John Clare Cottage

Helpston (also, formerly, "Helpstone") is an English village in Cambridgeshire. Historically; it was formerly in the Soke of Peterborough in Northamptonshire, subsequently (1965–1974) in Huntingdon and Peterborough, then in Cambridgeshire. It is administered by the City of Peterborough unitary authority. The civil parish of Helpston covers an area of 1,860 acres (750 ha) and had an estimated population in 2011 of 981.The parish church is dedicated to St Botolph; the chancel window was created by Francis Skeat and depicts "Christ in Majesty".The poet John Clare was born in Helpston in 1793 and is buried in the churchyard of St Botolph's. The thatched cottage where he was born was bought by the John Clare Trust in 2005. The John Clare Cottage, at 12 Woodgate, has been restored using traditional building methods and is open to the public. In 2013 the John Clare Trust received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to help preserve the building and provide educational activities for youngsters visiting the cottage. John Clare Primary School is named after the poet. The name Helpston is Anglo-Saxon in origin and means the farmstead (tun) first settled by Help (an Old English personal name). Helpston is well known for its athletics club, Helpston Harriers AC, who aspire to improve local running standards.

Helpston railway station was a station in Helpston, Cambridgeshire, on the Midland Railway's Syston and Peterborough Railway. It was closed in 1966. The Great Northern Railway main line runs adjacent to the Midland Railway at this point, but the Great Northern never had a station in Helpston. This was due to an agreement whereby the Midland carried materials to the site during construction of the Great Northern, and in return the Great Northern offered no competition for services on this section.The goods shed survives, as does the Great Northern Railway signal box, which is now used only to monitor a number of level crossings in the vicinity. Helpston level crossing itself carries the Helpston to Glinton road over the four tracks of the ex-GNR line and the two tracks of the ex-MR line. This was previously two separate level crossings, controlled by two separate signal boxes. There was space for two cars between the level crossings. The crossings were merged and converted from gates to full barriers in the 1970s.

Etton is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, in England. For electoral purposes it forms part of Northborough ward in North West Cambridgeshire constituency. The parish had a population of 158 persons and 58 households in 2001.Woodcroft is a deserted medieval village and site of Woodcroft Castle.

Ashton is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bainton, in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. In 1881 the parish had a population of 106.

Lolham is a hamlet in the City of Peterborough in England, located between Peterborough and Stamford on the border of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. Lolham is located to the west of Maxey and to the south of West Deeping and is surrounded by the River Welland and Maxey Cut. There are eight residential properties in Lolham, which include Lolham Hall, a Grade II listed building. The main London-to-Edinburgh railway (the East Coast Main Line) runs to the west of Lolham. The Roman road now called King Street crossed the Welland floodplain here. Lolham is known for its nine bridges that run north across two railway crossings from Helpston to West Deeping. Lolham Bridges is/are a Grade II* listed building. John Clare described the crossings in his poem called "The Flood":

Maxey is a village in the Peterborough unitary authority, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England, located between Peterborough and Stamford and southwest of The Deepings. It is home to nearly 700 residents. The main focal points are the one remaining public house (Blue Bell), the Church (St Peter's) and the village hall. Each provides a range of social functions throughout the year. There are a surprising number of businesses based in the village, including a few working farms.

Woodcroft Castle is a moated medieval castle in the parish of Etton, Cambridgeshire, England.

Maxey Castle was a medieval fortified manor house castle in Maxey, Cambridgeshire, England.

Castor Hanglands is an 89.8-hectare (222-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire. The site is also a National Nature Reserve, and it is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I for its woodlands and Grade 2 for its grassland. It is common land managed by Natural England.The location features ancient ash and maple woodland, unimproved grassland and scrub, and is further described by Natural England as valuable for invertebrates, including some nationally uncommon species. Among the rare plants found here are crested cow-wheat, lesser water-plantain, man orchid and narrow-leaved water dropwort. Woodland butterflies present include silver-washed fritillary, purple hairstreak and white admiral. There are also ponds and ditches which have a variety of aquatic fauna including the Great Crested Newt.There is access by going south along Heath Road from Helpston, going straight on at the crossroads and then along a track westward to the reserve.

West Deeping is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 255. It is situated on the A1175 road, 5 miles (8 km) east from Stamford and 2 miles (3.2 km) west from Market Deeping. It is the smallest of The Deepings group of villages situated around the A1175 road. Village population is 277.The name 'Deeping' comes from the Old English deoping meaning 'deep place'. The Roman Road of King Street passes through the village and crosses the A1175. The church of St Andrew dates back to the 13th century, with further additions in 1676 and 1803 and a restoration in 1876–77, and is Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular in style. It is part of The Uffington Group of the Deanery of Stamford, in the Diocese of Lincoln.The village public house is the Red Lion.

Bainton is a village and civil parish in the Peterborough unitary authority area of Cambridgeshire, England. Bainton is on the southern edge of the Welland valley and lies 7.4 miles (11.9 km) north-west of Peterborough and 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Stamford. Ashton is a neighbouring hamlet and lies approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of Bainton within the same civil parish. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 305 people and by the 2011 census the parish's population was 290 people.

Barnack was a rural district in the Soke of Peterborough and later Huntingdon and Peterborough from 1894 to 1974. It was created in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894, from that part of the Stamford rural sanitary district which was in the Soke (the rest formed either Ketton Rural District in Rutland, Easton on the Hill Rural District in Northamptonshire proper, or Uffington Rural District in Lincolnshire, Parts of Kesteven). It included the parishes of Bainton, Barnack, Southorpe, Stamford Baron, St Martins Without, Thornhaugh, Ufford, Wansford, Wittering and Wothorpe in the Soke. It also had administrative responsibility for the parish of Sibson cum Stibbington, which was over the border in Huntingdonshire. This was made part of the Norman Cross Rural District in 1935.It was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, becoming part of the larger Peterborough district in the new non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire.