Melbourne - Mells

A Topographical Dictionary of England. Originally published by S Lewis, London, 1848.

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'Melbourne - Mells', in A Topographical Dictionary of England, (London, 1848) pp. 283-287. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp283-287a [accessed 24 March 2024]

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Melbourn

MELBOURN, a township, in the parish of Thornton, union of Pocklington, Holme-Beacon division of the wapentake of Harthill, E. riding of York, 5¼ miles (S. W.) from Pocklington; containing 514 inhabitants. The township is intersected by the Pocklington canal, and contains 3085a. 3r. 36p., presenting generally a flat surface. A small stream flows near the village, which consists chiefly of detached houses; and at a short distance to the south is Melbourn Hall. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1777. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists.

Melbourne (All Saints)

MELBOURNE (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Royston, hundred of Armingford, county of Cambridge, 2 miles (N. E. by N.) from Royston; containing 1724 inhabitants. The parish comprises 4688 acres, of which 852 are or were common: an act for inclosing lands was passed in 1839. The female poor are employed in straw-platting. A pleasure-fair is held on the first Thursday in July. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £19. 1. 10½.; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Ely. The appropriate tithes have been commuted for £860, and the vicarial for £220; the appropriate glebe comprises 186 acres, and the vicarial 43. The church is a fine edifice, built by Henry VII. There are places of worship for Baptists and Independents; and a school, endowed with £2000 and other property by the late John Trigg, Esq., is conducted on the Lancasterian system.

Melbourne (St. Michael)

MELBOURNE (St. Michael), a small town and a parish, in the union of Shardlow, hundred of Repton and Gresley, S. division of the county of Derby, 8 miles (S. S. E.) from Derby; containing 2583 inhabitants. This place was formerly the residence of the bishops of Carlisle, who had a palace here; and there was anciently a baronial castle, in which John, Duke of Bourbon, who had been made prisoner at the battle of Agincourt, was confined for several years: the castle was destroyed in 1460, by order of Queen Margaret, and though subsequently restored, scarcely a vestige of it is remaining. Melbourne Hall, the seat and occasional residence of Viscount Melbourne, was the episcopal palace. It is a large modern stone mansion, of beautiful exterior, and fitted up with much elegance; the principal apartments are of noble dimensions, and are adorned with paintings by the first masters. The park is of great beauty, and is enriched by a spacious sheet of water formed by the river Lea, that flows through the grounds; in the gardens and shrubberies, which are extensive, is a walk of yew-trees, supposed to be several centuries old. King's-Newton Hall was the seat of the Hardinges, ancestors of Lord Hardinge. The parish is bounded on the north by the river Trent, and comprises by survey 3463a. 3r. 5p.; the soil is generally a rich loam, alternated with strong clay, and on the commons of lighter quality; the surface is hilly. The principal manufacture is that of lace gloves. Sandstone of good quality for building is quarried extensively, and also a peculiarly fine kind which is used for sharpening scythes. The town is an improving place, pleasantly situated on the Derby and Ashby-de-la-Zouch road. A market is held on Saturday, for butter, poultry, vegetables, &c.; a mechanics' institution was established in 1841, and there are an Odd-Fellows', a Foresters', and two Druids' Lodges. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9. 13. 4.; net income, £179; patron, the Bishop of Carlisle; impropriator, Viscount Melbourne. The tithes were commuted for land in 1787; the glebe comprises 78 acres, with an old glebe-house. The church is a good specimen of Norman architecture, with round massive piers, circular arches, and zigzag ornaments. There are places of worship for General Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and Swedenborgians; and a national school endowed with £30 per annum.

Melbury-Abbas

MELBURY-ABBAS, a parish, in the union of Shaftesbury, hundred of Sixpenny-Handley, Shaston division of Dorset, 2½ miles (S. E.) from Shaftesbury; containing 390 inhabitants. The parish comprises 2275 acres, of which 830 are common or waste. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 18. 11½., and in the gift of Sir R. P. Glyn, Bart.: the tithes have been commuted for £380. Walter Blandford, D.D., Bishop of Oxford, and afterwards of Worcester, was a native of this place.

