Melton Mowbray

Melton Mowbray (/ˈmɛltən ˈmoʊbri/) is a town in Leicestershire, England, 19 miles (31 km) north-east of Leicester, and 20 miles (32 km) south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the Rivers Eye which changes name below Melton Mowbray to the Wreake. The town had a population of 27,158 in the 2011 Census, estimated at 27,670 in 2019.[1] It is known for a culinary speciality, the Melton Mowbray pork pie, and as the location of one of the six licensed makers of Stilton cheese.[2] This has led to it being promoted as Britain's "Rural Capital of Food".[3]

For the similarly named town in Ireland, see Milltown Malbay.

Melton Mowbray

Market Place, Melton Mowbray
Melton Mowbray
Location within Leicestershire
Population27,158 (2011 Census)
OS grid referenceSK751193
• London95 miles (153 km) SSE
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townMELTON MOWBRAY
Postcode districtLE13
Dialling code01664
PoliceLeicestershire
FireLeicestershire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament

History

Toponymy

The name comes from the early English word Medeltone – meaning "Middletown surrounded by small hamlets" (as do Milton and Middleton). Mowbray is the Norman family name of early Lords of the Manor – namely Robert de Mowbray.[4]

Early history

In and around Melton, there are 28 scheduled ancient monuments, some 705 buildings listed as having special architectural or historical interest, 16 sites of special scientific interest, and several deserted village sites.[5][6][7]

There is industrial archaeology, including the Grantham Canal and the remains of the Melton Mowbray Navigation. Windmill sites, ironstone working and smelting archaeological evidence suggest that Melton borough was densely populated in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Many small village communities existed and strategic points at Burrough Hill and Belvoir were fortified. There is also evidence that the site of Melton Mowbray in the Wreake Valley was inhabited before the Roman occupation of AD 43.[8]

Roman times

In Roman times, Melton benefited from the proximity of the Fosse Way and other important Roman roads, and of military centres at Leicester and Lincoln. Intermediate camps were also established, for example, at Six Hills on the Fosse Way. Other Roman trackways in the locality passed north of Melton along the top of the Vale of Belvoir scarp, linking Market Harborough to Belvoir, and the Fosse Way to Oakham and Stamford.

Danelaw

Evidence of settlement throughout Anglo-Saxon and 8th–9th-century Danelaw periods is reflected in many place names. Along the Wreake Valley, the Danish suffix "-by" is common, as exemplified in Asfordby, Dalby, Frisby, Hoby, Rearsby and Gaddesby. A cemetery of 50–60 graves of pagan Anglo-Saxon origin, has been found in Melton Mowbray. most villages and their churches had origins before the Norman Conquest of 1066. Stone crosses at Asfordby and Sproxton churches and Anglo-Saxon cemeteries as found at Goadby Marwood, Sysonby and Stapleford certainly pre-date the Conquest.

Melton Mowbray itself had six recorded crosses, whose construction spanned several centuries: (i) Kettleby Cross (close to the present filling station near the junction of Dalby Road to the Leicester Road); (ii) Sheep Cross, on what was Spital End, (now Nottingham Street/Park Road Junction); (iii) Corn Cross at the Swine Lane/Spittle End junction, (reconstructed and reinstated on the Nottingham St/High St junction in 1996 as a memorial to the Royal Army Veterinary Corps); (iv) Butter Cross or High Cross, at the west end of Beast Market (again reconstructed from partial remains of the original Saxon cross in 1986–1987 in the Market Place); (v) Sage Cross, at the East end of the Beast Market close to Saltgate, (in Sherrard Street opposite Sage Cross Street); and (vi) Thorpe Cross at the end of Saltgate (near the junction of Thorps Road and Saxby Road). All the original crosses were removed or destroyed during the Reformation and other iconoclastic periods, or simply to make room for traffic or other development.[9]

Post-conquest
Anne of Cleves house

The effects of the Norman Conquest are recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book. This indicates that settlements at Long Clawson and Bottesford were of noteworthy size, and that Melton Mowbray was a thriving market town of some 200 inhabitants, with weekly markets, two water mills and two priests. The water mills, still in use up to the 18th century, are remembered in the present names of Beckmill Court and Mill Street.

