Melton Constable Hall

The manor of Melton Constable was given by William I to the Bishop of Thetford and occupied by his Constable, who had assumed the name of Melton with the suffix of Constable. It then passed to the Astley family and descended in the male line of that family from 1235 until sold by Albert Astley, 21st Baron Hastings, in 1948 to the 2nd Duke of Westminster. It was then sold again in the 1950s, with the land continuing to be used for agriculture, but with the house being allowed to deteriorate. In 1985, under the threat of a compulsory purchase order, the owner was obliged to sell the Hall and parts of the estate. The village of Seaton Sluice in Northumberland has public houses called the…