A new guide to my visits to churches in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire

The Church of Saint Mary and Saint Giles, Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Since moving to Stony Stratford in Milton Keynes on my retirement at the end of March 2022, I have enjoyed visiting many churches, church buildings, and religious centres in Stony Stratford and the Milton Keynes area, and I have been writing about them and photographing them.

As the weeks turned to months and the months became years, the number of churches and religious centres I have visited in Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire, and further afield in the neighbouring counties of Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, continues to grow, so that in time it became difficult for some readers to find these postings on this site.

An earlier posting that offers a guide to these places has become cumbersome to edit, and so this posting offers fresh links to these and similar postings, and a guide to churches and similar places in Oxford and Oxfordshire is to follow in the days ahead.

As I write about more churches and religious buildings, I intend to update this guide to my postings, indicating the date of the latest update at the end of this page, and to provide a link in the toolbars on the front page of this blog.

The tower of the Church of Saint Mary Magdalen in Stony Stratford … originally a chapel-of-ease for the parish of Wolverton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Milton Keynes:

1, The Church of Christ the Cornerstone, Central Milton Keynes (7 December 2022) and here (21 May 2026)

Bletchley:

2, Saint Mary’s Church, Church Green Road, Bletchley, Church of England (16 December 2023)

3, Whaddon Way Church, Church of England and Baptist (13 November 2023)

4, Water Eaton Church Centre, Drayton Road, Bletchley, shared by Saint Frideswide’s Church (Church of England) and Spurgeon Baptist Church (16 January 2024)

5, Queensway Methodist Church (15 November 2022)

Bradwell:

6, Bradwell Abbey (5 April 2022)

Calverton:

7, All Saints’ Church, Calverton (11 September 2022), and here (16 April 2022)

Crown Hill:

8, The Oak Chapel, Crown Hill Crematorium, Milton Keynes (5 August 2026)

Downs Barn:

9, The Cross and Stable Church (12 June 2022)

Eaglestone:

10, The Chapel and Quiet Room, Milton Keynes University Hospital (20 March 2024)

Fishermead:

11, Trinity Church and Centre, Fishermead (13 June 2026)

12, Chinese Overseas Christian Mission, Fishermead (10 June 2026)

Furzton:

13, Church of the Servant King, Dulverton Drive (12 March 2025) and here (11 February 2026)

Great Linford:

14, Saint Andrew’s Church, Great Linford (25 May 2022) and here (3 November 2022)

15, The Old Rectory, Great Linford (17 November 2022).

16, The former Congregational Chapel, Great Linford (17 November 2022)

Middleton (Milton Keynes Village):

17, All Saints’ Church, Milton Keynes Village (29 January 2023)

New Bradwell:

18, Saint James Church (22 May 2022)

19, New Bradwell Gospel Hall, Caledonian Road (27 March 2023)

Newport Pagnell:

20, Saint Peter and Saint Paul (5 May 2022)

21, Saint Bede’s Roman Catholic Church (30 May 2022)

22, Newport Pagnell Methodist Church (11 May 2022)

23, Newport Pagnell United Reformed Church (7 May 2022)

24, (former) Tickford Priory (4 May 2022); see also here (19 May 2025)

25, Former Baptist churches, Newport Pagnell, 30 May 2022

Olney:

26, Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church, Olney (13 April 2025)

27, Olney Baptist Church (12 April 2025)

Shenley Church End:

28, Saint Mary’s Church (15 October 2022)

29, ‘Glastonbury Thorn’, Shenley Church End (15 November 2025)

Stantonbury:

30, Christ Church, Stantonbury (8 January 2025)

31, Saint Peter’s Church (ruins), Stantonbury (9 January, 2025)

Stony Stratford:

32, Saint Mary and Saint Giles (27 March 2022), and here (18 April 2022)

33, Saint Mary Magdalene (Church of England), church tower and church ruins (11 April 2022)

34, Saint Mary the Virgin (Church of England), former parish church (28 March 2022)

35, Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Ambrosios and Saint Stylianos (10 May 2022)

36, Saint Mary Magdalene Roman Catholic Church (14 April 2022)

37, Stony Stratford Methodist Church (20 April 2022)

38, Stony Stratford Community Church, Baptist (20 April 2022)

39, Stony Stratford Evangelical Church (Congregationalist) (20 April 2022)

40, Saint Paul’s former school chapel (13 April 2022) and here (29 June 2026)

41, Saint Peter’s (the Old Cross Keys), former church hostel or hospital (29 June 2026)

42, The former rectories in Stony Stratford (29 May 2022)

43, Calverton Limes, former home of two generations of Percevals, rectors of Wolverton Saint Mary, Stony Stratford (28 December 2022)

Walton:

44, Saint Michael’s Church, Open University campus, Walton (14 November 2022).

Wavendon:

45, Saint Mary's Church, Wavendon (11 September 2024)

Willen:

46, Saint Mary Magdalene (26 May 2022)

Wolverton:

47, Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton (19 April 2022)

48, Saint George’s Church, Wolverton (9 April 2022)

49, Woverton Methodist Church, Church Street (24 January 2023)

50, West End United Church, Church Street (24 January 2023)

51, former United Reformed Church (Congregational Church), Wolverton (26 February 2023)

52, Wolverton Evangelical Church, former Emmanuel Hall (25 January 2023)

53, Wolverton House, birthplace of Archbishop John Habgood of York (23 January 2023)

54, Urban Farm, Windsor Street, church-run project in Wolverton (10 July 2026)

Woughton-on-the-Green:

55, Saint Mary’s Church, Woughton (21 March 2024)

