Melton Mowbray, United Kingdom

Evidence of settlement in the Anglo-Saxon and 8th–9th-century Danelaw periods shows in place names. Along the Wreake Valley, the Danish suffix "-by" is common, e.g. in Asfordby, Dalby, Frisby, Hoby, Rearsby and Gaddesby. A cemetery of 50–60 graves of pagan Anglo-Saxon origin has been found in Melton Mowbray. Most villages and their churches had origins before the Norman Conquest of 1066, shown by stone crosses at Asfordby and Sproxton and Anglo-Saxon cemeteries at Goadby Marwood, Sysonby and Stapleford.

Melton Mowbray had six recorded crosses from several centuries: (i) Kettleby Cross near today's filling station near the junction of Dalby Road and Leicester Road, (ii) Sheep Cross at Spital End, now Nottingham Street/Park Road junction, (iii) Corn Cross at Swine Lane/Spittle End junction, remade and re-erected at the Nottingham St/High St junction in 1996 as a memorial to the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, (iv) Butter Cross or High Cross at the west end of Beast Market, again rebuilt from remains of an original Anglo-Saxon cross in 1986–1987 in the Market Place, (v) Sage Cross at the East end of the Beast Market close to Saltgate, in Sherrard Street opposite Sage Cross Street, and (vi) Thorpe Cross at the end of Saltgate, near the junction of Thorpe Road and Saxby Road. The original crosses were removed or destroyed during the Reformation and other iconoclastic periods, or to make room for traffic or other development.

The effects of the Norman Conquest recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book show that settlements at Long Clawson and Bottesford were of noteworthy size, and that Melton Mowbray a thriving market town of some 200 inhabitants, with weekly markets, two water mills and two priests. The mills, still in use up to the 18th century, are remembered in the names of Beckmill Court and Mill Street.

Melton has thus 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 since royal approval was given in 1324. The market was founded with tolls before 1077.

Legacies from the Middle Ages include consolidation of village and market-town patterns – in Melton Mowbray, Bottesford, Wymondham and Waltham-on-the-Wolds. The last had a mediaeval market which survived until 1921, and an annual fair of horses and cattle. Many buildings in Melton Market Place, Nottingham Street, Church Lane, King Street and Sherrard Street have ancient foundations. Alterations to No. 16 Church Street revealed a medieval circular stone wall subjected to considerable heat. This is probably the Manor Oven mentioned in 13th-century documents. Surveys of 5 King Street show it belonged to an early medieval open-halled house. It may have been part of the 14th-century castle or fortified manor of the Mowbrays.

King Richard I and King John visited the town and may have stayed at an earlier castle. In 1549, after the dissolution of chantries, monasteries and religious guilds, church plate was sold and land bought for the town. Resulting rents were used to maintain Melton School, first recorded in 1347, making it one of the oldest in Britain. Funds were also used to maintain roads and bridges and repair the church clock.

During the English Civil War, Melton was a Roundhead garrison commanded by a Colonel Rossiter. Two battles were fought: in November 1643, Royalists caught the garrison unaware and carried away prisoners and booty; in February 1645, Sir Marmaduke Langdale, commanding a Royalist force of 1,500 men, inflicted severe losses on the Roundheads. Some 300 men were said to have been killed. Legend has it that the hillside where the battle was fought was ankle deep in blood, hence the name Ankle Hill. However, the name appears in documents from before the Civil War and the names of Dalby Road and Ankle Hill have been switched, so confusing the true site of the battle.

Local notable families seem to have had divided loyalties, though the Civil War ended with rejoicings outside the Limes in Sherrard Street, home of Sir Henry Hudson. His father, Robert Hudson, founded the Maison Dieu almshouses opposite the Church in 1640, complementing the stone Anne of Cleves House opposite. This was built in 1384 and housed chantry priests until the Dissolution. It was then included in the estates of Anne of Cleves by Henry VIII, as a divorce settlement in the 16th century, although there is debate about whether she ever stayed there. A Grade II* listed building, it is now a public house owned by Everards, a Leicester brewery.