Melbury-Bubb (St. Mary)

MELBURY-BUBB (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Cerne, hundred of Yetminster, Cerne division of Dorset, 2 miles (N. E.) from Evershot; containing 126 inhabitants, and comprising by admeasurement 1227 acres. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 10. 5., and in the gift of the Earl of Ilchester: the tithes have been commuted for £181, and the glebe comprises 48 acres. The church is of brick and stone, and chiefly in the later style, with a tower on the south side, the lower stage of which forms a porch. There was anciently a chapel in the tything of Woolcombe, which has entirely disappeared, and on an eminence called Bubb Down was a beacon.

Melbury-Osmond (St. Osmond)

MELBURY-OSMOND (St. Osmond), a parish, in the union of Beaminster, hundred of Yetminster, Sherborne division of Dorset, 14 miles (N. W. by N.) from Dorchester; containing 404 inhabitants, and comprising by measurement 1192 acres. The living is a discharged rectory, with that of Melbury-Sampford united in 1750, valued in the king's books at £8. 3. 4., and in the gift of the Earl of Ilchester. The tithes have been commuted for £177, and the glebe comprises 86 acres; the glebe-house, a great part of which was built in 1641, is beautifully situated, and in the gardens is a remarkably fine yew-tree. The church, rebuilt in 1745, is a neat structure of freestone, with a square embattled tower at the east end. The fossil called the tortoise stone is found here, and when polished is highly ornamental.

Melbury-Sampford

MELBURY-SAMPFORD, a parish, in the union of Beaminster, hundred of Tollerford, Dorchester division of Dorset, 13 miles (N. W. by N.) from Dorchester; containing 43 inhabitants. This parish, which derives the affix to its name from a former lord of the manor, comprises by measurement 1024 acres. Melbury House, one of the seats of the Earl of Ilchester, is situated here in a spacious park. The living is a discharged rectory, united to that of Melbury-Osmond, and valued in the king's books at £5. 6. 5½.: the tithes have been commuted for £57. The church is a venerable cruciform structure, in the decorated English style, with a square embattled tower rising from the centre; the windows are enriched with delicate tracery, and embellished with ancient stained glass.

Melchbourn (St. Mary)

MELCHBOURN (St. Mary), a parish, in the hundred of Stodden, union and county of Bedford, 7 miles (W. S. W.) from Kimbolton; containing 274 inhabitants, and comprising by computation 2600 acres. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5; net income, £75; patron and impropriator, Lord St. John: the glebe comprises 30 acres. The church contains some ancient monuments and brasses. Here was a commandery of Knights Hospitallers, to whom a market and an annual fair were granted in 1264; the revenue was £241. 9. 10. Leland, the historian and antiquary, was a native of the parish.

Melchet-Park

MELCHET-PARK, an extra-parochial liberty, in the hundred of Alderbury, Salisbury and Amesbury, and S. divisions of Wilts; containing 31 inhabitants, and comprising 534 acres of land.

Melcombe-Horsey (St. Andrew)

MELCOMBE-HORSEY (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Cerne, hundred of Whiteway, Cerne division of Dorset, 8½ miles (W. S. W.) from Blandford; containing, with the hamlet of Hartsfoot-Lane, 173 inhabitants. The parish comprises by computation 2000 acres. Many of the labouring class are employed in making hurdles, spars, and other articles of wood, for the farmers in the neighbourhood. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £16, and in the gift of Lord Rivers: the tithes have been commuted for £278. 6., and the glebe contains 18 acres. The church is a handsome structure in the later English style, beautifully situated. In the vicinity are vestiges of the hamlet of Melcombe-Bingham, consisting of foundations of houses; and the parish contains the remains of various ancient mansions, now converted into farmhouses. On an eminence called Nettlecombe Tout, is a square encampment, occupying a space of 20 acres.

Melcombe-Regis.—See Weymouth.

MELCOMBE-REGIS.—See Weymouth.