So Melton Mowbray has been a market town for over 1,000 years. Recorded as Leicestershire's only market in the 1086 Domesday Survey, it is the third oldest market in England. Tuesday has been market day ever since royal approval was given in 1324. The market was established with tolls before 1077.

Legacies from the medieval period include consolidation of village and market-town patterns; in Melton Mowbray, Bottesford, Wymondham, and Waltham-on-the-Wolds. The last had a market in medieval times that continued until 1921, and an annual fair of horses and cattle. Many buildings in Melton Market Place, Nottingham Street, Church Lane, King Street and Sherrard Street have ancient foundations. Alterations to No. 16 Church Street revealed a medieval circular stone wall subjected to considerable heat. This is probably the "Manor Oven" mentioned in 13th century documents. Surveys of 5 King Street show it belonged to an early medieval open-halled house. It may be part of the castle or fortified manor of the Mowbrays, which existed in the 14th century.

King Richard I and King John visited the town and may have stayed at an earlier castle. In 1549 following the Dissolution of the chantries, monasteries and religious guilds, church plate was sold and land purchased for the town. Resulting rents were used to maintain Melton School, first recorded in 1347, as one of the oldest educational establishments in Britain. Funds were also used to maintain roads and bridges and to repair the church clock.

Civil War

During the English Civil War, Melton was a Roundhead garrison commanded by a Colonel Rossiter. Two battles were fought in the town: in November 1643, Royalists caught the garrison unaware and carried away prisoners and booty; in February 1645, Sir Marmaduke Langdale, commanding a Royalist force of 1,500 men, inflicted severe losses on the Roundheads. Some 300 men were said to have been killed. According to legend, a hillside where the battle was thought to have been fought was ankle deep in blood, hence the name 'Ankle Hill'. However, this name is already mentioned in documents pre-dating the Civil War. Furthermore, the names of Dalby Road and Ankle Hill have since been switched, so confusing the true site of the battle.

Local notable families seem to have had divided loyalties, although the Civil War ended with great rejoicings outside the "Limes" in Sherrard Street, home of Sir Henry Hudson. His father, Robert Hudson founded the Maison Dieu almshouses opposite the Church in 1640, which complement the stone-built "Anne of Cleves House" opposite. This was built in 1384 and housed chantry priests until the Dissolution. It was then included in the estates of Anne of Cleves by Henry VIII, as a divorce settlement in the 16th century, although there is local debate about whether she ever stayed there. A Grade II* listed building, it is now a public house owned by Everards, a Leicester-based brewery.[10]

Modern period

On 6 April 1837, the 3rd Marquess of Waterford and his hunting party went on a "spree" through the streets of Melton, causing much damage. This was recorded in the London Examiner. Henry Alken's pictures A Spree at Melton Mowbray and Larking at the Grantham Tollgate are said to illustrate the event. They appeared also in a play called The Meltonians at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1838.[Note 1]

Between 1942 and 1964, RAF Melton Mowbray lay to the south of the town, towards Great Dalby. The Class A airfield was originally intended for aircraft maintenance, but was taken over by RAF Transport Command. Between 1946 and 1958, the site was used as a displaced persons camp by the Polish Resettlement Corps.[11] Melton Mowbray served as a Thor strategic missile site between 1958 and 1963, when 254(SM) Squadron operated a flight of three missiles from the base.[12]

Melton Mowbray produce
A slice of blue Stilton cheese, cut from a wheel made in the traditional cylindrical shape.

Stilton cheese originated through a commercial venture developed to manufacture cheese for retail sale at the village of Stilton in Cambridgeshire, which has led to some claims that the cheese itself originated outside that village. Historical evidence would suggest an evolution of the form of the cheese over many years, with some sourced from Melton Mowbray or surroundings. Stilton is still made in the town at the Tuxford & Tebbutt creamery, one of only six dairies licensed to do so, while makers in Cambridgeshire are ironically prohibited from naming their own cheese Stilton, even if it is in fact made there.[13] The earliest reference cited is Daniel Defoe, who in 1724 called the Stilton-produced cheese, "the English Parmesan". Growth of business due to travellers on the Great North Road, as well as sale into London, led to a need to source additional cheese from further afield, including the region of Melton Mowbray, and over time the modern blue cheese developed.

