MELLE  , a

town of western France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Deux-Sevres, on the left bank of the Beronne, 21 M . E.S.E. of Niort by rail . Pop . (1906), 2231 . Melle has two churches in the Romanesque style of Poitou, St Pierre and St Hilaire, the latter ornamented with sculptured arcading . The hospital has a richly carved doorway of the 17th century . The church of St Savinien (11th century) serves as a prison . The town has trade in farm-produce, mules and other live stock; distilling is carried on . Melle (Metallum) derives its name from the lead mine worked here during the Roman occupation and in the early middle ages . At the latter period it had a mint . In later times it was a possession of the counts of Maine .