The Stilton Group of Churches, comprise of:

 

The Parishes of Stilton with Denton & Caldecote,

Folksworth with Morborne & Haddon

and Elton

 

The group of parishes are located west of Junctions 16 and 17 of the A1, where the A15 from Peterborough and Yaxley and the A605 from Peterborough joins the A1.  Elton is the most northerly of the parishes, then Haddon, Morborne and Folksworth through to Stilton (with Denton & Caldecote) in the south.  They form part of the Deanery of Yaxley within the Diocese of Ely.

 

Peterborough is the nearest main city situated about 6-8 miles to the NE with the city centre Queensgate shopping mall reached by car in 15 mins.  There is also a large out of town shopping centre at Hampton on the west of Peterborough close to all our parishes.

 

The nearest market towns are Oundle to the west, Stamford to the north and Huntingdon to the SE. All have a very good selection of shops and a weekly market – Oundle has a monthly Farmers Market. Road and rail links are excellent north-south, but are less good east-west.

 

To the east of the A1, the land falls away into the Fens which make up most of the diocese of Ely, but the parishes themselves sit on the edge of an escarpment, broken up into a number of low hills reaching over 55 metres in height. Prior to the draining of the Fens in the 17th and early 19th century the SE edge of the parishes were under water – at the eastern edge of Stilton Parish the land lies several metres below sea level.  The area shows evidence of habitation from earliest times with Ermine Street a visible reminder of Roman occupation.

 

The parishes are all rural villages with Church primary schools in Stilton, Folksworth and Elton. Senior schools are in Sawtry for all villages except Elton where pupils would go to Oundle or Orton Longueville, Peterborough.  Some senior school pupils, with an active Christian commitment, go to the Kings School in Peterborough from all our villages.

 

Each of our villages are very welcoming communities with a high proportion of people choosing to stay within the villages when moving house.  Stilton, Folksworth and Elton have a mixture of pubs, shops and small local businesses.  Stilton has the largest population with about 2,500 to 2,700 people, followed by Folksworth with 900 people, Elton with just over 700 people and with Morborne and Haddon together totalling fewer than 100 people.  

 

In the past much of the employment was in agriculture, but now most local employment is limited to the facilities mentioned above and the parishes are now commuter villages for those working in the local towns with some travelling to London and further afield.

 

You are assured of a warm welcome at any of the churches in this group of parishes.