"Drink a pot of ale, eat a scoop of Stilton, every day, you will
make 'old bones'." Nineteenth-century saying, Wymondham
The Centuries of Stilton™
Stilton was first made in the early 18th century in the midlands of England.
Specifically in and around the Melton Mowbray area. Stilton takes its
name from the village of Stilton (though no Stilton was ever made there)
located about 80 miles north of London on the Great North Road. It is
here that the coaches travelling from London to Scotland and other northern
cities made their first stop for fresh horses and overnight stays. Convenient
to Melton Mowbray and the surrounding area, the village became the centre
market place for the cheese with thousands being sold every week. Thus
the blue cheese one would buy in Stilton became known as Stilton cheese.
According to Stilton historian, Mr. Trevor Hickman, resident
of Wymondham (why-mon-dum) in east Leicestershire, the background of the
cheese is somewhat cloudy. However, "a blue-veined cream cheese from
cow's milk was produced by farmers at Wymondham as soon as pastures were
enclosed within the open-field system." The first written reference
to Stilton cheese was in William Stukeley’s Itinerarium Curiosum, letter
V, dated October 1722. Other references made about the same time clearly
indicate that Stilton was a hot item even then.
Frances Pawlett,
a skilled cheese maker, of Wymondham, is credited as the person who gave
Stilton its first quality and shape standards. Her skill at cheese making
and her husband’s business acumen led to the first marketing cooperative
in the area for Stilton. Frances would come to set the standards other
cheese makers would need to meet for “blued cream cheese” good
enough to be marketed as Stilton. Along with the help of Cooper Thornhill,
owner of the famous Bell Inn of Stilton, the Pawletts helped build the
trade in Stilton cheese to record levels.
The toll gate at Stilton,
circa 1880.
Today Stilton is made much the same way as it was in the 1700’s. In
1936 an organisation, The Stilton Cheese Makers’ Association, was formed
to maintain the quality standards and protect the name of Stilton. Stilton
is a trademark and a PDO (protected designation of origin) cheese. This
means true Stilton can only be made by authorised creameries operating only
in the three counties of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
Over a million cheeses a year are made by the six creameries which are authorised
to make Stilton.
Copyright
1997-2004 - Stilton Cheesemakers' Association - All Rights Reserved.
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