Easy hikes and walks around Abbey Hill

You can wander between the remainders of the walls, which allows to get a good impression of the original layout and size of the rooms.

An effort was made here to create a varied lake with a path around. It is quite nice, but as everywher ein the city the feeling of 'artificial' is quite strong.

A bit cumbersome with the bike and more intended for hikers - easier to stay on the path. But a nice idea to make the surrounding a bit more varied.

Lodge Lake was created in 1981 to prevent Loughton Brook flooding the downstream area. It now has a park area that is popular as a recreational hub, especially with the Trim Trail that goes around the lake. There is parking nearby, but no toilet.

Bancroft is one of the most fascinating archaeological landscapes in Milton Keynes. Known primarily for its Roman villa, archaeological digs have revealed almost continuous occupation from 800 BC.

A Roman Villa was discovered when the new estate of Bancroft was being built in the early 70s. Clues had already come after fragments of Roman pottery were noticed in the banks of nearby Loughton Brook in 1967. The area was carefully excavated over the next 15 years to reveal the villa's underfloor heating system with a limestone open hearth, a bath suite, colonnaded verandas and porch and an ornamental walled garden with fish pond and a summerhouse. Among the Roman artefacts uncovered were Samian tableware, a limestone board game, silver-bronze brooches, decorated hair combs and around 1,000 coins Today the site shows the outline of the villa and its rooms.

North Loughton Valley Park is a linear park and offers unique experiences, such as the famous concrete cows to the captivating ruins of Bancroft Roman Villa and Bradwell Abbey. Simply a great running and walking area.

The Bancroft Roman Villa was discovered during MK Development Corporation building construction in 1971 and was excavated throughout the next 15 years. A mosaic floor excavated from the Villa, was mounted on a wall overlooking Queens’ Court in Central Milton Keynes in September 1977. Bancroft was one of eight large farming estates created 2,000 years ago in the city area, each centred around a Roman Villa – in Milton Keynes Village, Stantonbury, Wymbush, Walton, Dovecote Farm at Shenley Brook End, Bletchley’s Sherwood Drive and Holne Chase. The Villa at Bancroft is the most extensive excavated of the Roman settlements in Milton Keynes and the archaeological dig revealed an underfloor heating system with a limestone open hearth, a bath suite, colonnaded verandas and porch, an ornamental walled garden with fish pond and a summer house. Several interesting Roman artefacts were uncovered including Samian tableware, a board made from decorated limestone for a board game, silver-bronze brooches for fastening a toga, decorated hair combs and 1,000 coins were found in and around the site. The outline of the Villa as it stands today shows the outline of the Villa and rooms which were found during the excavation of the 1970s and 1980s, MK Development Corporation decided to mark the Villa find this way to ensure future generations could appreciate the heritage underfoot.