The Chantry Chapel of Saint John the Baptist … the oldest surviving building in Buckingham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Other parts of Buckinghamshire:

Addington:

56, Saint Mary the Virgin, Addington (30 November 2025)

Aylesbury:

57, The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Aylesbury (14 September 2022)

58, Aylesbury Methodist Church (11 January 2026)

59, (former) Congregational Church, High Street (14 September 2022)

60, Friends’ Meeting House (Quakers), Rickford’s Hill (14 September 2022)

61, New Tabernacle Church of God, Rickford’s Hill (14 September 2022)

62, The Prebendal House, Aylesbury (5 August 2025)

Buckingham:

63, Saint Peter and Saint Paul Parish Church (31 May 2022)

64, The Chantry Chapel of Saint John the Baptist (31 May 2022), and here (5 November 2025)

65, Saint Bernardine’s Roman Catholic Church, Chandos Road (6 November 2025)

66, former Franciscan seminary and church, London Road (18 July 2026)

67, The Old Meeting House, former Independent or Congregational chapel, Well Street (18 November 2025)

68, The Radcliffe Centre, former Congregational and United Reformed Church, Church Street (16 November 2025)

69, Salvation Army Citadel, Moreton Road, previously Primitive Methodists, Baptists (16 November 2025)

70, Well Street United Church, Methodists, URC and Baptists (16 November 2025)

71, Barton’s Chantry and Hospital, Church Street (9 June 2022)

72, Prebendal manors and houses, Buckingham (8 June 2022)

73, Saint Rumbold’s grave and legends, Buckingham (6 June 2022)

74, The Mitre Inn, Mitre Cottage on Mitre Street, Buckingham (25 November 2025)

Castlethorpe:

75, Saint Simon and Saint Jude Church (26 October 2025)

76, Castlethorpe Methodist Church (27 October 2025)

Gawcott:

77, Holy Trinity Church, Gawcott (23 November 2025)

78, Gawcott Methodist Chapel (24 November 2025)

Hanslope:

79, Saint James the Great Church, Hanslope (2 November 2025)

80, Hanslope Methodist Church (3 November 2025)

81, Gold Street Gospel Hall (former Baptist Chapel), Hanslope (3 November 2025)

Maids Moreton:

82, Saint Edmund’s Church, Maids Moreton (9 November 2025); see also here (11 November 2025) and here (12 November 2025)

83, The Old Rectory, Maids Moreton (8 November 2025)

Padbury:

84, Saint Mary’s Church, Padbury (14 December 2025)

85, The Old Chapel (former Wesleyan Methodist Chapel), Padbury (14 December 2025)

Seer Green:

86, Holy Trinity Church (18 January 2026)

Winslow:

87, Saint Laurence’s Church, Winslow (6 September 2022)

88, (former) Congregational Church, Horn Street (7 September 2022)

89, Keach’s Meeting House, Bell Walk (7 September 2022)

90, Winslow Tabernacle, the former Baptist Chapel off High Street, Winslow (8 September, 2022)

Bedfordshire:

Bedford:

1, (former) All Hallows’ Church, Church Square (8 August 2024)

2, Bunyan Meeting Church (Baptists, Congregational, URC), Mill Street (4 August 2024)

3, Holy Trinity Church, Bedford (1 August 2024)

4, (former) Howard Chapel (Congregational, URC), Mill Street (5 August 2024)

5, Saint Cuthbert’s Church, Bedford (31 July 2024)

6, Saint Paul’s Church, Bedford (29 July 2024)

7, Saint Peter de Merton Church, Bedford (30 July 2024)

8, (former) Panacea Society, Albany Road and Castle Road (28 July 2024)

9, sculpture of Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, Bedford (3 August 2024)

Dunstable:

10, The Priory Church of Saint Peter, Dunstable (31 May 2026)

11, Christ Church, West Street, Dunstable (2 June 2026)

12, Dunstable Baptist Church at Saint Mary’s Gate, Dunstable (2 June 2026)

13, Dunstable Methodist Church, the Square, Dunstable (2 June 2026)

14, Saint Mary’s Church (Roman Catholic), Dunstable (1 June 2026)

Leighton Buzzard:

15, All Saints’ Church, Leighton Buzzard (17 August 2025)

16, Trinity Methodist Church, North Street (14 January 2026)

17, (former) Wesleyan Church, Hockliffe Street (14 January 2026)

18, Hockliffe Street Baptist Church (14 January 2026)

19, (former) Lake Street Baptist Chapel (14 January 2026)

20, Friends’ Meeting House (Quakers), Leighton Buzzard (31 August 2025)

Linslade:

21, Saint Barnabas Church, Linslade (24 August 2025)

Luton:

22, Saint Mary’s Church, Church Street, Luton (7 June 2026)

23, Bury Park United Reformed Church (12 January 2026)

The Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate and Saint Thomas of Canterbury on Barrack Road, Northampton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Northamptonshire:

Cathedrals:

1, The Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate and Saint Thomas of Canterbury (Roman Catholic), Barrack Road, Northampton (5 February 2023)

Northampton:

2, All Saints’ Church, Northampton (6 February 2023)

3, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Sheep Street (7 February 2023)

4, Saint James’s Church, Saint James’s Road (8 February 2023)

5, Saint John’s Church (former), Bridge Street (9 February 2023)

6, Saint Peter’s Church, Marefair (9 February 2023)

7, Christ Image Assembly, Wellington Street (11 February 2023)

8, Friends’ Meeting House, Wellington Street (11 February 2023)

All Saints’ Church in Yelvertoft … Henry Comberford was the rector in 1546-1560 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Northamptonshire:

Badby:

