Place:Stilton, Huntingdonshire, England

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NameStilton
Alt namesStichiltonesource: Domesday Book (1985) p 141
Sticiltonesource: Domesday Book (1985) p 141
TypeAncient parish, Civil parish
Coordinates52.483°N 0.283°W
Located inHuntingdonshire, England     ( - 1965)
Also located inHuntingdon and Peterborough, England     (1965 - 1974)
Cambridgeshire, England     (1974 - )
See alsoNorman Cross Hundred, Huntingdonshire, Englandhundred in which it was located
Norman Cross Rural, Huntingdonshire, Englandrural district in which it was located until 1974
Huntingdonshire District, Cambridgeshire, Englanddistrict municipality of which it has been a part since 1974
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


Stilton lies south of the city of Peterborough in the former county of Huntingdonshire. It lies on the old Great North Road, 70 miles (110 km) from London and was an important coaching stop in the days before motorised transport. It lies just south of Norman Cross in the Huntingdonshire District of Cambridgeshire.

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The village gave its name to Stilton cheese. Previously the most widely accepted explanation was that the cheese came down to be sold at the coaching inns in Stilton. Daniel Defoe in 1722 described the village as famous for its cheese. Traditionally it was thought that supplies were obtained from the housekeeper at Quenby Hall, Hungarton, Leicestershire, near Melton Mowbray, and were sold via her brother-in-law to travellers in Stilton's coaching inns, namely The Bell or The Angel. Subsequent research has led to claims that the cheese did originate in the village in the late 17th or early 18th centuries, before any contemporary references to its production in Leicestershire.

Today Stilton cheese is made in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. The manufacturers of Stilton cheese in these counties applied for and received Protected Geographical Status (PGS) in 1996 so that production is currently limited to these three counties and must use pasteurised milk, which can be drawn from many counties within the central belt of England. Recent evidence indicates that it is unlikely that [Stilton] would have been a centre for selling of cheese unless cheese was also made in the area. Furthermore the original recipe for a cream cheese made in Stilton in the early 18th century has since been discovered and since more than one type of cheese was usually made, it is possible that a blue cheese was also made in the area.

Research Tips

  • Original historical documents relating to Huntingdonshire are now held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at Shire Hall, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 4GS
  • The Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Family History Society has transcribed the parish registers for all the ancient parishes of Huntingdonshire and these can be purchased from the Society as pdfs.
  • A History of the County of Huntingdon in 3 volumes from British History Online (Victoria County Histories). This is by far the most complete history of the parishes of the county to be found online. The chapters are ordered by the divisions of the county called hundreds, but each chapter is linked to the volume's content page. Volume 2 (published 1932) covers Hurstingstone and Toseland hundreds (index of parishes); Leightonstone and Norman Cross Hundreds (index of parishes) are found in Volume 3 (published 1936). Volume 1 is a part-volume describing the religious houses of the county.
  • GENUKI has a page on Huntingdonshire and pages for each of the ecclesiastical or ancient parishes in the county. These give references to other organizations who hold genealogical information for the local area.
  • The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages similar to those provided by GENUKI which may have been prepared at a later date.
  • A Vision of Britain through Time, section "Units and Statistics" leads to analyses of population and organization of the county from about 1800 through 1974. There are pages available for all civil parishes, municipal boroughs and other administrative divisions.
  • Map of Huntingdonshire divisions in 1888 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
  • Map of Huntingdonshire divisions in 1944 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Stilton. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.