Meldon (St. John the Evangelist)

MELDON (St. John the Evangelist), a parish, in the union of Morpeth, W. division of Castle ward, S. division of Northumberland, 6½ miles (W. S. W.) from Morpeth; containing 152 inhabitants. This was a manor in the barony of Mitford till the time of Henry III., after which period the estate was held by various families of distinction; it eventually became the property of Lord Derwentwater, and was subsequently appropriated by the crown to the support of Greenwich Hospital, from the governors of which it was purchased by Isaac Cookson, Esq., the present proprietor. The parish comprises 1026 acres; the surface is pleasingly undulated, rising in some parts into bold eminences, and the lower grounds are watered by the river Wansbeck, which runs from east to west, between richly-wooded banks. The soil along the southern boundary is clayey, and well adapted for the growth of wheat, but in other parts is light and gravelly, resting on clay, producing turnips and green crops of every kind, and well suited for pasture and for dairy-farming. Meldon Park, the newly-erected seat of Mr. Cookson, is beautifully situated on an eminence in the north-western part of the parish, on the bank of the Wansbeck, and commands a fine view of the vale to which that river gives name. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £4. 7. 11., and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Durham; net income, £322. The Rev. James Raine, the present incumbent, discovered in his antiquarian researches an ancient document, by which he claimed and recovered the tithes of the parish from the proprietors of the estate. The church, supposed to have been founded at a very early period, by the Bertram family, is situated on one of the most elevated knolls; and, within the walls, is only 28 feet in length, and 15 feet wide. There was a tower in the parish in the reign of Henry VI.; several foundations of buildings have been discovered in Meldon Park, and there is every reason to suppose that the place was once of more importance than it is at present.

Meldreth (Holy Trinity)

MELDRETH (Holy Trinity), a parish, in the union of Royston, hundred of Armingford, county of Cambridge, 5¼ miles (N. N. E.) from Royston; containing 730 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £4. 15. 10.; net income, £224; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Ely. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1813.

Melford, Long (Holy Trinity)

MELFORD, LONG (Holy Trinity), a parish, and formerly a market-town, in the union of Sudbury, hundred of Babergh, W. division of Suffolk, 22 miles (W.) from Ipswich; containing 2597 inhabitants. The parish comprises 5185a. 4p. The village is pleasantly situated on a branch of the river Stour, in one of the most fertile parts of the county, and is surrounded by very beautiful and richly-diversified scenery. Melford Hall, formerly a country-house of the abbots of Bury, and now the seat of Sir Hyde Parker, Bart., is a noble mansion in the Elizabethan style, forming an interesting feature in the landscape; Kentwell Hall, the residence of the family of Bence, is a venerable structure in the ancient domestic style, and contains much old painted glass. A large cattle-fair commences on the Thursday in Whitsun-week, and continues for three days: the market, on Tuesday, has been long discontinued; the pedestal of the old stone cross remains on the green. A court baron is held annually by the lord of the manor, and the county magistrates hold a petty-session for the division every fortnight. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £28. 2. 6., and in the gift of I. Cobbold, Esq. The church is a spacious and interesting structure, chiefly in the later English style, with a lofty embattled tower, and at the east end a Lady chapel of very beautiful character, which for some time was used as a schoolroom, but has been restored in all its pristine elegance. Under the upper and lower battlements surrounding the church and chapel are numerous inscriptions in black letter, partly in Latin, recording the names of various individuals by whom different parts of the edifice were rebuilt about the year 1480. The whole of the windows, nearly ninety in number, and mostly of large dimensions, appear to have been originally embellished, about the reign of Henry VII., with portraits of persons either recently dead or living at that time; and there are still many representations of characters eminent in history, but in a mutilated condition. The church contains many interesting monuments, among which are, one to the memory of Sir William Cordell, Knt., speaker of the house of commons and a privy councillor in the reign of Mary, and master of the rolls in that of Elizabeth; one to William de Clopton, dated 1446; one to John de Clopton in 1497; a monument to Admiral Sir Hyde Parker; and numerous brasses to the families of Clopton and Martin. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans. An hospital, now very venerable and collegiate in appearance, for a warden, twelve poor men and two women, was founded in 1573, under letters-patent, by Sir W. Cordell, who endowed it with an estate and tithes now producing an income of £1000 per annum. Under the will of Mrs. Oliver, the poor receive annually coal to the value of upwards of £100. Sir John Milborne, lord mayor of London in 1521; Sir Roger Martin, mayor of London, in 1567; John Reeve, commonly called John de Melford, last abbot of Bury; and Dr. Johnson, Bishop of Worcester, and son of a rector of the parish, were natives of the parish.

Melkinthorpe

MELKINTHORPE, a township, in the parish of Lowther, West ward and union, county of Westmorland; containing 99 inhabitants.