9, Saint Mary’s Church (20 September 2023)

Blisworth:

10, Saint John the Baptist (7 September 2024)

Crick:

11, Saint Margaret of Antioch Church, Church Street (23 March 2023)

Deanshanger:

12, Holy Trinity Church, Deanshanger (22 March 2025)

13, Possible site of a monastery, Deanshanger (22 March 2025)

Lamport:

14, All Saints’ Church (6 May 2024)

15, Isham family chapel (6 May 2024), and the Lamport Crucifix (4 May 2024)

Long Buckby:

16, Saint Lawrence’s Church (4 April 2023)

17, Long Buckby Baptist Chapel (4 April 2023)

18, Long Buckby United Reformed Church (4 April 2024)

Old Stratford:

19, Memorial Hall, Old Stratford, venue for some evening services, Deanshanger parish (22 March 2025)

Passenham:

20, Saint Guthlac’s Church (21 April 2022), and here (8 June 2025)

Roade:

21, Saint Mary’s Church, Church End, Roade (9 September 2024)

22, Roade Baptist Chapel (9 September 2024)

23, Roade Methodist Church (9 September 2024)

Shutlanger:

24, Saint Anne’s Chapel-of-Ease (4 September 2024)

25, The Monastery, the former Parles and Comberford family chapel (4 September 2024)

26, (former) Wesleyan Methodist Chapel (8 September 2024)

Stoke Bruerne:

27, Saint Mary the Virgin (3 September 2024) and here (5 September 2024)

28, the Old Chapel, (former) Wesleyan Methodist Chapel (8 September 2024)

Towcester:

29, Saint Lawrence’s Church (20 March 2025)

Watford:

30, Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church (11 March 2023)

Yelvertoft:

31, All Saints’ Church, Yelvertoft (20 March 2023)

The Quaker Meeting House at the north end of Wellington Street in Northampton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Other Religious Traditions:

Synagogues in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire:

Bedford:

1, Jewish Bedford (12 July 2024) and here (9 August 2024)

Bletchley:

2, Bletchley: Bletchley Hebrew Congregation (1 December 2023)

Dunstable:

3, former synagogue, Watling House, 123 High Street North, Dunstable (5 June 2026)

4, former synagogue, 132 Luton Road, Dunstable (5 June 2026)

5, former synagogue, Poynters Road, Dunstable (5 June 2026)

Great Linford:

6, Milton Keynes and District Reform Synagogue, Great Linford (25 November 2022)

Luton:

7, Luton United Synagogue, Dunstable Road, Luton, and Jewish Luton (5 June 2025)

8, Luton Town Hall, venue for occasional Jewish services, 2001-2009 (5 June 2025)

9, 5 Moor Path, the first-ever synagogue in Luton (5 June 2025)

10, former synagogue, Bury Park Road (5 June 2025)

11, former synagogue, 51 John Street, Luton (5 June 2025)

Northampton:

12, Northampton Hebrew Congregation, Overstone Road (10 February 2023)

13, the Mediaeval Synagogue, Sheep Street (3 February 2023)

Wolverton:

14, The Wolverton United Synagogue Membership Group, or the Haversham Jewish Community, New Bradwell and Haversham (24 March 2023)

Mosques:

1, Fishermead: the Islamic Centre Milton Keynes, Fishermead Boulevard (12 June 2026)

2, Wolverton: The Central Jamia Mosque, Church Street, Wolverton (11 March 2024)

3, Luton: Islamic Cultural Centre, Bury Park Road (5 June 2025)

Buddhists:

1, Japanese Peace Pagoda, Willen, 24 May 2022

Other traditions:

1, The Tree Cathedral, Milton Keynes, 3 August 2022

The Peace Pagoda on the shores of Willen Lake was built in 1980 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Last updated: 30 August 2026

The Oak Chapel by Adrian Morrow at Crownhill Crematorium is a homage to Louis Kahn’s Kimbell Art Museum

The Oak Chapel at the Crownhill Crematorium in Milton Keynes was opened 15 years ago, on Saturday 27 August 2011 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

I was at two funerals in recent weeks, one day after another. I have been at crematorium funerals before, and back in 2010 I was even elected a Fellow of the Society of Crematorium Organists (FSCO). But this was my first time I was in the Oak Chapel and the Crownhill Crematorium in Milton Keynes.

Crownhill Crematorium is about 2 km west of Milton Keynes, with its main entrance off Dansteed Way. It is on a 7 ha site that incorporates informal woodland walks, water features, and a layout that provides privacy and a calm atmosphere for mourners and visitors.

Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC) identified the need for a crematorium for the new town in 1971. Several areas were considered, including Tattenhoe, Willen, Kents Hill, Walton, and Crownhill, when the Crownhill site was chose in 1978, the area was then agricultural land off Watling Street, with four fields and four small ponds, one in each.

The phased development began in 1979, with plans for a chapel, a site for a second chapel, a crematorium in the middle and a cemetery spreading around the foot of the slope down to Watling Street. The crematorium designed by Roger Hobbs opened in 1982 but within a short span of time the rapid population growth of the city meant it could not meet the increased demands.

The Oak Chapel at the Crownhill Crematorium was designed in 2011 by the architect Adrian Morrow (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

A large new complex, including the Oak Chapel, crematorium and offices, was built in the south-east half of the site in 2011 as the new operational focus, and was designed by the architect Adrian Morrow. He has designed an impressive list of buildings and has worked with first-class architectural practices.

The proposals called for a spiritual and tranquil design using austenitic stainless steel clad, cycloid form concrete roof vaults, located over thermally separated split concrete columns.

