Castor with Upton

About our Parish

The Parish of Castor with Upton, which also includes the adjoining village of Ailsworth and Milton Park, is in a benefice with the villages of Marholm and Sutton and they all share the same priest. The Church of St John the Baptist Upton was built as a chapel-of-ease to Castor in 1120 to serve the tiny farming village of Upton (pop 67)and is now a chapel-of-ease still. People from Bretton and Castor are entitled to be married in Upton or Castor Church as they chose. We are a group of of villages to the West of Peterborough in the historic Soke of Peterborough, formerly in Northants now in Cambs. The villages have been farming communities until recently. The land around the villages is still all farmed, but there are fewer farms and most people who live in the villages work outside them; some even commute to London. The villages still have a strong sense of community and in Castor the school, the church, the pubs and the village hall still form the heart of the village. All the parishes in the benefice form the catchment area for Castor Church of England School, which nestles under the shadow of Castor Church and the rector is an ex-officio governor of the school. The church sees its task to provide a place of worship, sanctuary and prayer, to provide pastoral care for all who live in our villages and to serve our communities that God's Kingdom may come on earth as it is in heaven. Planning permission has just been given to build a further 48 houses on the edge of Ailsworth in the parish on a former transport company site and we look forward to welcoming new people to our village community. Castor and Ailsworth also have their own village website www.castorailsworth.co.uk .

Population: 1500

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For Genealogical Enquiries the local Diocesan Record Office is:

Northampton County Record Office Wootton Park Northampton NN4 9BQ, despite the fact we are now in Cambridgeshire. However we are putting all our parish records and registers on our archive web-site www.thearchive.org.uk . A history of our parishes "Five Parishes, Their People and Places" has been published by our a parish archive group (known as the CAMUS Project - CAMUS for Castor Ailsworth Marholm Upton and Sutton-)and although the book has sold-out, it can be read on the archive website and CD copies of the book can be bought.

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For Parish enquiries please contact:

Rector the Revd William Burke c/o The Parish Administrator, The Rectory 5 Church Hill Castor Peterborough PE5 7AU for all inquiries re Weddings, Baptisms and other services. For inquiries about Castor CEVC School ring the rector or the School Office during school hours tel 01733 380280. The School has its own website at www.castorschool.com

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Churches in our Parish or Benefice

Castor: St Kyneburgha

Upton: St John the Baptist