Melmerby

Red sandstone buildings overlook the sprawling 11-acre green where the traditional grazing rights for the village inhabitants still hold sway. A beck flows through the green. Horses now find a meal where there were once flocks of geese that gave rise to a feather pillow and mattress making industry. The green was also the site of cock fighting and wrestling.

The small village boasts two Egon Ronay recommended eating establishments. One, The Village Bakery, is an organic bakery and restaurant (visited by the Prince of Wales).

The other, the Shepherds Inn, serves an extensive pub menu and offers real ales and a selection of British cheeses.

A general store, post office, and art gallery complete the village along with the sandstone Victorian church, St John the Baptist. It contains two medieval windows and is a rebuilding of a 13^th century church. A weather vane tops the Victorian tower.

In the village stands Melmerby Hall, started as a defensive tower in the 1300s. It evolved into a manor home after 17^th and 18^th century additions. Inside are a number of unusual features that include a priests hole, an enormous inglenook fireplace and doorways through old fireplaces. The halls grounds are surrounded by sandstone walls and boast a Victorian castle folly, 20 acres of forest, and a beck. It now rents out as exclusive accommodation.

In the countryside, Gale Hall, a 16^th century farm, is still in operation. Nearby the road winds it way up to Hartside top,1900 feet high and the western edge of the Pennines.

Melmerby is a typical Eden Valley fellside village surrounded by hills, woods and small streams.

Location Map of Melmerby
Melmerby is 9 miles northeast of Penrith on the A686.

Photos courtesy of Julian Thurgood , Mick Wragg , The Village Bakery and Shepherds Inn

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