Melkridge

MELKRIDGE, a township, in the parish and union of Haltwhistle, W. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 2 miles (E.) from Haltwhistle; containing 290 inhabitants. It belonged at an early period to the Ridleys, of whom Sir Nicholas Ridley was proprietor in the 16th century; the chief estate afterwards came to the Nevilles, of Chevet, and from them passed to the Blacketts, the present owners. The Tyne bounds the township on the south for about two miles; the surface is undulated, and mountainous towards the north, where runs the Roman wall, of which some portions are visible. There is a small land-sale colliery, the property of Sir Edward Blackett, Bart.; good freestone is quarried for building, and a bastard limestone for the roads, as also heavy grey slates for roofing houses. The village is agreeably seated on a sunny slope above the Tyne, and has the Newcastle and Carlisle railway running between it and the river. Much of the township belongs to the Carricks, of whom Robert Carrick, Esq., lately built Croft House, a handsome residence on the west side of the village, with a sloping lawn before it towards the road, and having splendid views of the hills on the opposite side of the Tyne. The great tithes are payable to Sir Edward Blackett, and have been commuted for £63. In the township is Whitchester, a Roman station, defended on three sides by deep glens.

Melksham (St. Michael)

MELKSHAM (St. Michael), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Melksham, Melksham and N. divisions of Wilts, 28 miles (N. W.) from Salisbury, and 95 (W. by S.) from London; containing, with the chapelries of Earl-Stoke and Seend, and the tythings of Beanacre, Blackmore, Caunonhold, and Woodrow, 6236 inhabitants, of whom 535 are in the town of Melksham. The name is supposed to be derived from Milch, or Melch, milk, and Ham, a dwelling; the adjacent land being chiefly occupied as dairy-farms. During the Saxon era this was a place of some importance, and at the period of the Norman survey, and for several subsequent reigns, it was held in royal demesne, and gave name to an extensive forest: in the reign of Henry VIII. it had fallen into decay, but during the last century experienced a revival from its cloth manufacture. The town is situated on the road from London, through Devizes, to Bath, and on the banks of the Avon: it consists principally of one street, nearly a mile in length, which is paved, and lighted with gas; the houses are in general good, and built of freestone, and the inhabitants are well supplied with water. Two mineral springs, one saline and the other chalybeate, were discovered in the vicinity some years since; and in 1816, a new saline spa was formed, to which a pump-room and hot and cold baths, with every requisite accommodation, have been added. The surrounding country abounds with diversified and pleasing prospects. There is a convenient reading-room, also a circulating library. The trade of the town formerly consisted in the manufacture of broad-cloth and kerseymere, of which it was once the chief seat, but this is now on the decline; some business is done in malt, and in leather. The Wilts and Berks canal passes on the east, and about a mile and a half southward joins the Kennet and Avon canal. The river Avon is crossed by a handsome stone bridge of four arches, with light and elegant balustrades: adjoining it is one of the largest corn-mills in the county, and contiguous are an extensive factory and dye-houses. The market is held every alternate Monday, for cattle, sheep, pigs, &c.; and there is a cattle-fair on July 27th. The powers of the county debt-court of Melksham, established in 1847, extend over part of the registration-districts of Melksham and Bradford. The county magistrates hold a pettysession here for the division, on the last Wednesday in every month; and a court leet takes place half-yearly, under the joint lords of the manor.

The parish comprises, exclusively of waste, 7920 acres, of which about 400 are arable, 150 woodland, and the remainder pasture and meadow; the soil is clay, alternated with gravel, and the prevailing timber is elm. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £38. 9. 4½.; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury: the great tithes have been commuted for £1278, and the vicarial for £1214. The church is a spacious cruciform edifice of freestone, in the Norman style, with later additions, and has a handsome tower rising from the intersection; part of the building is of the period of the twelfth century, and in the interior, on the south side, are two chantry chapels. A district church was consecrated at Shaw Whitley in 1837, a neat structure in the early English style, containing 480 sittings, of which 320 are free; the living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Vicar, with a net income of £100. There are chapels of ease at EarlStoke and Seend; also places of worship in the parish for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyans. The union of Melksham comprises six parishes or places, with a population of 18,879.

