[6] Just to the south of Fenny Stratford, there was Romano-British town, MAGIOVINIUM on either side of Watling Street, a Roman road.

Bletchley was originally a minor village on the outskirts of Fenny Stratford, of lesser importance than Water Eaton.

Brick-making has taken place on the Newton Leys site and the surrounding area from the late 19th century, circa 1897.

[10] The 1926 Ordnance Survey shows the settlements beginning to merge, with large private houses along the Bletchley Road between them.

[11] As the nation emerged from World War II, Bletchley Council renewed its desire to expand from its 1951 population of 10,919.

[12] This trend continued through the 1950s and 1960s, culminating[a] in the GLC-funded Lakes Estate in Water Eaton parish, even as Milton Keynes was being founded.

With compulsory purchase, Bletchley Road (now renamed to Queensway after a royal visit in 1966) became the new high street with wide pavements where front gardens once lay.

Houses near the railway end were replaced by shops but those nearer Fenny Stratford became banks and professional premises.

The nearby Wilton Hall was built in 1943 as part of the Bletchley Park estate and was used by the government as a meeting place by day and a music and dance venue by night.

After World War II, the venue continued to remain open and played host to musicians such as Lulu and The Rolling Stones.

[24] Major Milton Keynes grid roads serving the town include Watling Street (which has the V4 designation between Denbigh North and Stony Stratford), V7 Saxon Street (connecting Central Bletchley with the rest of the city) and H8 Standing Way (A421) (which runs westwards towards Buckingham, the M40 and Oxford, and eastwards through the south-east of the city crossing and connecting to the M1 at Junction 13 and running towards Bedford, the A1 and Cambridge).

The A5 passes along the eastern flank of Fenny Stratford, connecting it and Bletchley with the city centre, the A509, A422 and A508 roads.

[25] The town's main bus station is located on South Terrace, just east of V7 Saxon Street in Central Bletchley.

This includes shops, restaurants, and an Odeon cinema (which moved to MK1 from The Point building in Milton Keynes Central in 2015).

[citation needed] For the 2011 census, the Office for National Statistics designated a "built up area sub-division", being that part of Milton Keynes that is west of the A5 and south of the A421, some 1,073.5 hectares (2,652.7 acres).