“ 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. ”