Milton Keynes Rose

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About the Milton Keynes Rose

The Milton Keynes Rose located in our central city park Campbell Park, is a public space designed for commemoration, celebration and contemplation. Developed in partnership by The Parks Trust and the Cenotaph Trust (now Milton Keynes Rose Trust), with support from Milton Keynes Council, the Milton Keynes Rose was created as a central civic space to host events significance and occasions of remembrance.

Created by internationally renowned artist Gordon Young in 2014, the Milton Keynes Rose is an open-air circle with markings based on the mathematical beauty of a flower. Upon installation 106 granite pillars of varying height were mounted in positions to create the art piece. 68 pillars have been engraved with dedications, leaving 38 for future inscriptions.

Inscriptions so far include dedications for important dates in Milton Keynes’ history including; 23 January 1967, when MK was designated as a New Town, 31 December 1958 when Aston Martin Lagonda based in Newport Pagnell first registered the first DB4 and 5 July 1953, the date when the first tea bag produced in the UK at Tetley’s factory in Bletchley.

To see the inscriptions for pillars dedicated so far, visit the Milton Keynes Rose website.

View Campbell Park Visitor Information

How to nominate a Pillar

The Milton Keynes Rose records dates of events which are significant in the lives of people or organisations associated with Milton Keynes both past and present. Nominations for new pillar inscriptions must, therefore, specify a significant date with reasons.

For the first ten years since opening, nine new inscriptions have been added to Pillars at the Milton Keynes Rose roughly every two years. In 2024 we will be inviting nominations for one new Pillar to be engraved in 2025. In the future this process will slow down to once every five years.

The panel, made up of representatives from the Milton Keynes Rose Trust, The Parks Trust, the Community and Voluntary Sector and Heritage Sector and Chaired by His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire will meet to consider the requests.
For a date to be chosen for inscription on a pillar, it must satisfy some or all the following qualifying criteria:

Is the event / occasion / person to which the date refers of significance to Milton Keynes?
Does the date mark an important moment in the history / development of Milton Keynes?
Is the event / occasion / person of significance to a certain demographic in Milton Keynes?
Is the event / occasion / person one that people are likely to want to celebrate, commemorate or contemplate?
Will future generations understand and appreciate why that date was chosen and will it still mean something to them?
Will the pillar marking the date be likely to draw people to visit and / or raise awareness of the MK Rose?
Does the marking of date provide an opportunity to animate the pillar, if chosen?

Nominations will not be accepted if they seek to promote a particular brand or give a commercial advantage to a company or individual.

While nominations relating to specific dates are preferable, nominations that relate to a recognisable day, e.g., the third Sunday in November, may be acceptable

Send your nomination by email to miltonkeynesrose@gmail.com or by post to The Milton Keynes Rose Trust, 1300 Silbury Boulevard, Campbell Park MK9 4AD