Melton Mowbray, market town, par., and township, Leicestershire, 14½ miles NE. of Leicester and 102 miles NW. of London by rail - par., 10,266 ac., pop. 6347; township, 5680 ac., pop. 5820; town. 2544 ac., pop. 5766; P.O., T.O., 4 Banks, 3 newspapers. Market-day, Tuesday. The town is situated in a rich valley not far from the confluence of the rivers Eye and Wreak, and on the old road from Leeds to London. Domesday Book refers to it as Medeltune; and during the Civil War in the time of Charles I. it was the scene of a great engagement between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians, in which the latter were defeated. During the hunting season the celebrated Melton hunt attracts large numbers of the wealthier classes to the town. Stilton cheese and pork pies are the most familiar articles of its trade; of the latter over 3 tons a week are sent to all parts of the country.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))