Place:Melton Constable, Norfolk, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Melton Constable is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 6.96 km2 (2.69 sq mi) and had a population of 518 in 225 households at the 2001 UK census. The population had increased to 618 by the 2011 census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of North Norfolk. The village sits on fairly high ground southwest of the village of Holt.

The place-name 'Melton Constable' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as 'Maeltuna'. This may mean either 'middle town' or 'mill town'. There is a reference to 'Constabularius de Melton' in 1197, as the land was held by the constable of the bishop of Norwich.

Melton Constable Hall is regarded as the finest specimen of the Christopher Wren style of house.

The church of St Peter's Melton Constable contains many monuments to the Astley family, who formerly resided at Melton Constable Hall.

Burgh Parva

The parish of Melton Constable includes the deserted former parish and hamlet of Burgh Parva (redirected here), notable for its ruined church and tin tabernacle replacement. A Vision of Britain through Time states that it lost its parish status "early". Parish registers for Burgh Parva end in 1667.

Railway

Melton Constable reached its heyday about 1911; in the census of that year it had a population of 1,157. It was a new town built in 1880s at the junction of four railway lines, which came from Cromer, North Walsham, King's Lynn and Norwich and linked Norfolk to the Midlands. A station with a platform 800 feet (240 m) long was constructed with a specially-appointed waiting room for Lord Hastings, the local squire. The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway's main workshops and factory were also situated in the village, helping to give it the character of a rural industrialised village (rather similar to Woodford Halse in the parish of Woodford cum Membris in Northamptonshire). The workshops were often called the Crewe Works of North Norfolk. When in M&GNJR hands the works built 19 steam locomotives. Under LNER ownership, which began in 1923, the works was gradually degraded until 1934 when they closed completely. Between 1959 and 1964 British Railways closed the lines and withdrew both passenger and goods services from Melton Constable. This resulted in the slow decline of the village; it now lies stranded in the middle of a vast agricultural area which uses other forms of transport. In 1971 the station was demolished and the works were converted into an industrial estate.

Research Tips

• GENUKI provides a long list of references for Melton Constable
• Melton Constable Railway Works, an article in Wikipedia