Description: The parish church dedicated to St. Michael with St. Mary is one of the finest examples of Norman architecture in England. It has been described as a cathedral in miniature and perhaps this is hardly surprising as Melbourne was the southern refuge in the Middle Ages for the Bishops of Carlisle. There has been a church in Melbourne for many centuries. The Domesday Book records a church and priest here in 1086. The present church was built about 1120 and most of the original masonry is intact except for the east end which has been reduced and mutilated. The roofs and naves and aisles and the aisle windows date from the restoration of the 1630s. The restoration of 1859-62 by Gilbert Scott was sensitively done for the time. This interior view shows the 4ft. diameter circular piers and the crenelated decorated arches above them in the nave. There are further arches above the Chancel and a rood screen beneath them.
Image taken by photographer E Martin. Edward Martin was born in Derby but lived in Melbourne, he owned two studios, Ashby Road and Potters Street. He was a prolific photographer of local places of interest which he sold in postcard form in and around Melbourne in local shops as well as from his studio. Many of his original glass plates have survived and are held in the Archives at Derbyshire Record Office, Matlock. He has a large number of photographs owned by the National Trust, these are of mainly the Crewe family at Calke Abbey, and can be seen in the National Archives in London or online. (Additional information very kindly supplied by Karan O'Connor).