Milton Keynes, designated as a new town on 23 January 1967, is the largest new town in England. The brief from the Ministry of Housing and Local Government called for a new town to accommodate an incoming population of 150,000 Londoners over a period of 20 years. This with the pre-existing population and further natural growth was expected to result eventually in a total population of about 250,000

The designated area was almost 9,000 hectares (22,000 acres) in north Buckinghamshire. It included the existing towns of Bletchley, Stony Stratford, Wolverton and New Bradwell, together with 13 villages and the brickfields to the south west of Bletchley. The population within the area at designation was approximately 40,000 in 1967.