Melling (St. Peter)

MELLING (St. Peter), a parish, in the hundred of Lonsdale south of the Sands, N. division of the county of Lancaster; containing, with the two chapelries of Arkholme with Cawood, and Hornby, and the townships of Farleton, Roeburndale, Wennington, and Wray with Botton, 2039 inhabitants, of whom 195 are in the township of Melling with Wrayton, 11 miles (N. by E.) from Lancaster. In the Conqueror's survey, Mellinge, Hornebi, and Wennigetun, are placed in Yorkshire, as constituting one manor, in which Vlf, whose name is perpetuated in that of Wolfa Crag, had nine and a half carucates of land. The earliest record in which the parish is subsequently mentioned, is the charter of Roger de Poictou, who gave the church of Melling to his newly-founded priory of Lancaster. The parish is bounded on the south-east by the Yorkshire portion of the forest of Bowland, and is ten miles in length, and five in breadth, comprising 14,591 acres. It is watered by several rivers, the principal of which is the Lune, which, sometimes swelling into high floods, commits great damage by overflowing the flat holmes or low grounds adjacent to its banks. That portion of the parish to the west of this river is marked by fertile eminences, till, approaching Burton-in-Kendal, it runs into high, arid, limestone ridges. The portion stretching from the Greta river to the Wenning, is varied; on the north the country gradually declines to the river, and on the south it is enlivened by verdant heights. From the Wenning to the source of the Hindburn and Roeburn rivulets, the country is mountainous, and strikingly contrasts with the rich and variegated valleys of the Wenning and the Lune. Three-fourths of the cultivated land are in pasture; the grain upon the arable portion consists chiefly of oats. The township of Melling is beautifully situated on the Lune, and has an area of 1035 acres: there is a small freestone-quarry. The road from Lancaster to Kirkby-Lonsdale passes through. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 1. 10½., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £113, with a house; impropriator, Pudsey Dawson, Esq. There are 31½ acres of glebe in Melling. The church is a large ancient structure, of rather heavy proportions, consisting of a nave, aisles, and chancel, with a tower; the tower is massive, and the arches in its sides are unusually large: the interior of the edifice was restored and beautified in 1760. At Arkholme, Hornby, and Wray, are separate incumbencies. A school has an endowment of £12 per annum, and several small bequests are appropriated to the poor.

Melling, cum Cunscough

MELLING, cum Cunscough, a chapelry, in the parish of Halsall, union of Ormskirk, hundred of West Derby, S. division of Lancashire, 8 miles (N. N. E.) from Liverpool, on the road to Ormskirk; containing 607 inhabitants. This place appears to have been part of the tract of land granted by Roger de Poictou to Vivian de Molines; for the son of the latter, Sir Adam de Molines, gave in free and pure alms to the church of St. Mary, of Cockersand, certain acres of land in Melling and Cunscough. A branch of the family of Molyneux was seated here about the 43rd of Edward III.; and Richard, Viscount Molyneux, died seized of the manor in the reign of Charles I. The family of Bootle were resident at Melling in Henry V.'s reign. The chapelry comprises 1957a. 1r. 3p. of land; the surface is elevated, and from the churchyard is a complete panoramic view, including Liverpool, and, in the distance, the Welsh mountains. The river Alt separates the township from Aintree; and both the Liverpool and Bolton, and Liverpool and Preston railways pass through. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £120, with a house, built in 1831; patron, the Rector of Halsall, whose tithes here have been commuted for £505, and who has a glebe of about a quarter of an acre. The church, St. Thomas's, was rebuilt on a new site in 1834, at a cost of £1200; it is in the early English style, and forms, from its elevated situation, a conspicuous object in the scenery. There are two ancient monuments to the Bootles, of Lathom, a monument to the Molyneuxs, of Mosborough, and one to Mr. Savage; these were removed from the old edifice, when taken down in 1834. A school has an endowment of £50 per annum from land; the school-house was rebuilt in 1844.

Mellion, St., or Mellyn

MELLION, ST., or Mellyn, a parish, in the union of St. Germans, Middle division of the hundred of East, E. division of Cornwall, 3¼ miles (S. E. by S.) from Callington; containing 395 inhabitants. It comprises by computation 1480 acres, of which 970 are arable, 150 woodland, and 350 pasture and common: the soil is light, and the lower grounds are watered by the river Lynher; the scenery is richly diversified. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 12. 6., and in the gift of J. T. Coryton, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £225, and the glebe comprises 64 acres. The church is an ancient structure in the early English style, with a lofty tower of granite; it contains some rich Norman details, and monuments to the Coryton family.

