Situated on the north shore of Weymouth Harbour and originally part of the waste of Radipole,[clarification needed] it seems only to have developed as a significant settlement and seaport in the 13th century.

Melcombe was one of the first points of entry of the Black Death into England in the summer of 1348 (the disease was possibly carried there by infected soldiers and sailors returning from the Hundred Years' War, or from a visiting spice ship).

He is commemorated by a prominent statue on the Esplanade, or sea-front, recording the gratitude of the inhabitants, and by the locally well-known Osmington White Horse.

Weymouth & Melcombe Regis was used as a base for Allied troops in the D-Day landings of World War II, and has since operated on and off as a cross-channel ferry terminus.

After 2019 structural changes to local government in England, Morcombelake is part of the Melcombe Regis ward which elects 1 member to Dorset Council.