Adrian Morrow’s Oak Chapel is part of the striking architecture at the Crownhill complex, with its blend of exposed in-situ concrete cycloids, warm oak timber, stainless steel and striking stained glass windows, all within a tranquil woodland setting.

Andrew Morrow’s design is an aesthetic homage to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth designed by Louis Kahn (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Morrow’s design is an aesthetic homage to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, designed by the architect Louis I Kahn (1901-1974) and widely recognised as one of the most significant works of architecture of our time.

The Oak Chapel is a 145-seat multi-faith space featuring natural light, fine acoustics, and bespoke stained glass created by Julian Stocks.

The building includes a waiting area, a porte cochère, a chapel with a circular sanctuary, a catafalque, a Japanese garden, a cremator room for two new cremators, staff accommodation, a wreath court, and a promenade with a rill.

Julian Stocks designed the stained glass artwork Aqua in ultramarine blues, aquamarine and turquoises (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Julian Stocks, who designed the stained glass, was inspired by the cycloid geometry within the chapel roof. The cycloid is one of the strongest natural forms and the design includes references to the mathematics associated with this structure.

The cycloid is found in nature in wave formation and water dynamics. The title of the artwork, Aqua, is taken from the Latin for water.

Water has endless positive associations and this theme supports the abstract architectural qualities in the design. Waves and the confluence of water are central to the design. These patterns are consciously soothing and lead the eye through the artwork and into the architecture. The choice of colour is also designed to be comforting and is based on a palette of ultramarine blues, aquamarine and turquoises.

A water feature at the Oak Chapel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Sustainability has been a prime consideration in the planning at Crownhill. Many of the building materials selected are Green Guide A rated. The principal spaces are naturally ventilated by means of windcatchers.

The roof was originally designed before the sustainability requirements imposed the rows of windcatchers, and in some small way distract from the simplicity of extruded vaults used by Louis I Kahn.

Heat energy is recovered from the plant to heat the building. Additional free winter heating and summer cooling is provided by ground source heat pumps. The grounds have been developed into a wildlife garden with SUDs ponds, with sustainable drainage systems.

The Japanese-style gardens and the woodland setting support the privacy of families and mourners (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The building was carefully planned to maintain the privacy of families and mourners, with a clear route from the entrance to the waiting room, chapel, flower court and garden of remembrance. The calming design uses height, daylight, water and views to allow visitors time for contemplation.

The first service in the Oak Chapel was held 15 years ago, on Saturday 27 August 2011. A commemorative plaque quotes Winston Churchill: ‘We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.’

Some of the shapes also reminded me of the Memorial Cenotaph in Hiroshima, a saddle-shaped concrete structure designed by the Japanese architect Kenzo Tange and built in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in August 1952.

Today, the Oak Chapel in Crownhill Crematorium provides a tranquil and dignified space for cremation services, and it is also used for blessings at weddings.

The calming design uses height, daylight, water and views to allow mourners time for contemplation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

A day down on the farm, with the bees and the trees on the Urban Farm and its volunteers in Wolverton

A day at the Urb Farm off Windsor Street in Wolverton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

I spent time earlier this week with clerical colleagues from the Milton Keynes area at the Urb Farm, a three-acre market garden in Wolverton that produces and sells its own seasonal vegetables, fruit and honey.

The Urb Farm can be found between 196-198 Windsor Street in Wolverton. This is a horticultural social enterprise that nurtures the soil and grows organic produce for the local community all year round. With its trainees and volunteers, the farm maintains 25 large growing beds, five polytunnels, greenhouses, beehives and an orchard throughout the year. They grow a wide range of vegetables and fruit using environmentally sensitive techniques, working with the seasons and local climate.

The farm works with young people not in education, employment or training, and offers work experience while developing work skills within a framework that understands their individual needs.

The farm welcomes volunteers as part of the Urb Farm team, to enjoy the site and use their gifts, time and enthusiasm to learn more about growing vegetables and fruit and helping the Urb Farm to flourish and grow. Seasonal produce is grown at the Urb Farm market garden in the heart of Wolverton.

Milton Keynes Christian Foundation is an innovative local charity growing people and community through social enterprise. Our eight exciting enterprises work to ‘co-produce’ solutions to locally identified issues that have a global importance.

The enterprises are staffed by teams of young people who have struggled with mainstream education. Their enterprise work experience is supported by accredited training enabling trainees to build confidence and make good choices for the next steps in life.

The Urb Farm in Wolverton is part of the Milton Keynes Christian Foundation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The Urb Farm has its roots in the Christian community, but we were told how it works with people of all faiths and none, celebrating diversity and welcoming people from all parts of the community. Milton Keynes Christian Foundation runs a number of social enterprises and services from and Foundation House. As well as the urban farm in Wolverton, these include: the Learning Foundation, offering an alternative to school or college; Childcare Pathways, a nursery social enterprise in the heart of Wolverton; Think Food, a small café with a big vision; Cycle Saviours, saving, refurbishing, repairing, servicing and selling bikes and making cycling accessible to all; Urban Bee-lievers’, making Milton Keynes a bee-friendly city.

I was interested in particular in Urban Beelievers, an exciting social enterprise that finds ways to encourage, educate and inspire people to make Milton Keynes a bee-friendly city. The farm looks after thousands of honey bees across the city in company gardens, roof tops and school grounds as well as at the Urban Farm.

The farm helps create homes for bumble bees and solitary bees as well as plants, flowers and trees that provide food for bees, it runs workshops on all things honey and bee related and produces useful and beautiful products using wax and honey.

