Melton is a village in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, located approximately one mile north east of Woodbridge. The 2001 census recorded a population of 3,718, the population increasing to 3,741 at the 2011 Census. The village is served by Melton railway station on the

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

East Suffolk Line. The parish contains 'Woodbridge' Melton, an area of building contiguous with Woodbridge but separated from most of Melton by the wood, 'Village' Melton, centred around the A1152 and A1438, Melton Park or Melton St Audry's, a housing estate converted from an asylum, and various outlying hamlets. Melton was the effective capital of the Liberty of St Etheldreda and housed a gaol and various other buildings.

History

Melton is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086. In 1765 a local Act established the Loes and Wilford Hundred Incorporation at Melton. The House of Industry (workhouse) operated until its disincorporation in 1826. From 1826 the building became the Suffolk County Asylum for Pauper Lunatics. Much altered during the 19th and early 20th centuries, in 1916 the asylum became known as St Audry's Hospital, which was closed in 1993 (approx date). The buildings have been converted into residential accommodation. Melton was originally settled around the old church in the north east of Melton, later moving to Yarmouth Road, which is the old road between

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The bestselling Victorian novelist Henry Seton Merriman died at Melton in 1903, aged 41.

Governance

Melton is part of the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

called Melton and Ufford. The population of this was at the 2011 Census was 4,883.

References

External links

Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk {{Suffolk-geo-stub