Dickinson and Morris Pie Shop

Melton Mowbray pork pies are made by a specific "hand-raising" process and recipe. On 4 April 2008 the European Union awarded the Melton Mowbray pork pie Protected Geographical Indication status, after a long-standing application made by the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association. As a result, pies made only within a designated zone around Melton using uncured pork are allowed to carry the Melton Mowbray name on their packaging.[14]

Melton Mowbray is home to Melton cloth (first mentioned in 1823), a tightly woven woollen fabric, heavily milled with a nap raised to form a short, dense, non-lustrous pile. Sailors' pea coats are traditionally made of Melton cloth, as are the commonly worn workmen's donkey jackets of Britain and Ireland, and loggers' "cruising jackets" and Mackinaws in North America.

Governance

Melton is part of the Rutland and Melton parliamentary constituency, for which the Member of Parliament is currently Alicia Kearns (Conservatives). Since its formation in 1974 the town has been the main settlement of the Borough of Melton local government district. The town returns three councillors to Leicestershire County Council in the wards of Melton East, Melton West, and Melton Wolds.[15]

Town Estate

Melton Mowbray is home to a rare example of early town government. The Melton Mowbray Town Estate[16] was founded at the time of the Reformation, in 1549, when two townsfolk sold silver and plate sequestered from the church and bought land to be held in trust for all inhabitants. The Town Estate provided early forms of education, the first street lighting, and today owns and operates the town's parks and sports grounds, and the town's market.

From its inception in 1549, day-to-day running of the Town Estate was traditionally undertaken by Town Wardens. In 1989, a new Scheme of Arrangement was drawn up by the Charity Commission after public consultation, whereby management of the Town Estate transferred to a body of 14 Feoffees,[17] two of whom are known as Senior and Junior Town Warden.

Nowadays the position of Town Warden is titular only, as the public face of the Town Estate on civic or ceremonial occasions.

Demography

Melton Mowbray had 1766 inhabitants in 1801, which had increased by 1831 to 3327, in 1841 to 3740, by 1851 to 4434, and by 1861 to 4436. The Melton Mowbray official web site's About page lists the current (2009) population of the town as 25,276, and that of Melton Borough as 46,861.

Economy

Before 1960, the Production Engineering Research Association of Great Britain came to Nottingham Road and employed about 400 people in supporting research and development in industry.[18] It is also houses the East Midlands Manufacturing Advisory Service.[19] The former East Midlands Regional Assembly was based in a Nottingham Road building.

Petfoods came to the town in 1951 as Chappie Ltd, employing at its peak over 2,000 people. It still employs about 1,000. The firm changed its name to Petfoods in 1957, to Pedigree Petfoods in 1972, and most recently to Masterfoods in January 2002. At Melton, it makes four million items of pet food a day, which is less than earlier. Masterfoods now has its UK headquarters close to Melton at Waltham-on-the-Wolds.[20]

The uPVC windows and door manufacturer TruFrame Trade Frames Ltd. relocated from Market Harborough to the Saxby Road Industrial Estate in Melton in December 1999. It was employing about 170 people in August 2013.

Landmarks
Melton Mowbray's imposing St Mary's church

St. Mary's Church dates mainly from the 13th through 15th centuries, and has been described as "one of the finest parish churches in Leicestershire".

Entertainment and facilities
Melton Regal Cinema
Stapleford Miniature Railway

The Melton Carnegie Museum was refurbished in 2010, and covers the history and importance of the town. Included are sounds from the ages, a history of the hunt, a preserved phone box, a buried Saxon, and shrapnel from World War II.

Melton Mowbray is renowned for its music-making. The Melton Band (a traditional British-style brass band) can trace its directors back to 1856, and was until recently called Melton Borough Band. The colourful Melton Mowbray Toy Soldiers Marching Band was formed in 1936; and Happy Jazz – a Dixieland jazz band – had its headquarters in the town from 1996 until 2014. There is also the Melton Mowbray Tally Ho Band, formed in 1936, and Tornado Brass, a mixed brass and woodwind group founded in the 1980s.

