In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Melbourne like this:
MELBOURNE, a small town, a parish, and a sub-district, in Shardlow district, Derbyshire. The town stands on an affluent of the river Trent, and on the Derby and Ashby-de-la-Zouch railway, completed from Derby to Melbourne in 1867, but not to Ashby till after June 1869; is 7 miles, by railway, SSE of Derby; has a station on the railway, a post office† under Derby, several inns, a market-place, a church, five dissenting chapels, a public cemetery, an athenæum, an endowed national school, and charities £20; and gave the title of Viscount to the family of Lamb. ...
The church is chiefly Norman, with a tower of much later date; was recently restored internally, at a cost of £3,000; and. contains monuments, of the 14th and the 17th centuries, to the Hardinge family. The Independent chapel was enlarged in 1865. The Sweden borgian chapel was built in 1864, at a cost of £1,000; and is a neat small structure, in the Gothic style. The public cemetery lies about ¼ of a mile from the town, and was formed at a cost of £2,000. The atheuæum was opened in 1854, as a mechanics' institute; and was built by subscription. A weekly market is held on Saturday evenings; and the manufacture of silk and thread goods is carried on.—The parish contains also the township of Kings-Newton, and comprises 3,290 acres. Real property, £12,420; of which £110 are in gas-works. Pop., 2,621. Houses, 620. The manor belonged, at Domesday, to the Crown; passed to the Beauchamps and the Lancasters; and belongs now to the Marquis of Hastings. A royal castle stood here; was several times visitcd by King John; was the prison, for 19 years, of the Duke of Bourbon, taken at the battle of Agincourt; was dismantled in 1460; and is now represented by only a small portion of the outer walls. A palace of the Bishops of Carlisle stood on the S bank of the pool; and was several times visited by King John. Melbourne-Hall belongs to Viscountess Palmerston; occupies the site of a palace of the Bishops of Carlisle; was built by Sir Thomas Coke in 1712; was the place where Baxter began to write his "Saints' Rest;'' and has gardens in the Dutch style, introduced by William III. Kings-Newton Hall belonged to the Hardinge family, gave entertainment to Charles II., and was destroyed by fire in 1859. Marketgardening is extensively carried on. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £200.* Patron, the Bishop of Lichfield.—The sub-district contains also three other parishes, parts of two others, an extraparochial tract, and Derby-Hills liberty. Acres, 15,143. Pop., 4,694. Houses, 1,087.
Melbourne through time
Melbourne is now part of South Derbyshire district. Click here for graphs and data of how South Derbyshire has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Melbourne itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Melbourne in South Derbyshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/1784
Date accessed: 18th April 2024
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