Willen Lake
Balancing lake in Milton Keynes, UK
title: "Willen Lake" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["milton-keynes", "lakes-of-buckinghamshire"] description: "Balancing lake in Milton Keynes, UK" topic_path: "general/milton-keynes" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willen_Lake" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Balancing lake in Milton Keynes, UK ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox amusement park"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Willen Lake |
| logo_caption | Willen Lake logo |
| location | Milton Keynes |
| coordinates | |
| homepage | https://www.willenlake.org.uk/ |
| owner | The Parks Trust |
| visitors | |
| image | File:Willen_lake.jpg |
| area | 138 hectares |
| general_manager | Robert Wood |
| operator | Whitecap Leisure |
| season | Watersports |
| March - October | |
| Splash Park | |
| April - October | |
| Treetop Extreme | |
| Year-round | |
| Benugo Bar & Kitchen | |
| Year-round | |
| Park | |
| Year-round | |
| mapframe | yes |
| mapframe-caption | The lake in Milton Keynes |
| mapframe-zoom | 12 |
| :: |
| name = Willen Lake | logo = | logo_caption = Willen Lake logo | location = Milton Keynes | coordinates = | homepage = https://www.willenlake.org.uk/ | owner = The Parks Trust | visitors = | image = File:Willen_lake.jpg | area = 138 hectares | general_manager = Robert Wood | operator = Whitecap Leisure | season = Watersports March - October Splash Park April - October Treetop Extreme Year-round Benugo Bar & Kitchen Year-round Park Year-round | mapframe = yes | mapframe-caption = The lake in Milton Keynes | mapframe-zoom = 12
Willen Lake is a visitor attraction and public park in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire The site is owned by The Parks Trust, an independent, self-funded charity that cares for and maintains over 6,000 acres of green space across MK.
Willen Lake is Milton Keynes's most popular park; being free to enter, the number of visitors is not recorded. It comprises 180 acres of landscaped parkland which surround around 100 acres of water across two lakes. Both lakes are balancing lakes, designed to mitigate flooding from the River Ouzel. The southern lake offers a wide range of activities on and off the water, whilst the northern lake offers a more natural and tranquil setting, ideal for quiet walks and spotting wildlife. There are large events held on the site throughout the year, including Comedy Central's FriendsFest
Attractions
Operating
, the activities area of the park (to the West of the South lake) includes of a number of leisure attractions including:
- Watersports centre (new centre opened 2021)
- High ropes course
- Children's outdoor playground
- Children's outdoor splash park
- Inflatable aqua park
- Outdoor fitness equipment
- Health club (including hair and beauty salon)
- Seasonal Funfair
- Large events spaces
- Observation wheel
- Change Please Coffee Shop, a social enterprise
- Premier Inn hotel, with bar open to non-residents.
Since January 2010, Willen Lake has also been the location of the Milton Keynes parkrun, which currently starts just to the West of the lake, then follows the Grand Union canal to Great Holm, before making a complete loop of the South Lake and finishing by the Watersports Centre.
Geography
thumb|upright 0.75|Nipponzan-Myōhōji stupa, Milton Keynes thumb|upright 0.75|The Nipponzan-Myōhōji temple in Willen, Milton Keynes
The lake is one of the largest purpose-built stormwater balancing lakes in the UK. The lake is designed to take surface run-off from Milton Keynes, the largest of a number designed to do so. The lake has capacity for an additional level increase of 1.3 metres, equivalent to a once in 200 years event. Unlike most of the rest of the UK, Milton Keynes has separate storm and foul sewers, so sewage pollution is not a significant problem.
The lake is surrounded by a mixture of open parkland and woodland, which forms part of the wider Ouzel Valley Park. The lake is divided by an embankment and bridge carrying the A509 (H5 Portway), which runs between the east and west of the city, providing links to M1 Junction 14 (approximately 1 mi to the north-east), and Central Milton Keynes and the A5 (approximately 1.5 mi and 2.5 mi to the south-west, respectively).
Beside the North lake is the Peace Pagoda and Nipponzan-Myōhōji Buddhist temple.
References
References
- (10 April 2020). "Willen Lake South".
- "Your parks". The Parks Trust.
- (15 June 2018). "Tender Opportunity Willen Lake".
- (11 April 2020). "Willen Lake".
- (11 April 2020). "Willen Lake and Park".
- (10 April 2020). "FriendsFest".
- (10 April 2020). "Willen Lake South".
- (11 April 2020). "About us".
- (19 March 2023). "New coffee shop operator announced for Willen Lake".
- "Milton Keynes parkrun".
- (10 April 2020). "Ouzel Valley Park".
- "Milton Keynes Peace Pagoda (& temple)".
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