The UK has already lost 11 species of bee with 35 species of the 250 left being under threat. Bees pollinate 75% of our food crops like apples and tomatoes, and the farm invited people to help them to look after bees and to stop their decline.

The farm invites people to learn more about bees, helping to create a city full of bee food flowers and places for them to live and thrive. People are welcome to join an Urban Bee-lievers beekeeper experience and to learn about becoming beekeepers. During the three-hour Beekeeping Experience course, which costs £60, participants learn about the honeybee colony, how to care for the bees, get hands-on experience and taste the honey.

The Urb Farm helps create homes for bumble bees and solitary bees as well as plants, flowers and trees that provide food for bees (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

We heard how Milton Keynes Christian Foundation and Sector Ministry was established by the local Christian community and continues to be part of. It emerged from the Church’s ecumenical adventures in the growing new town of Milton Keynes. As churches found new ways to work with each other, they also sought to develop innovative patterns of working with the emerging communities, exploring new meanings of ‘being church’ and new patterns of ministry.

From humble beginnings in a Methodist church hall in Wolverton, the Christian Foundation was born, inspired by the values of the Christian faith. The foundation is committed to learning from communities and with others about how to challenge disadvantage, exclusion, injustice and the abuse of the environment. With its faith perspective, it sees these activities as signs of God’s activity in the community.

One strand of these explorations was developed by a team of ‘Sector Ministers’ who came together in the early 1980s, and the Christian Foundation was one of these ventures. The focus has been on the everyday sectors of life, such as work, education, business, health, family, community and environment.

The Urb Farm runs workshops on all things honey and bee related and produces products using wax and honey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Over the years, the foundation has engaged with many local issues, including waste and recycling; unemployment and training; teenage pregnancy and period poverty; childcare and play; education and school exclusion; food security and healthy eating; affordable housing and homelessness; regeneration and community cohesion; transport and cycling; renewable energy and climate change.

It continues to be involved with many of these issues, but more recently it has found social enterprise offers a new and creative way to work with them. The enterprises offer opportunities for working on demanding common tasks, enabling young people and others to co-create their futures, ‘learning, changing and growing’.

The Urb Farm also works in partnership with companies across Milton Keynes and welcomes teams to enjoy the farm site for team-building experiences or to make the most of their volunteer days. Others sponsor or host a beehive, enjoy pop-up shops for staff events and office-based Christmas fairs and workshops in growing veg or honey tasting.

As Milton Keynes Christian Foundation marks its 40th year, it is celebrating all it has been achieved and is looking ahead with hope. It sees this milestone as an opportunity to renew bonds with the local churches. A thanksgiving celebration takes place at the Urb Farm at 4 pm next Friday (17 July 2026). It is planned as a joyful occasion to meet young people, staff, and volunteers, to celebrate together, and to explore how this shared mission can continue in the years ahead.

• All produce at Urb Farm is cultivated on site with zero food miles from field to market. Veg Bags can be bought on the shop section on the website, and collected from the farm. The weekly market is open every Tuesday from 10 am to 4 pm and the second and fourth Saturdays of the month from 10 am to 1 pm.

The weekly market is open every Tuesday from 10 am to 4 pm and the second and fourth Saturdays of the month from 10 am to 1 pm (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Saint Peter and Saint Paul, paired saints, once faced each other on the same street in Stony Stratford

The Old Cross Keys … a late mediaeval hostel for priests and an inn remembered at 97 High Street, Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

Today in the Church Calendar has been the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Apostles (29 June 2026). Although there are many churches dedicated to these two apostles individually, they are often paired in the naming of churches and cathedrals, and in the past I have blogged about a number of cathedrals and churches dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

In recent years, I have blogged or written about a number of churches and cathedrals dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul, including the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Sheffield, the cathedral in Ennis, Co Clare, Selskar Abbey in Wexford, and Peterborough cathedral, which has an unusual triple dedication to Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Andrew.

In addition, there are churches dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul that I have visited recently in Aston, Buckingham, Newport Pagnell, Olney and Watford, and in Ireland churches in Athlone, Co Westmeath, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, Monasterevan, Co Kildare, three church in Kilmallock, Co Limerick, and the Russian Orthodox Church in Harold’s Cross, Dublin.

In Greece, Saint Peter and Saint Paul is the dedication of a former monastery I have visited in Iraklion in Crete and a chapel in Vlatádon Monastery in Thessaloniki. I have also visited churches with this name in Krakow and in Singapore.

The Cross Keys at the north end of High Street is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul on this day (29 June) recalls the martyrdom of the two apostles in Rome. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, this feast is one of five additional feasts ranked as a great feast. Many countries mark this feast day as a public holiday, and today is also a public holiday in some Swiss cantons.

In London, there were two, paired minster churches dedicated to these saints, so that the formal name of Westminster Abbey is the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, while the east minster is Saint Paul’s Cathedral in the City.

So, it is interesting that in Stony Stratford, Saint Peter and Saint Paul almost faced each other, diagonally across the street from one another, at the north end of the High Street.

The former Cross Keys Inn in Stony Stratford still displays its old signs (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The former Cross Keys at 97 High Street is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Stony Stratford. The Cross Keys was often a popular name for pubs and inns in mediaeval England. They took their name from the crossed keys of Saint Peter, the symbol representing Saint Peter as holding the gates of the kingdom heaven or guardian of Christian truth. Christ says to Saint Peter in this morning’s Gospel reading: ‘I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven’ (Matthew 16: 19).

Historically, pubs with this name were often near a church dedicated to Saint Peter. Some pubs named after Saint Peter or saints and popes also subtly renamed ‘Cross Keys’ at the Reformation. These pubs often stood on to land previously owned by abbeys or monasteries, or had served as church-linked hospitals and guesthouses.

