or '''Melton''' is a town of around 26,000 people in the borough of
Melton north-east
Leicestershire ,
England , 15 miles from Leicester and 105 miles north of London. The town is on the
River Eye /
River Wreake and is served by
Melton Mowbray Railway Station .
Melton Mowbray is best known for being the home of the Melton Mowbray
Pork Pie s, which are filled with
Sage -flecked, tiny chunks of pork, glistening in rich pork jelly, and encased in a freestanding, crisp, golden
Pastry crust.
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.
The town is also home to Melton
Cloth (first mentioned in
1823 ), which is the familiar tight-woven
Wool len cloth which is heavily milled, and a
Nap raised so as to form a short, dense, non-lustrous
Pile .
Sailor s'
Peacoats are traditionally made of Melton cloth, the universal workmans'
Donkey Jacket s of Britain and
Ireland and in
North America , loggers' "cruising jackets" and
Mackinaw s.
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.
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 .
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.
In 1964, the Production Engineering Research Association of Great Britain (
PERA ) came to the town on Nottingham Road and employed around four hundred people in supporting research and development in industry. It is also home to the
East Midlands Manufacturing Advisory Service . In 2000, the East Midlands Regional Assembly (
EMRA ) was based in a building also on Nottingham Road. .
Melton shares a
Member Of Parliament (currently
Alan Duncan from the
Conservatives ) with
Rutland .
Its
Museum famously displays a dead two-headed
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.
Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association
