Meldreth is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

South Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district of Cambridgeshire, England, with a population of 162,119 at the 2021 census. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Chesterton Rural District and South Cambri ...

, England, located around south-west of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. At the 2011 Census, the population of the parish was 1,783.

History

A large

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

hoard was found near

Meldreth railway station Meldreth railway station serves the villages of Meldreth and Melbourn in Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by ...

in the nineteenth century that is now in the collections of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. The village of Meldreth grew in Saxon times, and the parish is home to Mettle Hill (formerly known as ''Motlowehyll'') that was probably the original meeting place of Armingford Hundred. Listed as ''Melrede'' in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, the village's name means "mill stream", named after the stream that rises at Melbourn Bury and flows north into the

River Rhee The River Cam () is the main river flowing through Cambridge in eastern England. After leaving Cambridge, it flows north and east before joining the River Great Ouse to the south of Ely, at Pope's Corner. The total distance from Cambridge to ...

. The Domesday Book has nine entries for Meldreth: ❧ ENTRY 1 ❧ Tenant-in-chief and Lord in 1086: Guy of Raimbeaucourt. Households: 15 smallholders. 1 slave. 3 cottagers. Ploughland: 5 ploughlands (land for). 1 lord's plough teams. 4 men's plough teams. Other resources: 0.5 lord's lands. Meadow 5 ploughs. 2 mills, value 0.53. ❧ ENTRY 2 ❧ Tenant-in-chief and Lord in 1086: Abbey of Ely (St Etheldreda), Households: 10 smallholders. 3 slaves. 3 cottagers. Ploughland: 7 ploughlands (land for). 1.5 lord's plough teams. 0.5 lord's plough teams possible. 3 men's plough teams. Other resources: 1.5 lord's lands. Meadow 5 ploughs. 1 mill, value 0.15. Phillimore reference: 5,31 ❧ ENTRY 3 ❧ Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Earl Roger (of Shrewsbury). Lord in 1086: Abbey of Saint-Evroult. Households: 5 villagers. 3 smallholders. 2 slaves. Ploughland: 5 ploughlands (land for). 2 lord's plough teams. 3 men's plough teams. Other resources: Meadow 2 ploughs. 2 mills, value 0.66. Phillimore reference: 13,6 ❧ ENTRY 4 ❧ Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Hardwin of Scales. Lord in 1086: Hugh . Households: 1 slave. 3 cottagers. Ploughland: 2 ploughlands (land for). Other resources: Meadow 2 ploughs. 1 mill, value 0.26. 1 church. Phillimore reference: 26,30 ❧ ENTRY 5 ❧ Tenant-in-chief and Lord in 1086: Abbey of Ely (St Etheldreda), Lord in 1086: Hardwin (of Scales). Other resources: 1 church. Phillimore reference: 5,32 ❧ ENTRY 6 ❧ Tenant-in-chief and Lord in 1086: Hardwin of Scales. Ploughland: 0.5 ploughlands (land for). Phillimore reference: 26,29 ❧ ENTRY 7 ❧ Tenant-in-chief and Lord in 1086: Abbey of Ely (St Etheldreda), Lord in 1086: Hardwin (of Scales). Phillimore reference: 5,30 ❧ ENTRY 8 ❧ Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Count Alan (of Brittany). Lord in 1086: Kolsveinn. Households: 2 cottagers. Ploughland: 1 ploughland (land for). Other resources: Meadow 2 ploughs. 2 mills, value 0.9. . Phillimore reference: 14,32 ❧ ENTRY 9 ❧ Tenant-in-chief and Lord in 1086: Abbey of Ely (St Etheldreda), Lord in 1086: Guy of Raimbeaucourt. Households: 10 freemen. Lord in 1066: Freemen, ten. Phillimore reference: 5,33 Due to its proximity to Cambridge, much of the land has at some time been owned by colleges of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. In the early 16th century, Christ's College moved to its Meldreth estate to escape the plague. In 1952, the Royal Train carrying

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

's body passed through the station on its journey from

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places Australia * Sandringham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Sandringham, Queensland, a rural locality * Sandringham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station * ...

to London. Residents gathered on the platform to pay their last respects to the King. The village still has a stocks and whipping post, the traditional medieval punishment, last used in the village in 1860.

Church

The parish church, dedicated to the

Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

since 1443, consists of a chancel, aisled nave with south porch, and a west tower housing eight bells. More

peal In campanology (bell ringing), a peal is the special name given to a specific type of performance of change ringing which meets certain exacting conditions for duration, complexity and quality. The definition of a peal has changed considerably ...

s have been rung at Holy Trinity than any other church. The chancel is unusually long and dates from the 12th century, perhaps indicating the existence of an earlier minster on the site. The tower dates from the late 12th century, with the top stage added in the late 13th century.

Village life

The village, once famous for its fruit production, is now home to many commuters who work in

and London. Orchards still exist in Meldreth, and locally grown fruits and vegetables are sold in the village, most notably the Meldreth

greengage The greengages are a group of cultivars of the common Middle Eastern plum. The first true greengage came from a green-fruited wild plum which originated in Iran. Greengages are grown in temperate areas and are known for the rich, confectionery f ...

. The village retains its own

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

which opened in 1851. In 2001, local celebrations marked the 150th anniversary of

, which serves the residents of Meldreth and the neighbouring village of

Melbourn Melbourn () is a large, nucleated settlement, clustered village in the far south-west of Cambridgeshire, England. Its traditional high street is bypassed by the A10 road (England), A10, intersecting the settlement's other main axis exactly north ...

. Trains from the station run into

and

London King's Cross King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the List of busiest railway stations in ...

. Only one public house is still open; The British Queen has been open since the first half of the 19th century. The first recorded pub in the village was The Bell (also known as The Old Bell or The Blue Bell Inn) which was housed in a thatched building that was built in 1676 and first recorded as a public house in 1726. The Bell closed in 1910. The Railway Tavern opened in 1858 and closed in 1959. It latterly housed the recently closed Tavern Art Gallery. The Dumb Flea pub in Chiswick End closed in 1956 and is now a private house. Other former pubs include The Chequer, recorded in 1785 but believed to have closed soon after, and The Green Man which stood next to the brewery at North End and was open from 1808 till the late 19th century. Meldreth is home to Meldreth Manor School, run by The Aurora Group, as well as home to Meldreth Primary School. The village has a Local Nature Reserve,

Melwood AXA Melwood Training Centre, in West Derby, Liverpool is the training ground and academy for Liverpool Football Club's Women's first team, youth teams and academy. It was formerly the men's first team's training ground from the 1950s until N ...

Prime Meridian

The

prime meridian A prime meridian is an arbitrarily chosen meridian (geography), meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. On a spheroid, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian ...

runs through the village. A stone marker was erected near the western end of Fenny Lane, and unveiled in December 1999 by the

Astronomer Royal Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the astronomer royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the astronomer royal for Scotland dating from 1834. The Astro ...

, Sir Martin Rees.

References

External links

Meldreth Parish Council

Meldreth website
information on the history of the village and a Meldreth Today section
Meldreth Community Archive

Meldreth Matters, the monthly village magazine

Meldreth Primary School

Meldreth Pre-School
{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire District