MELTON

"MELTON, a parish in the hundred of Wilford, county Suffolk, 1½ mile N.E. of Woodbridge, its post town. It is a station on the Great Eastern railway. The village, which is large, is situated on the river Deben, and was formerly a quarter sessions town. There are extensive iron works and machine factories, also a brisk trade is done in corn and coals on the river Deben, which is navigable, and is crossed by Wilford Bridge. The gaol for the liberty of St. Ethelred was formerly in this parish, as also the workhouse for the hundreds of Loes and Wilford. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Norwich, value £347, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Ely. The church is situated some distance from the village. It is dedicated to St. Andrew, and has a tripled canopied brass of a man and his two wives, bearing date 1430., The parochial charities produce about £48 per annum. The county lunatic asylum was formerly the house of industry for the Loes and Wilford hundreds. There is a National school for both sexes. The Dean and Chapter of Ely are the principal lords of the manor. An annual fair is held on the second Tuesday in September, principally for lambs, and on the Wednesday week after Michaelmas Day for cattle."

Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson © 2003