Melton Mowbray is a town in the Melton borough of Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, England. It is 14.5 miles (23 km) to the northeast of Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

, and 18 miles (29 km) southeast of Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

. The town lies along the course of both the River Eye

River Eye, Leicestershire

The River Eye is a river in north eastern Leicestershire which becomes the Wreake.The Eye rises at Bescaby about six miles north east of Melton Mowbray. It flows east towards Saltby, where it turns south and flows past Sproxton, Coston and Garthorpe. At Saxby it turns west and flows by Stapleford,...

 and the River Wreake

River Wreake

The River Wreake is a river in Leicestershire, England. It is a tributary of the River Soar. The river between Stapleford Park and Melton Mowbray is known as the River Eye and becomes the Wreake below Melton Mowbray....

 and currently has a population of 25,554.

Promoted as the "Rural Capital of Food", Melton Mowbray is perhaps best known for its culinary specialities, being the home of the eponymous pork pie and one of the six homes of Stilton cheese.
The name Melton comes from the early English word Medeltone – meaning 'Middletown surrounded by small hamlets' (and therefore has the same origin as places called Milton and Middleton).