MELTON

MOWBRAY  , a market town in the Melton parliamentary division of Leicestershire, England, pleasantly situated in a fertile vale, at the confluence of the Wreake and the Eye . Pop. of urban district (1901), 7454• It is 105 M . N.N.W. from London by the Midland railway, and is served by a joint branch of the London & North Western and Great Northern railways . The church of St Mary, a fine cruciform structure, Early English and later, with a lofty and richly ornamented central tower, was enlarged in the reign of Elizabeth . Melton is the centre of a celebrated hunting district, in connexion with which there are large stables in the town . It is known for its pork pies, and has a trade in Stilton cheese . There are breweries and tanneries and an important cattle market . There are blast furnaces in the neighbouring parish of Asfordby for the smelting of the abundant supply of iron ore in the district . During the Civil War Melton was in February 1644 the scene of a defeat of the parliamentary forces by the royalists . It is the birthplace of John Henley the orator (1692-1759) .