On it stand 106 granite pillars of varying height, of which 64 have been engraved with dedications to past events in Milton Keynes' history, e.g. 5 July 1953, the date the first tea bag was produced in the UK at Tetley’s factory in Bletchley. New inscriptions are selected by a panel every two years. One is dedicated to Neil Higson and reads '‘My contribution to Milton Keynes can be identified in the making The labyrinth of freedom. I headed the Central Landscape Design team from 1977 with the brief to make the much publicised image of Milton Keynes as The Beautiful City believable and real. Look around you and BELIEVE…’ .
Cave, Ivan and Heather Morrison 2011 Formed of concrete and wood, it celebrates the relationship between Campbell Park and Milton Keynes Gallery and offers a shelter where the stream would have left the pond replaced by Milton Keynes Rose. It is a bench shielded by sloping shuttered concrete on two sides, with a concrete plinth forming a third, creating an open-ended triangle
Armillary Sphere, Justin Tunley, 1995 A sundial of laser cut steel with stone carving, date in Roman and Arab numerals MCMXCV 1995. It was located in the Labyrinth to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Milton Keynes Housing Association, then being renamed Midsummer Housing and relates to the latter’s sundial logo.
Animals in War, Ronald Rae, 1998, sited 2012. A granite memorial to animals who have died in wars, in particular the horses that served in the First World War. It was given by Rae in memory of Edna Read (1929-2012), who promoted public art in the city.
War Veteran, Ronald Rae, 1997. A granite relief sculpture of a land mine victim. On long-term loan from the artist.
Chain Reaction, Ray Smith, 1992 Laser cut mild steel, painted red. Created specifically for the northern entrance to the park, a model of figures balanced like acrobats in a seemingly endless chain. It is the most prominent piece, sited near the centre of the north side of the park.
Circle Dance, Claire Wilks, 1997 A living sculpture created from fresh willow wands threaded through a structure of steel rods. Commissioned by MK Craft Guild and Commission for the New Towns for the 1997 Midsummer Art Show, it was sited near the canal in 1998. The sculpture represents a group of figures holding hands.
Head, Allen Jones, 1990 A fine piece formed of Cor-ten steel, it comprises a series of 2D silhouettes used to create a three-dimensional form, which slowly reveals the face, prominently set on high land on the south side of the park.
Gnomon (Shadow Caster), Peter Bowker 1994 Ffestiniog blue slate and bronze, commissioned by the Parks Trust. A ley-line is believed to run through the centre of Milton Keynes and the sculpture references this.
Onwards and Upwards, Robert Koenig, 2011 A totem pole carved with three figures from a single piece of 8m high sweet chestnut, representing the growth of the park and the city. It replaced Koenig’s Metropolis which was removed in 2000 due to deterioration.
Many of the sculptures are tall and provide prominent features in the landscape as well as being works of art. Their scale and setting are reminiscent of obelisks, urns or figurative sculpture in C18 landscape design.
LANDSCAPE
The park comprises five principal interconnected zones, although the boundaries between these are deliberately blurred and there are numerous smaller areas within the overall scheme.
Next to the city centre at the west end of the park is a high plateau overlooking the surrounding landscape. It was always high – it is the end of the main gravel plateau – but has been enhanced by tipping. It was the first part of the park to be laid out, before 1984, with conifer hedges and spring bulbs. In the north-west corner is the circular Labyrinth maze of turf and brick paving, set within a thick evergreen hedge. At its southern/south-eastern end is an Events Plateau that includes an open air theatre with amphitheatre seating terraces cut into the grassed bank on its west. A circular reflecting pool was redeveloped as The Milton Keynes Rose in 2012-2013. Tipping extended this high ground eastwards in the dramatic form of a long ridge where a path leads above grassed banks to the Belvedere, from which there are views across the valley towards the Bedfordshire clay vale.
By contrast the central area of the park is pasture land, sometimes grazed by sheep who are kept in by wrought-iron parkland fences and cattle grids. Interspersed within this grassland are clumps of native trees. The wild flowers and unpaved paths that wind through much of this area give the impression of being within tranquil countryside, and it is left uncut in the early summer until mown for hay. At the eastern end of this area is the Cricket Ground, created in 1981 within a shallow bowl, with terraces for seating graded into the slope. A large old oak tree was carefully retained on its north-west side. The contrasting nature of these elements with the surrounding landscape is similar in concept to the balance of formality and informality on the west side of the park.
Along the north-north-west edge are the south-facing City Gardens, gardenesque plantings of trees and largely non-native shrubs designed to be an urban park with seating. A semi-circular series of beds and hedges opens out from Chain Reaction (see above) as the centrepiece of what are called the Hanging Gardens, with terraces and zig-zag paths planted with non-native species in 1987-1989. Higson wanted to plant examples of all the species used in the landscaping of the new city, but now the planting mainly consists of ground-hugging shrubs and small trees, with jasmine and roses to give scent. A stream bed, often dry, but with ponds (including a settling pond at its upper end) and a weir crossed by steel bridges and a small gazebo, bounds this area and it is protected by red stained, resin impregnated fencing that adds to the formality. The ponds provide a habitat for amphibians and other species. In the middle section of the park, the watercourse is diverted into a series of rills and pools edged with granite setts alongside the main pathway. Downstream it becomes more natural and in the Lower Park water gardens terminate in an informal pond.
On the south edge is a woodland ridge on high ground with paths and vistas. It is planted with native species such as oak, ash, birch and hawthorn, and the remains of an ancient hedge, recognised for its value in retaining and encouraging wildlife. This area, known as Woodland Ridge, is managed by traditional methods of coppicing of the trees and layering of the hedgerows. There are laurels and evergreen shrubs as well as bulbs and cowslips. Paths are bark chipped for a natural look.
Beyond Overgate on the flat land towards the Grand Union Canal is the Lower Park, where the band of woodland cuts northwards and narrows the grassland area, with a separate clump of small trees. To the north is an informal pond (see above) with a decorative bridge.
ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS OUTSIDE THE PARK
North-east from Campbell Park, in Newlands, and separated by the theme park Gulliver’s Land and a sports centre, is the Tree Cathedral. Laid out by Neil Higson in 1986, it is based on Norwich Cathedral, with hornbeam and lime for the nave, evergreens for the central tower and spires, and flowering cherry and apple as focal points in the chapels. It is orientated on the Midsummer Boulevard angle north-east towards the midsummer sun rather than due east.
Further north of this, west of the northern part of Willen Lake is the peace pagoda and labyrinth; Japanese temple and garden, with between them a viewing point formed of spoil from the lake.