The former Cross Keys Inn in Stony Stratford still has its mediaeval timber structure and a moulded archway (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The former Cross Keys Inn at 97 High Street still displays its old signs, and retains much of its mediaeval timber structure, dating from ca 1480, with a moulded archway. It was also known as Saint Peter’s Keys, and may originally have been a church-related lodging house or hostel, known in the Middle Ages as hospitals. The building retains the earliest external visible feature in the town, dating from the late 15th or early 16th century.

The building was once the town’s Guild Hall, and it later became the town’s first courtroom. The murderers of Grace Bennet, Lady of the Manor of Calverton, were tried there in 1697. Later it was tea house and curiosity shop, and today it is a hairdresser’s shop, Hair Master.

When the inn closed, and then the tea house, the early name continued in use in Stony Stratford in the Cross Keys Continental Café in Cofferidge Close in the 1970s and 1980s.

Saint Paul’s in Stony Stratford, including its former chapel ... designed by by George Goldie and Charles Edwin Child, and built in 1863-1864 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Across the street from the former Cross Keys on the High Street, Saint Paul’s Court is one of the most imposing buildings in Stony Stratford, and was designed by the architectural partnership of Goldie and Childe, run by George Goldie (1828-1887) and Charles Edwin Child (1843-1911). It first opened opened in January 1864 as a grammar school ‘to be conducted on the Public School system, by graduate clergy.’

This Victorian complex of buildings was built in a lavish style by the Revd William Thomas Sankey, Vicar of Saint Giles Church (now Saint Mary and Saint Giles) from 1859 to 1875. Saint Paul’s College opened in 1864, with Sankey as the first Warden, and later became Fegan’s Home for Orphaned Boys.

For ten years, from 1962 to 1972, it was a preparatory school run by Franciscan monks. The school chapel became a restaurant in recent years and the other buildings in the complex are now offices, craft workshops and apartments. The restaurant is undergoing a transformation and is expected to reopen soon as the Chapel Chophouse and Bar.

But it is interesting on this day that Saint Peter and Saint Paul at one time almost faced each other on the High Street in Stony Stratford.

The school chapel has been a restaurant in recent years and other parts of the buildings are offices, craft workshops and apartments (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

A visit to Fishermead in Milton Keynes, including Trinity Church and Centre and Cornish street names

Trinity Church in Fishermead is an ecumenical partnership involving the Church of England, the Methodist Church, the Baptist Church and the United Reformed Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

I spent a few hours earlier this week with other clergy in the Milton Keynes Deanery area as guests of the Chinese Overseas Christian Mission in Fishermead. But before that visit, I also visited some of the other faith communities in Fishermead, including Trinity Church, and walked through the housing and shopping areas.

Fishermead is an interesting area only a 10-minute walk from the centre of Milton Keynes. The first houses were built there in 1973, and at one time Fishermead was known as one of the most notorious estates in Milton Keynes.

In the past, Fishermead suffered from high volumes of deprivation, multiple occupancy housing and street crime. Today, the area is home to one the most diverse and vibrant communities in the city. The three-storey townhouses and blocks of flats house about 1,400 households and people from many parts of the world.

Fishermead is named after a field called Fishers Mead and the street names recall Cornish fishing villages (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

I was a guest of the Chinese Overseas Christian Mission (COCM) at lunch in its headquarters at Padstow Avenue, along with other clergy in the Milton Keynes Deanery area.

Fishermead is named after a field called Fishers Mead, and the fishing theme is continued in the street naming. All the streets are named after Cornish fishing villages and terminology, such as Penryn Avenue, Towan Avenue, Padstow Avenue, Pencarrow Place, Porthleven Place and Kernow Crescent.

The original housing was grouped around squares. A particularly striking area is Kernow Crescent which was built in 1981 and which encloses the local park. The area is has grid system like many other parts of Milton Keynes, with a central boulevard that has the services running off it.

The Trinity Centre in Fishermead is both a church and a community centre (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The local facilities in Fishermead include the Trinity Centre, which is both a church and a community centre, a doctor’s surgery, a pharmacy, a Co-op shop and a variety of ethnic shops, including Sri Lankan and Chinese shops.

The estate has two schools, Jubilee Wood Primary School and the Willows School, both on Fishermead Boulevard. The Fishermead Citizens Alliance was formed to create a new broad-based alliance of faith, education and other community organisations to tackle the social issues on the estate.

Local faith groups, organisations and facilities include Trinity Church, Fishermead Mosque, Frank Howe Court, a retirement living scheme on Penryn Avenue, Pebbles Nursery, the Salvation Army, the Samaritans and the Seventh Day Adventist Church, as well as the Chinese Overseas Christian Mission. In addition, Connection Support in Fishermead offers emergency accommodation and 24-hour support to people who are sleeping rough in Milton Keynes.

Kernow Crescent was built in 1981 and enclosed the local park (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Trinity Church, Fishermead, which serves the Fishermead, Oldbrook and Eaglestone areas, is an ecumenical partnership involving the Church of England, the Methodist Church, the Baptist Church and the United Reformed Church, and is part of the Woughton Ecumenical Partnership.

The church describes itself as a family-friendly, multicultural and welcoming church. Fishermead Community Café at the Trinity Centre is open every Thursday (10:30 am to 12:30 pm) and Friday (10:30 am to 3pm).

The Revd Ian Herbert is the Rector of Woughton Ecumenical Partnership, a partnership of five ecumenical churches south of central Milton Keynes: Christ the Vine, Coffee Hall; Saint Mary’s, Woughton-on-the-Green; Saint Thomas’s Church, Simpson, Trinity Church, Fishermead; and Holy Trinity Church, Woolstone.

