Melton Town Heritage Trail - A walking tour
What
better way to discover more about Melton’s history on this town trail which follows the route of the
Melton Mowbray & District Civic Society’s Heritage Trail boards? The walk takes
at least an hour – don’t forget to allow time
to read the information boards and visit Melton Carnegie Museum – an absolute must!
Download
and print off your map (.pdf) along with this page – your trail guide
We
acknowledge the written material contributed by the Melton Mowbray Heritage Group whose printed Heritage
Trail Leaflet can be picked up free from the Melton Carnegie Museum, St Mary's Church, Melton Library
and a number of cafes and hotels in Melton Mowbray.
| 1. The Corn Cross | Start your walk at The Corn Cross. The present cross replaces one that had stood there for centuries until around 1797. It stood in the middle of Corn Hill and near the Corn Wall where farmers laid out their corn samples on market day. |
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| 2. HSBC Bank | The HSBC Bank building has been a bank since 1846. In the early 19th century Lord Alvanley, a member of the Prince Regent’s circle, lived and entertained here, serving, it was said, ‘the best dinners in England’. Many famous followers of the hunt dined in the bay-windowed room on the the first floor. |
| 3. The White House | Next door is The White House built in the late 1600s. As you pass by its entrance gates, look at the delightful 19th century Gothic style coach house. |
| 4. Egerton Lodge |
Across Leicester Road is Egerton Lodge
a former Hunting Lodge built in local ironstone by the Earl of Wilton in 1829. The estate was sold in
1928. The adjacent Memorial Garden, formerly the family’s private garden, was bought by the Town Estate,
an ancient local charity. The Bread Door just inside the garden on the right was brought here from a
fine Jacobean manor house in the town which was demolished around 1932. Bread
was passed to the poor through the small opening at the top. In the boundary wall of the garden is a
15th century archway formerly part of the buildings of the Knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem
in Nottingham Street.
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| 5. Wilton Place | Cross back over to High Street. On the left hand side, the large stone marks the boundary of the Earl of Wilton’s land. In Wilton Place some of the 19th century cottages for servants and grooms of his estate remain. Heritage Trail Board One is on the corner of Wilton Terrace. |
| 6. George Hotel | Parts of the rear of the George Hotel date from the 1600s. The George was an important stage for coaches travelling to London. Ahead of you is the former Bell Hotel – also a former coaching inn. Turn left into Nottingham Street. Until 1870 this was the site of the Sheep Market and had its own Market Cross. |
| 7. Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe | Across the street is the Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe (Dickinson & Morris), built in the early 1600s. The famous pork pie has been made here since 1851. Melton Hunt Cake and the pork pies are well worth a taste! |
| 8. Corn Exchange | The old Corn Exchange dates from 1854 and was a centre of social life in the town until 1983. Walk up to Trail Board 2 which is almost at the end of Nottingham street with more pictures and stories. |
| 9. St Mary’s Way |
Turn right just before the hanging sign for ‘Hollingshead’s’ into St Mary’s Way.
As you cross the car park you will see old stone walls relocated from Nottingham Street. They had formed
the boundaries of medieval properties found on the former site of the Knights Hospitallers. The best view of the 14th century manor house of the powerful Mowbray family can
be seen from here. Trail Board 3 is on the corner of St Mary’s Way and King Street. Walk
to the end of King Street and look across the Market Place towards St Mary’s Church. The stone cross
on the left side of the Market Place is a replacement of the original medieval Butter Cross. Melton
Mowbray Market is the only market in Leicestershire recorded in the Domesday Book. To
your right is Trail Board 4 with pictures of the historic cheese fair and the story
behind the saying ‘Paint the town red’. On the left side of the Market Place towards Sherrard Street
is Trail Board 4 describing Sherrard Street as having a ’posh end’ and a ‘smelly
end’.
