Meldreth is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, located around south-west of Cambridge. At the 2011 Census, the population of the parish was 1,783.
History
A large Bronze Age hoard was found near Meldreth railway station in the nineteenth century that is now in the collections of the British Museum.
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 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 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 {Pedefold}.
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. In the early 16th century, