Description
Melton Mowbray, a market-town, a township, and a parish, the head of a union, petty sessional division, and county court district in Leicestershire. The town is pleasantly situated in a fine vale on the river Eye, 15 miles NE from Leicester, 18 1/2 E from Loughborough, 10 SW from Oakham, and 104 by rail and 105 by road from London, with a station on the M.R. and another on the Newark and Nottingham Joint line of the G.N.R. and L. & N.W.R. It was known at Domesday as Medeltune; it takes its present name from corruption of that word and from the Mowbray family who once held the manor; it sent members to Parliament in the time of Edward III.; it was the scene of an action in 1645, when the Parliamentarians under Col. Rossiter were beaten by the Royalists under Sir M. Langdale; and it numbers among eminent natives Bishop de Kirkby, Archbishop de Melton, and the orator Henley. It is well built, and has of late years been much improved and enlarged. It is governed by a district council of twelve members, formed under the Local Government Act, 1894, has a good water supply by gravitation from springs about 3 miles distant, and possesses a town estate which produces about £1000 a year. The town is chiefly celebrated for its well-known subscription hunt, which commences on the first Monday in November and closes with the Croxton Park races about the end of March or the beginning of April. It is frequented by the leading sportsmen from all parts of the kingdom, for whose use extensive stables capable of holding 1000 horses have been erected. There are several large and high-clasa hotels, which are patronised during the season by hunting men. Melton Mowbray ia also renowned for its pork pies, which are manufactured on an extensive scale, upwards of 20 tons a week being sent from the town to all parts of the United Kingdom. Much Stilton cheese is made in the district around the town, and it possesses a large cattle market. The market is held on Tuesday for corn, cattle, horses, and. provisions. Fairs are held on the Monday and Tuesday after 17 Jan., Whit-Tuesday, and 21 Aug., chiefly for horses, cattle, and sheep, though the fair in Whitsun-Week is also largely for pleasure. Fairs for cattle are also held on the second Tuesday in April, 29 Sept., 21 Oct., and the first Tuesday after 8 Dec. Fairs for the sale of cheese are held on the second Thursday in April, the fourth Thursday in Sept., and the first Thursday in Dec. Iron ore is found in the immediate neighbourhood, and in the parish of Asfordby there are some blast furnaces. The town has a head post office, four banks and a savings bank, a county police station,. and a workhouse capable of accommodating 250 inmates. There is a corn exchange, erected in 1854, which contains a public reading-room and rooms used for the savings bank. The Court House, erected in 1878, stands in Norman Street, and is the place where the sittings of the petty sessions and county court are held. The Colles Memorial Church Institute, a fine building of stone, was erected in 1890. The-church is a grand cruciform building of stone, 185 feet in length by 117 in width, in the Early English, Geometrical, and Late Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, transepts, a very peculiar western porch with an elegant doorway surmounted by a magnificent five-light window, and a handsome central Early English tower. The church has several fine stained windows, some ancient and interesting tombs and monuments, and a number of chained books. Since 1850 the church has been restored and repaired at a cost of over £10,000. The living is a vicarage, united with the chapelries of Burton Lazars, Freeby, Kettleby, Sysonby, and Welby, in the diocese of Peterborough; net value, £400 with residence. There are also Baptist, Congregational, Primitive Methodist, Roman Catholic, and Wesleyan chapels. The town enjoys the benefit of several useful charities, which include a Bede-house, founded in 1638, and now occupied i by six poor men and six poor women, almshouses with an endowment of £158 a year, an estate of £10,606 bequeathed chiefly for the use of the church in 1872 by Thomas Ward, and several smaller amounts which have been given at various times for the use of the poor. Two public schools, Church and British, are maintained out of the revenue of the town estate, and are both open to the children, of both sexes, of the parish free of all charge. Among the chief residences in the parish are Mowbray Lodge, Craven Lodge, and Eger-ton Lodge. Area of the township, S479 acres; population, 6449. The parish also includes the chapelries of Burton Lazars, Freeby, Sysonby, and Welby. Area of Burton Lazars, 1580 acres; population, 311; of Freeby, 1395 acres; population, 131; of Sysonby, 1240 acres"; population, 147 ; and of Welby, 749 acres; population, 51. There are chapels of ease in Burton, Sysonby, Welby, and Freeby, places noticed separately, and a Congregational chapel in Freeby.
Melton Parliamentary .Division of Eastern Leicestershire was formed under the Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885, and returns one member to the House of Commons. Population, 59,860. The division includes the following:-Belvoir- Barkeston, Belvoir, Bottesford, Branston, Croxton Kemal, Harston, Knipton, Muston, Plungar, Redmile; Melton Mowbray-Ab Kettleby, Asfordby, Ashby Folville, Barsby, Bescaby, Brentingby and Wyfordby, Broughton(Nether), Brooksby, Buckminster, Burton Lazars, Burrough Clawson, Claxton -(Long), Cold Overton, Coston, Dalby Parva, Dalby Magna, Dalby-on-the-Wolds, Eastwell, Eaton, Edmondthorpe, Freeby, Frisby-on-the-Wreak, Gaddesby, Garthorpe, Goadby Marwood, Grimston, Harby, Hoby, Holwell, Hose, Kirby Bellars, Knosbington, Melton Mowbray, Owston, Pickwell and Leesthorpe, Ragdale, Rotherby, Saltby, Saxby, Saxelby, Scalford, Sewstem, Shoby, Somerby, Sproxton, Stapleford, Strathern, Stonesby, Sysonby, Thorpe Arnold, Thorpe Satchville, Thrus-sington, Twyford, Waltham-on-the-Wolds, Wartnaby, Welby, Wycomb and Cauldwell, Wymondham; East Norton (part of)-Alexton, Billesdon, Cold Newton, East Norton, Frisby, Galby, Goadby, Halstead, Illston, Launde Abbey, Loddington, Lowesby, Marefield, Nosely, Norton-by-Galby or King's Norton, Rolleston, Skeffington, Stockerston, Tilton, Tugby, Whatborough, Withcote; Leicester (part of)-Barkby, Barkby Thorpe, Beeby, Belgrave, Bushby, Evington, Houghton-on-the-Hill, Hungarton, Humberston, Keyham, Queeniborough, Ratcliffe-on-the-Wreak, Rearsby, Scraptoft, South Croxton, Stoughton, Stretton (Great), Stretton (Little), Syston,Thurmaston (North), Thurmaston (South), Thurnby, Wanlip ; Loughborough (part of)-Cossington, Seagrave, Sileby.
