MELTON-MOWBRAY, a market-town of England, in Leicestershire, situated at the confluence of the Wreak and Eye, 14 miles N.E. of Leicester, and 92 N. by W. of London. The town is well and substantially built, chiefly of brick; and consists of two main streets. The parish church is a large and handsome Gothic building, in the form of a cross, with a lofty and richly adorned tower in the centre. There are also churches for Independents, Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists, and Roman Catholics; several schools and alms-houses; besides a subscription library, news-room, and theatre. Melton owes its prosperity and celebrity to its being the centre of the hunting district, and the seat of the Melton Hunt. It is on this account resorted to by the leading sporting men of England, and by some from other countries, during the season, which lasts from November till March. Upwards of 800 horses, with their grooms, &c., may be accommodated in the excellent stables of Melton; and in the neighbourhood there are many hunting seats. The chief manufactures of the place are lace and hosiery; and the trade consists chiefly in pork pies and Stilton cheese, which is made here, though it takes its name from Stilton in Huntingdonshire, where it was first sold. John Henley the orator was born here in 1692; and Melton is also remarkable as the scene of a defeat of the parliamentary troops by the royalists in 1644. Pop. (1851) 4391.