Stilton the cheese is named after the small town in Cambridgeshire by the same name where the cheese was first sold to travelers on the horse-drawn carriages that were going up and down the old roman road between London and York. The cheese was made by Frances Pawlet who lived and made cheeses in Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire and was sold by Cooper Thornhill, the owner of the Bell Inn in Stilton. It became very popular with travelers and other cheese lovers and got to be known as the Cheese from Stilton, or Stilton for short. It was never made there, however. The strict rules that govern the making of Stilton stipulate that the cheese can only be made in three counties. Cambridgeshire is not one of those counties. So Stilton the cheese can and will never be made in Stiton the town that gave the cheese its name.