Melton Mowbray is a town in Leicestershire, England, 19 miles north-east of Leicester, and 20 miles south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town population of 27,158 in the 2011 census was estimated at 27,670 in 2019. Its culinary speciality is the Melton Mowbray pork pie. It is also the location of one of six licensed makers of Stilton cheese. It is sometimes promoted as Britain's "Rural Capital of Food".