Grafton Park

Introduction

Grafton Park is a secret greenery spot nestled in the heart of Milton Keynes’ urban landscape, offering tranquillity and charm. It’s a little haven with its own personality, with ponds, rills, curved paths, original MK bench seating and wildlife zones are flanked by MK’s modernist architecture.

Grafton Park was created in 1991 by MK Development Corporation’s Landscape team, on the site of one of the two farms that made way for the city centre. Rectory Farm, like all farms within the New City Designated Area, highlighted how in a short space of time a new town sprang up out of the North Buckinghamshire countryside. The road that Rectory Farm was on, an ancient track called Portway, still exists as a diagonal path in Fred Roche Gardens up towards the City Church in the direction of Secklow Mound.

What to see

One of the park’s most interesting features is the Dovecote. The structure has been recently refurbished as part of a broader effort to make the park more vibrant and inviting. These upgrades align with the park’s vision to be a small haven for both wildlife and visitors, complementing its ponds, rills, waterfalls, and landscaped greenery.

The top end of Grafton Park features the sculpture Embrace by John Wragg, a striking piece of public art. Created in 1963, and so one of the few pieces in the centre that pre-dates the New City, this stainless steel artwork was originally commissioned for Sainsbury’s flagship store in King’s Road, London, but after suffering repeated vandalism, it was relocated to Milton Keynes. The sculpture consists of two abstract arcs – one slender and one robust – that subtly touch, evoking a sense of connection and tension between the forms.

The placement in Grafton Park provides a tranquil setting where the sculpture can be appreciated without the urban distractions of its previous location. Embrace is a great example of how public art can find new life and relevance in a different context.

Did you know?

Grafton Park’s creation was always a little bit of a mystery. Originally dated its design to the late 1980s, it took archives research into the Development Corporation at Buckinghamshire Archives to find an original plan for the park, which was dated as December 1991.