[2] Melling forms part of a cluster of sites along the Lune Valley – the densest distribution of Norman castles outside the Welsh border countryside.

To the south-east, a tunnel takes the line to Wennington, where it connects to the Midland Railway; in the opposite direction, the next station was Arkholme.

On the edge of the first terrace 6m above the flood plain – and within St Wilfrid's vicarage garden – the motte at Melling is located centrally in the village, some distance from the present course of the river.

The mound has been damaged by landscaping activities, but former channels of the varied course of the Lune can still be detected – on the Melling side of the plain.

Locally attributed as, "The Cathedral of the Lune Valley", St Wilfrid's Church, with a belfry of six bells appears, originally, to have formed the manorial chapel within the, now missing, castle bailey.