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Willen Lake

Willen
Milton-keynes-peace-pagoda.jpg
The Peace Pagoda (Stupa)
Willen is located in Buckinghamshire
Willen
Willen
Willen shown within Buckinghamshire
OS grid reference SP877413
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town MILTON KEYNES
Postcode district MK15
Dialling code 01908
Police Thames Valley
Fire Buckinghamshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
BuckinghamshireCoordinates: 52°03′47″N 0°43′09″W / 52.06311°N 0.71922°W / 52.06311; -0.71922

Willen is a district of Milton Keynes, England and is also one of the ancient villages of Buckinghamshire to have been included in the designated area of the New City in 1967. At the 2011 Census the population of the district was included in the civil parish of Campbell Park. The original village is now a small but important part of the larger district that contains it and to which it gives its name.

The tiny parish church (1680) at Willen was designed by the architect and physicist Robert Hooke and is a classic of the early English Baroque period.

Further around the lake, there is a Buddhist Temple/monastery and a large stupa, a Peace Pagoda built in 1980 by the Monks and Nuns of the Nipponzan-Myōhōji. It was the first to be built in the western hemisphere. There is a grass labyrinth nearby.

One of the more important features of the district is a large balancing lake on the River Ouzel, designed to capture flash floods lest they cause problems down stream. The north basin is a wild-life sanctuary and a favourite of migrating aquatic birds. The south basin is for leisure use, favoured by wind surfers and dinghy sailors. The circuit of the lakes is a favoured "fun run".

Overlooking the lake, Willen Hospice provides specialist care for people whose illness no longer responds to curative treatment (also known as specialist palliative care).

In its history, many rare and scarce migrating birds have turned up on the north side of the lake. The island that has 3 resident goats to graze the vegetation, is primarily for bird life. Many common bird species breed on the spit that can be viewed from the only hide on the lake, the north hide. Here are some of the most notable visitors to the lake: Red-throated Diver (1986), Great Northern Diver (1994), Fulmar (2001) Great Shearwater (1999), Leach's Petrol (1987), Gannet (2002), Night Heron (1987), Glossy Ibis (1987), Spoonbill (1995), Pink footed Goose (1992), White-Fronted Goose (1992), Green-Winged Teal (1994), Ring-Necked Duck (1996), Long-Tailed Duck (1981), Velvet Scoter (2006), Spotted Crake (1995), Avocet (2011), Kentish Plover (1981), Temmick's Stint (2004), Pectoral Sandpiper (1995), Purple Sandpiper (1977), Red-Necked Phalarope (1995), Grey Phalarope (1987), Wilson's Phalarope (2007), Pomarine Skua (1982), Great Skua (1987), Sabine's Gull (1981), Caspian Tern (2001), Roseate Tern (1994), Whiskered Tern (2001), Cetti's Warbler (2011), Great Reed Warbler (2008), Golden Oriole (1997), Lapland Bunting (1966), Snow Bunting (1997), and a pair of Black-winged Stilt staying the summer of 1988.


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