Melton Mowbray

Melton Mowbray or Melton is a town of around 40,000 people in the borough of Melton north-east Leicestershire, England, 15 miles from Leicester and 105 miles north of London.

Related Topics:
Melton - Leicestershire - England

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Melton Mowbray is best known for being the home of the Melton Mowbray pork pies, which are filled with sage-flecked, tiny chunks of pork, glistening in rich pork jelly, and encased in a freestanding, crisp, golden pastry crust.

Related Topics:
Pork pie - Sage - Pastry

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In addition to its culinary fame for pork pies, Stilton cheese originated near Melton Mowbray, and is still made in the town today. Stilton cheese takes its name from the village of Stilton, 80 miles north of London, where it was marketed to travellers on the Great North Road, though no Stilton was ever made there.

Related Topics:
Stilton cheese - Great North Road

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The town is also home to Melton cloth (first mentioned in 1823), which is the familiar tight-woven woollen cloth which is heavily milled, and a nap raised so as to form a short, dense, non-lustrous pile. Sailors' peacoats are traditionally made of Melton cloth, the universal workmans' donkey jackets of Britain and Ireland and in North America, loggers' "cruising jackets" and Mackinaws.

Related Topics:
Cloth - 1823 - Wool - Nap - Pile - Sailor - Peacoats - Donkey jacket - Ireland - North America - Mackinaw

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The phrase "painting the town red" is said to have originated in Melton back in 1837. At the time Melton Mowbray was home to a highly fashionable fox hunting scene. Out celebrating a successful hunt, the Marquess of Waterford and his hunting party found several tins of red paint which they daubed liberally on to the buildings of the High Street.

Related Topics:
1837 - Fox hunting - Marquess of Waterford

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

Related Topics:
1086 - Domesday - 1324

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Melton Mowbray is home to a rare example of early town government. The Melton Mowbray Town Estate was founded at the time of the reformation, in 1549, when two townsfolk sold gold seqeuestered 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 sportsgrounds, and the town's market.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Melton shares a Member of Parliament (currently Alan Duncan from the Conservatives) with Rutland.

Related Topics:
Member of Parliament - Alan Duncan - Conservatives - Rutland

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Its museum famously displays a dead two-headed calf.

Related Topics:
Museum - Calf

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The name "Melton" comes from the early English word "Middletune" (middle town - same origin as places called "Milton" and "Middleton"). "Mowbray" is a Norman family name - the name of early Lords of the Manor.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Melton's St. Mary's Church is the largest and "stateliest" Parish Church in Leicestershire, dating from the 13th century. Sir Malcolm Sargent was a former organist of this church.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There is also a Melton Mowbray in Tasmania, Australia, as well as a Melton in Victoria, Australia.

Related Topics:
Melton Mowbray - Tasmania - Australia - Melton - Victoria

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~