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Melbourne, Derbyshire
*** Shopping-Tip: Melbourne, Derbyshire
'''Melbourne''' is a small
Georgian architecture Georgian market town in
South Derbyshire,
England. It is about eight miles south of
Derby and two miles from the
River Trent. In 1837 a
Melbourne tiny settlement in Australia was named after
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, Queen Victoria's first Prime Minister, and thus indirectly takes its name from the village.
Melbourne Parish Church has been described as a "cathedral in miniature". The country house
Melbourne Hall is open in August to the public and its gardens are open from April to September.
Calke Abbey and
Staunton Harold Hall are within 3 miles of the town. The nearby villages of
Ticknall,
Swarkestone,
Stanton-by-Bridge,
Kings Newton, and
Breedon-on-the-hill are also well-worth visiting.
Melbourne hosts an Arts' Festival in September each year.
'''A brief history'''
Melbourne has a long and notable history. Its name derives from "mill on the brook". It was recorded in
Domesday Book (DB 1086 Mileburne = mill stream) as a royal manor.
A castle was built here and the licence to crenellate (fortify) date backs to 1311. John 1,
Duke of Bourbon, the most important French prisoner taken at the battle of
Agincourt (1415), was detained here for 19 years.
Mary I of Scotland Mary, Queen of Scots, was to be imprisoned here but the castle was in too ruinous a condition. By the early 17th it had fallen into decay.
The parish church dates back to the late 11th or early 12th and is exceptional.
The Hall was originally owned by the church and is mainly now 17th and 18th century in construction.
Thomas Cook was born here in 1808.
The town contains many respectable Georgian buildings and in the 19th was a centre for framework knitting and boot and shoe manufacture. Market gardening has always been important here and continues to be so to the present day. East Midlands Airport, 5 miles to the east of the town was opened in the 1960s and has now become a significant regional transport hub.
External links
-
Melbourne website
-
derbyphotos.co.uk: Photo Gallery of Melbourne
Category:Towns in Derbyshire