Melton has several pubs, some of which, like the Generous Britain (nicknamed the Jenny B) continue to encourage live music.[21] The Noels Arms free house was Melton Mowbray District CAMRA Pub of the Year in 2014. The Noels also houses Gasdog Brewery, the first brewery in the town for over a hundred years. It hosts new and established bands and musicians every Friday and Saturday night, and acoustic acts on Sunday afternoons.[22] There are several other surviving pubs in Melton, including one of the oldest in the area, the Anne of Cleves. This ancient building in Burton Street, close to St Mary's Church, has features dating from the early 14th century. Once home to chantry monks, the building was given after the Dissolution by Henry VIII to Anne of Cleves, as part of her divorce settlement.[23]

The town has an unusual cinema, The Regal in King Street, in the centre of the town.[24] The building itself is a preserved purpose-built theatre complete with period interior design, sumptuous colours, winding staircases and fancy plasterwork.[25] It re-opened in 2013 after refurbishment.

Concerts have been held in the Carousel Bandstand in Melton Mowbray Park since August 1909. There are still regular concerts there on summer Sundays.

Melton's radio station, 103 FM The Eye, broadcasts to Melton Borough and the Vale of Belvoir and parts of Rushcliffe Borough. It can also be heard on the internet.[26] When it was launched in 2005, it was the first in the UK to go on the air under the new tier of community radio, licensed by the broadcasting regulator OFCOM. The station has since won a number of awards for its work. It is named after the local River Eye.

The historic Stapleford Miniature Railway, built in 1958, is a private, steam-hauled passenger railway at Stapleford Park about 3 miles (5 km) to the east of Melton Mowbray. Famous for a fleet of steam locos and its scenic location, it attracts visitors and tourists during its two public charity events each year. It has the same 10 1⁄4 in (260 mm) gauge as the Town Estates railway around Play Close Park in Melton.

Also 1⁄2 mile (800 m) to the north-east of Melton is the Twinlakes Theme Park, providing a range of family and children's attractions and rides.[27] Melton's Waterfield Leisure Pools include a well-equipped gym and fitness suite, as well as swimming.[28]

The library in Wilton Road is close to the town centre[29] and adjacent is Melton Theatre, part of Brooksby Melton College, on the junction with Asfordby Road. The theatre, which first opened in 1976, has recently been refurbished and continues to provide a variety of entertainment. In the past few years, it has produced ballet, opera and stage-play performances of many types, and provided a venue for bands and acts, pantomime and art displays.[30]

There is a fire station, a police station, and a hospital that includes St Mary's Maternity Centre. The War Memorial Hospital off Ankle Hill, originally Wyndham Lodge, donated to the town in 1920 by Colonel Richard Dalgleish, was sold in 2010 to help fund St Mary's Hospital. Melton Country Park provides green space.

Education
The former King Edward VII School, Melton Mowbray

The secondary schools in Melton are Long Field Academy and John Ferneley College, which take students aged 11 to 16, and the Melton Vale Post 16 Centre (MV16) for sixth-formers. The town has several primary schools – Brownlow, Grove, St Francis RC, St Mary's C of E, Sherard and Swallowdale – while the Birchwood Special School caters for young people of primary and secondary-school age. Melton's largest school used to be the King Edward VII, which at one time had some 2,000 pupils aged between 11 and 19. It was founded as a grammar school in 1910, became comprehensive in the late 1960s, and closed recently after reaching its centenary. Brooksby Melton College which provides vocational, further and higher education in a wide range of subjects has a campus on Asfordby Road in Melton and an annex in King Street. These facilities complement those on the college's Brooksby campus 6 miles (10 km) out of town.

Transport

Road

Two main roads intersect at Melton Mowbray: the A606 between Nottingham and Oakham, and the A607 between Leicester and Grantham.

Rail

Melton Mowbray railway station is on the line from Birmingham to Stansted Airport, which additionally serves Leicester, Peterborough and Cambridge. Trains run hourly in each direction. The station is also served by peak-hour trains to and from Nottingham, Norwich and Sleaford. The station is managed by East Midlands Railway, although most services are operated by CrossCountry. CrossCountry intends to enhance its service gradually to half-hourly on this route. Since early 2009, East Midlands Trains have offered a single daily journey from Melton Mowbray to London St Pancras and return. This is notable for being the first regular passenger service to cross the historic Welland Viaduct since 1966. In 2010, the company introduced a single daily journey to Derby and return.

