Melton Constable can be explored through two distinct histories: that of the Astley family and that of the railway. The village’s character combines the grounds of Melton Constable Hall with the traces of a railway village whose works once played a central role in the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway network.

A railway village on its own scale

Melton Constable is considered a railway village, not a railway town. The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway built its works here as a central hub in its network. They operated from 1883 until October 1936. The workshop complex included carriage and locomotive workshops, as well as a smithy with 30 forge fires and a 25-hundredweight Massey steam hammer. The figures and variety of workshops give a concrete impression of the village’s industrial character.

A surviving railway water tower brings this technical scale together in a single structure. Its cast-iron tank had a capacity of 125,000 gallons; 256 external plates bear the initials M&GN. The Melton Constable war memorial adds another connection to the railway’s history: it was erected in 1922 as a memorial to the First World War and later extended with an addition for the Second World War. It was designed at the office of Mr W Marriott, engineer and traffic manager of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway Company, and made at the local railway works.

Streets and houses from the railway era

Melton Street was the first street built in Melton Constable, in 1882. Its character is shaped by continuous, close-set rows of terraced houses on both sides. Astley Terrace was built in 1886 as a row of railway company houses near the former works and station. Its regular row of square chimneys also survives. The two streets represent different stages of development: Melton Street marks the early street building, while Astley Terrace represents the railway company’s later housing development.

Astley history and parkland

The Church of St Peter is the parish church and mausoleum of the Astley family, formerly based at Melton Constable Park. The fabric of the church suggests that it dates from before 1066. Inside are 18th-century Astley family monuments and painted family coats of arms, spanning the period from the Norman Conquest to the present day.

The grounds of Melton Constable Hall also reveal several layers of designed landscape. The South Park slopes down to a serpentine lake with a round island; a late-18th-century Tea House stands on the west bank. The gardens include a raised balustraded terrace, open parkland and a lawn enclosed by yew hedges, now known as the Croquet Lawn. The mid-19th-century terraces comprise terracing, retaining walls, balustrades and Italian-style urns; they overlook the park designed by Capability Brown.

Other historic architectural features complete the picture: the east wing of the stable court at Melton Constable Hall dates from 1810 and has a lantern positioned centrally on the roof ridge. Church Lodge in Melton Constable Park has a Greek Doric portico, along with an attached stable and courtyard wall. Nearby is St Mary in Burgh Parva, a corrugated iron church built in 1903 for the new railway village of Melton Constable, which is still in use.

Discover more destinations: Terrington Saint Clement, Martham, Baconsthorpe, Binham, Blofield, Fritton, Reedham, Thetford

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