Fishermead is a 10-minute walk from the centre of Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The Revd Chris Bell chairs Trinity Church Council and leads worship on the Third Sundays in the month; the Revd Didier Jaquet is the minister on the first and fourth Sundays. Sunday services are at 10 am in the Trinity Centre on the Boulevard in Fishermead, with Holy Communion on the first and third Sundays.

The Sunday congregation numbers at Trinity Church are usually between 20 and 30, with an age range from under one to over 80.

The Fishermead Trinity Centre has three large halls with wooden floors, one large meeting room with projector and Wi-Fi facilities, a kitchen and a secure gated courtyard.

The Islamic Centre Milton Keynes on Fishermead Boulevard (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The other faith communities in the area include the Islamic Centre Milton Keynes on Fishermead Boulevard, close to the Co-op shop and Trinity Church.

The mosque in Fishermead dates from 2004, when some Indian and Sri Lankan Muslims in Milton Keynes decided to set up an Islamic centre to meet the needs of the diverse mix of Muslim communities in central Milton Keynes, including people of Indian, Sri Lankan, Bengali, Pakistani, Somali and Arab origin.

Moving from welcome to belonging: enabling mission work among the Chinese communities in Britain

In the foyer of the Chinese Overseas Christian Mission in Fishermead, near the centre of Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

I spent a few hours today with other clergy in the Milton Keynes Deanery area as guests of the Chinese Overseas Christian Mission in Padstow Avenue, Fishermead.

Fishermead is an interesting area close to the centre of Milton Keynes. The first house was built there in 1973, and at one time Fishermead was known as one of the most notorious estates in Milton Keynes. In the past it suffered from high volumes of deprivation, multiple occupancy housing and street crime.

Now Fishermead is home to one the most diverse and vibrant communities in the city. The three-storey townhouses and blocks of flats house with about 1,400 households and people from many parts of the world.

The Chinese Overseas Christian Mission (COCM) has its headquarters at Padstow Avenue in Fishermead. COCM is an inter-denominational mission with the objective of bringing the gospel to the Chinese scattered over Europe through pioneering evangelism, church planting, training and literature work. The mission’s vision is ‘where there are Chinese, may Christ be there also’.

The Revd Henry Lu, who welcomed us to the centre, has been the general director of the Chinese Overseas Christian Mission (COCM) since he succeeded Mary Wang in 2008. He spoke of its work today, but also brought us back to its origins when the Revd Stephen Wang, a Methodist minister, moved to Britain in 1950 to study theology at Selly Oak in Birmingham.

COCM is an interdenominational mission with the objective of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the Chinese diaspora and local communities in the UK and Europe through multi-faceted ministries.

The Chinese Overseas Christian Mission (COCM) has its headquarters at Padstow Avenue in Fishermead (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

When COCM was founded by Stephen Wang, its vision was ‘Where the Chinese are, there Christ must be.’

In the 75 years since then, COCM has grown substantially and the scope of its work now covers the UK and countries on the European continent. Its extended vision has become, ‘Reaching the Chinese to Reach Europe.’

He described COCM’s work in helping people to build up strong and healthy churches and to serve their communities. Many Chinese churches in the UK and in Europe are in the early stages of development and rely on outside resources for their work, ministry and mission.

He spoke of the courses and training programmes COCM runs and organises, we visited the bookshop, which is one of the largest Chinese bookshops in Europe, and the chapel which is used during training programmes and courses but does not serve a regular Sunday morning congregation.

The chapel in the COCM building in Fishermead, Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

In much of its work, COCM acknowledges the pioneering inspiration of Bishop Frank Houghton (1894-1972), an Anglican missionary bishop in China. He was born in Stafford, educated at the University of London and ordained in 1917. He was a curate in Everton and Preston before going to China as a missionary with the China Inland Mission in 1920. In 1923, Frank Houghton married Dorothy Cassels, the daughter of William Cassels, who had been a member of the ‘Cambridge Seven’ and became a bishop in China.

Frank Houghton was the Bishop of East Szechwan from 1937 to 1940, and returned to England to work in parishes in Leamington and Banbury. He was the general director of the China Inland Mission (CIM) when the mission had to leave China in 1951. He retired in 1963 and died in 1972. The China Inland Mission was founded by Hudson Taylor in 1865. It is now based in Singapore and is an international and interdenominational evangelical missionary society known since 1964 as OMF International or the Overseas Missionary Fellowship.

Bishop Frank Houghton was the first trustee chair of COCM. He retired in 1963 and died in 1972. One of his hymns, in English and Chinese, hangs on banners in the foyer of COCM, on either side of a banner with Psalm 126.

A hymn by Bishop Frank Houghton in English and Chinese hangs on banners in the foyer of COCM, on either side of a banner with Psalm 126 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

After lunch as guests of COCM, Katie Woo spoke to us of her work with the National Church Hong Kong Communities Enabler, with the Diocese of Oxford.

She spoke of the increasing numbers of Chinese people who are coming to the UK, including Chinese students, who are both Cantonese and Mandarin speakers; families who have been moving from Hong Kong in large numbers in the last five years or so; and the English-speaking ethnic Chinese people who are the next generation who have grown up in Britain.

This third group were born here or moved here in their childhood, and speak a language native to them but foreign to their parents.

The new generation that has arrived from Hong Kong has strong, visible communities in Reading, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and Nottingham, as well as Milton Keynes. She spoke of her work as a process that helps to move people forward from being welcomed to belonging.