Mellis (St. Mary)

MELLIS (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Hartismere, W. division of Suffolk, 3½ miles (W. by N.) from Eye; containing 532 inhabitants. It comprises 1344a. 2r., of which 180 acres are waste. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 15., and in the patronage of the Crown: the tithes have been commuted for £345, and the glebe comprises 8 acres. The church is a handsome structure in the later English style; the tower fell down about 1720. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Mellons, St.

MELLONS, ST., a parish, in the union of Cardiff, hundred of Wentlloog, division of Newport, county of Monmouth, 3½ miles (N. E. by N.) from Cardiff; containing 613 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, with that of Llanedarn in the county of Glamorgan annexed, valued in the king's books at £10. 1. 5., and in the alternate patronage of the Bishop and the Chapter of Llandaff, who, with the Dean and Chapter of Bristol, are the appropriators; net income, £160.

Mellor

MELLOR, a chapelry, in the parish of Glossop, union of Hayfield, hundred of High Peak, N. division of the county of Derby, 8¼ miles (N. W. by N.) from Chapel-en-le-Frith; containing 2015 inhabitants. Here are extensive cotton-works, which afford employment to a considerable portion of the population. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £136; patrons and impropriators, the Trustees of the late John Thornton, Esq. The chapel, dedicated to St. Thomas, is very ancient, and contains a pulpit formed out of an old oak-tree, and a font rudely carved. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Independents; and a free school, built about the year 1639, is endowed with £25 per annum.

Mellor

MELLOR, a township, in the parish, union, and Lower division of the hundred, of Blackburn, N. division of Lancashire, 2¾ miles (N. W.) from Blackburn; containing 1844 inhabitants. The manor formerly belonged to the Southworths. In the last century it was the property of Mr. Ramsbottom, of Chorley, who sold the manor and estates to Mr. Bolton, of whom they were purchased by Henry Sudell, Esq., of Blackburn. In 1832 John Fowden Hindle, Esq., bought Mr. Sudell's property in Mellor. The township is situated on the line of the Preston and Blackburn new road, and comprises by computation 1620 acres of well-cultivated land, whereof about 14 acres are wood and plantations, and the remainder arable and pasture: there is an excellent stone-quarry. A court baron was held here so late as 1826; a wake was formerly held, and a fair takes place occasionally. In the hamlet of Mellor-Brook, partly in this township, and partly in that of Balderstone, is a cotton-mill, built in 1834, and worked by Messrs. Crankshaw and Dall, who have neat residences adjacent; Prospect House is that of William Crankshaw, Esq. Woodfold Park forms the chief ornament of Mellor. Stanley House, the manorial Hall, was the residence of Mr. Ramsbottom.

A district church, dedicated to St. Mary, was built in 1829, at a cost of £5275; it is a handsome structure in the later English style, with a tower and spire, and, standing on an eminence, is a conspicuous object in the scenery. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Blackburn, with a net income of £150. At Mellor-Brook is St. Saviour's chapel, purchased from the Independents in 1834 by means of subscription, and remodelled for the use of the Establishment; it is a neat structure with a spire, and cost £550. A district has been assigned to it, and the living is also a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar. The Wesleyans have two places of worship, one of them situated near the mill; and there are two schools, one of them at Mellor-Brook. On Mellor moor are the remains of a Roman encampment.

Mells (St. Andrew)

MELLS (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Frome, hundred of Mells and Leigh, E. division of Somerset, 3 miles (W. N. W.) from Frome; containing 1261 inhabitants. There are extensive coal-works, and some iron-manufactories principally for agricultural implements. Fairs are held on the Monday after Trinityweek, and on Michaelmas-day. The river Frome here flows between rocks of a great height, somewhat resembling St. Vincent's rock, below Bristol. The living is a rectory, with that of Leigh-upon-Mendip annexed, valued in the king's books at £33. 16. 8., and in the gift of T. S. Horner, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £600, and the glebe comprises 16 acres.

Mells

MELLS, a hamlet, in the parish of Wenhaston, union and hundred of Blything, E. division of the county of Suffolk, 1¾ mile (E. S. E.) from Halesworth; containing 123 inhabitants. Here was formerly a chapel, dedicated to St. Margaret.