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| 10. St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church | Turn left into Sherrard Street continuing on to St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church on Thorpe End. Pevsner says "Built in 1840 by E.J Wilson for John Exton of Eastwell, for whom Wilson also worked at Grantham. Designs for some details and furnishings were provided by Pugin. Brick with decorated windows, image niches flanking the West window and an unusual ogee headed triangular window above in the gable. Plain interior with an open roof with cusped timbers, west gallery and chancel screen. |
| 11. Melton Carnegie Museum |
Directly across the road is Melton Carnegie Museum. The former Andrew Carnegie
Library, built in 1905, was refurbished by Leicestershire County Council and opened in 1977 as the Melton
Carnegie Museum. The Museum has undergone two further refurbishments, the first in 2002, and more recently
in 2009 with the addition of a major extension. In 1983 the National Museum
of Hunting Trust was established. With Melton being a world-renowned centre on Fox Hunting - the Melton
building was intended to incorporate material on hunting. The Museum traces the social and economic
history of Melton and includes exhibitions on the town’s world-renowned Stilton cheese and pork pie
industries and accounts of the arguments for and against fox hunting. Stilton
Cheese and Pork Pies from Melton Mowbray are famous all around the world. The museum has displays on
the history of these trades and others including saddle, and shoemaking and the impact they had on the
town, as well as how the Romans, Anglo Saxons, Normans, Tudors, Georgians and Victorians would have
lived in the area. The Museum is also home to the exciting new interactive
rural life gallery which reflects a wide range of issues that have impacted on rural life in recent
years and their relationship with the town of Melton Mowbray. The Museum is also seen as a local community
hub and ‘gateway to local history’ with a state of the art community space and developing local studies
community archive.
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| 12. Colles Hall | Leaving the museum, continue back down Sherrad Street on before turning left into Burton Street where you will see the Colles Hall. It was built in 1890 in memory of Doctor Colles, a long serving vicar of Melton Mowbray, who was responsible for the major restoration of the church in the 19th century. You may wish to cross over the road to have better views of the buildings. |
| 13. The Old Club | The Old Club is two doors down from Colles Hall. Look above the shop fronts to see what was the Old Club House. For 1810 to 1900 it was used first by single members and then let out to families. William IV, George IV and Edward VII all dined here. Above the second floor windows is a small historic fire insurance plaque. |
| 14. The Bede Houses | The Bede Houses (almshouses) were founded in 1641 by Robert Hudson, a Melton man who became a wealthy and respected London Merchant. Over the door is carved “Maison de Dieu” which means House of God. |
| 15. The Manor House | On the corner of Mill Street is The Manor House, an 1870 rebuild on land belonging to one of the old smaller manors. One of its claims to fame is that a young church organist called Malcolm Sargent lodged here for 1914 to 1924 – after which came London and fame as one of England’s greatest orchestral conductors. |
| 16. Cardigan House | Cardigan House is a fine brick house once the home of Lord Cardigan who led the Charge of the Light Brigade, and his wife Adeline who used it as a hunting box. |
| 17. The Boat Inn | Until 1882 there was a canal basin here and The Boat Inn was the canal side pub. The Melton Navigation, constructed in 1794, joined the national canal network at the Junction with the Grand Union at Syston. The Oakham Canal was built in 1802 and continued the journey into Rutland. Both closed down when the nearby railway opened in1846. |
| 18. Anne of Cleves | On the Church side of Burton Street is the Anne of Cleves. This dates back to the 1300s firstly as a Chantry Priests’ House. It was then given by Henry VIII to Thomas Cromwell until his fall from favour and then to Anne of Cleves as part of her divorce settlement. Trail Board 7 is just facing St Mary’s Church. |
| 19. St Mary’s Church | Take the footpath between the Church and the Anne of Cleves. At the end of the path, to your left is Play Close, part of the extensive and beautiful parks and gardens owned by the Town Estate. To your right is the entrance to St Mary’s Church. Pevsner, a renowned author of architectural guides, called it “the stateliest and most impressive Church in Leicestershire”. It has many impressive features including a superb collection of stained glass as well as and impressive Clerestory of 48 clear windows. Sir Malcolm Sargent was organist and choirmaster here from 1914-1924 and there is a commerative window to him in the Chancel. To the left of the Church’s west door is Trail Board 6 – you are now standing on the ‘London Road’. |
| 20. Church Street | On the left side of Church Street you will see a workshop, once that of a boot maker who made hunting boots for the Royal Princes including the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) who hunted from the town during the 1920s. On the right side is the Old Courthouse. This was once part of the Swan complex and is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Melton Mowbray. |
| 21. Swan Porch | On the corner of Church Street is the The Grapes - the former tap room of the Swan Inn. Swan Porch was part of the Inn. The magnificence of the building is due to the fact that it was once the house of a very wealthy wool merchant. Melton Mowbray was an important centre of England’s wool trade in medieval times. |
Page Last Updated: 15 November 2011