During the day, I also visited Trinity Church, Fishermead, and the neighbouring mosque. But more about Fishermead and its faith communities in the days to come, I hope.

Chinese-language Bibles on the shelves of the bookship at COCM in Fishermead (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

‘Chaos’ is among the sculptures by Willi Soukop in the Church of Christ the Cornerstone in Milton Keynes

Willi Soukop’s ‘Chaos’ in the lobby of the Church of Christ the Cornerstone in Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

We were in the Church of Christ the Cornerstone in central Milton Keynes on a recent Sunday for Choral Evensong, when I noticed two large papier-mâché relief sculptures by the Viennese-born British artist Willi Soukop.

The first work, Chaos, is a monumental papier-mâché relief sculpture by Willi Soukop, showing the turmoil of life in contrast with the serenity of the serenity of the three figures in the second work.

In the second work over the entrance to the chapel, Soukop depicts three dramatic figures at the foot of the Cross of Christ: his mother the Virgin Mary, Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint John the Evangelist or the Beloved Disciple. These three powerful, expressive and slightly haunting yet serene figures may also represent mourning or desperation, and they capture Soukop’s characteristic expressive, modern style.

Both works are made in papier-mâché, which Soukop used extensively throughout his career. He also worked in wood, metal and stone in the production of many pieces that portrayed compassionate and tender religious themes. These works are on view inside the lobby of the church and are on loan from the artist’s son, Michael Soukop. Willi Soukop also sculpted the wooden Madonna and Christ Child in the chapel at the Church of Christ the Cornerstone.

Because of the unique architectural layout of the church, the lobby and entrance areas are spacious and airy and are open to the public frequently. As a result, the lobby and entrance serve as a non-traditional community art space for surprising, contemporary displays in the heart of Milton Keynes.

The three figures at the foot of the Cross of Christ by Willi Soukop depict the Virgin Mary, Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint John the Evangelist (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The sculptor Willi Soukop (1907-1995) was a Royal Academician, and an early teacher of Dame Elisabeth Frink (1930-1993). Through his long career he pursued a very individual vision and he refused to identify with any ‘-ism’ in art. He was born Wilhelm Josef Soukop in Vienna on 5 January 1907 to an Austrian mother and a Czech father. His father, who had been wounded in World War I, died by suicide in 1919, leaving his wife to cope with Willi and two other children.

He began studying drawing at night and became an apprentice engraver. To supplement the pittance he earned as an apprentice, he worked nights carving umbrella handles and ivory boxes for a local trader. In time he could afford to study sculpture at the Academy of Fine Art in Vienna under Josef Müllner.

Soukop was invited to Devon to escape the political and economic misery of Vienna and came to Dartington near Totnes in 1934. There he worked in a studio at Dartington Hall, where Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst had created a centre for the arts. European exiles there included the Jooss Ballet from Germany, Michael Chekhov and his drama school, and Bernard Leach and his son David, the potter.

The artist and gallery-owner Eardley Knollys of Storran Gallery gave Soukop his first one-man show in 1938.

Soukop was classified as an alien during World War II, and was first interned at Aintree racecourse, then sent to Canada, where he was held for nine months. On his release, he returned to Dartington and in 1945 he married Simone Michelle Moser (1916-1993), who had gone with him to Canada. The French dancer, teacher and choreographer became one of the finest performers and teachers of the Leeder system of modern dance in Britain.

Soukop became Art Master at Blundell’s School, where he set up the sculpture department. He also set up sculpture departments at Bryanston School, Dorset, and Downs School, Worcestershire, and taught at Bromley, Guildford and Chelsea Schools of Art.

His students at Guildford included Dame Elisabeth Frink, who followed him to Chelsea. Her work can be seen throughout Milton Keynes and includes the Black Horse, outside Lloyds Bank at the corner of Lloyds Court, near the corner of Secklow Gate and Silbury Boulevard.

Soukop was appointed to the additional position of Master of Sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools in 1969 and he became a member of the faculty of the British School in Rome. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1935 and was elected a full member (RA) in 1969.

He received many commissions, both for portrait busts and larger pieces for public buildings. He exhibited widely, including ‘Sculpture in the Open Air’, Battersea Park (1949, 1950), many Arts Council exhibitions, Biennales and an exhibition in the Yehudi Menuhin School and University College Swansea.

His sculpture was commissioned for many public spaces, including the Elmington Estate in Camberwell, Loughborough University and the University of Hull, and his well-known Donkey sculpture, first executed at Dartington, was recast for Pittmans Field, Harlow, Essex. His work is in UK public collections including Abbot Hall, the Ben Uri Collection, the Red House, Aldeburgh, the Royal Academy of Arts, Tate, and the University of South Wales Art collection.

‘My life was never planned, it just happened,’ Willi Soukop once said.

Simone died in in London on 27 June 1993, leaving a son and a daughter; Willi died in Glasgow on 8 February 1995.

The two pieces displayed in the lobby of the Church of Christ the Cornerstone in Milton Keynes are there by courtesy of Dr Michael Soukop and his wife who generously allowed the works to remain after a visit to the city in 1996. At the time they were looking for a permanent home for the collection that remained after Willi Soukop’s death.

The Church of Christ the Cornerstone is the first ecumenical city-centre church in Britain and is a shared space for five denominations: Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Methodist and United Reformed. Chaos and the Three Figures at the Foot of the Cross can be seen in the public lobby, usually open seven days a week, Monday to Saturdays from 8 am to 8 pm, with varying hours on Sundays. The chapel, with Soukop’s wooden Madonna and Christ Child, is open daily for private prayer and meditation.

The wooden Madonna and Christ Child was sculpted by Willi Soukop (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)