Bus

Arriva Midlands operates service 5A/5X into Leicester. Centrebus operates the other services around the town, with longer-distance routes to Syston, Nottingham, Grantham, Loughborough, Oakham and elsewhere, and to surrounding villages.

Sport

Greyhound racing was held at the Melton Mowbray Greyhound Stadium on the north side of Saxby Road from 1946 until 1969.[31][32]

Motorcycle speedway racing was held at the Greyhound Stadium in 1949–1950.[33] The cinder track was laid before and lifted after each meeting. The events, staged on a Sunday, fell foul of the Lord's Day Observance Society for a short time. The stadium was also the venue for a few meetings in 1950 when the Melton Lions faced select teams.

The town is home to Melton Rugby club, which competes in Midlands 3 East. The town has its own Sunday Football League in which some 15 teams compete every Sunday. Asfordby Hill is home to Holwell Sports, which plays in the Leicestershire Senior League premier division.

Leicestershire County Cricket Club played first-class cricket at Egerton Park in 1946–1948.

Notable people

Arts and music

Sport

Stage/screen

Other

  • Approaching the Market from Nottingham Street
  • Melton Mowbray Butter Cross Reconstructed
  • Anne of Cleves public house
  • The former Coles Hall
  • Rear of the old Tourist Office now Melton Toys
  • River Eye and Footbridge
  • Harboro Hotel
  • Burton Street
  • Swan Porch
  • Wesleyan Centenary Buildings
  • Reused Baptist Chapel on Nottingham Street
  • The Generous Briton

See also

Notes
  1. For a script of The Meltonians, see .

References
  1. City Population. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  2. Ltd, Iconography. "Stilton Cheese – The Stilton Producers". www.stiltoncheese.co.uk.
  3. "Around Britain with a fork". The Guardian. 4 October 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  4. Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP 40/555, dated 1399; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H4/CP40no555/aCP40no555fronts/IMG_0227.htm; sixth entry, the defendant is a shoemaker in 'Melton Moubray'
  5. Essays in Leicestershire History, W. G. Hoskins.
  6. The Depopulation Returns for Leicestershire 1607, L. A. Parker.
  7. http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/7DMVPagesfromXXXII-3.pdf
  8. Melon Net. "Melton Mowbray History". Melton.co.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  9. The Story of Melton Mowbray by Philip E Hunt: Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  10. Historic England. "ANNE OF CLEVES HOUSE (1265121)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  11. "New Page 1". www.polishresettlementcampsintheuk.co.uk.
  12. Pike, John. "RAF Melton Mowbray". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  13. "Stilton Cheese – The story of Stilton". Stilton Cheesemakers' Association.
  14. "Pork pie makers celebrate status". BBC News. 4 April 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
  15. "Your Councillors". politics.leics.gov.uk. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  17. "Town Estate response to BBC Inside Out". Meltonmowbraytownestate.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 December 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  18. PERA.
  19. .
  20. .
  21. Band Me Up Scotty. "The Generous Briton Midlands England – Find Venue, BandMeUp Royal Wedding". Band-me-up.com. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  22. "Niet compatibele browser". Facebook. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  23. "The Anne of Cleves, Melton Mowbray". Everards. 6 September 2010. Archived from the original on 27 September 2006. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  25. "Regal Cinema, Melton Mowbray: Home Page". Regal-melton.co.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2011. dead link
  27. "Family day out at a fun filled theme park". Twinlakespark.co.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  28. "Free Swimming". Melton.gov.uk. 31 July 2010. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  29. "Melton Mowbray Library – Leicestershire County Council". Leics.gov.uk. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  30. "Melton Theatre". Melton Theatre. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  31. Barnes, Julia (1988). Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File, p. 419. Ringpress Books. ISBN 0-948955-15-5.
  32. "Melton Mowbray Greyhound Stadium". Greyhound Derby.com.
  33. "Melton Mowbray Speedway". Defunct Speedway.co.uk.
  34. "Team GB > Beijing 2008 > Athlete profile > Alison Williamson". www.olympics.org.uk. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
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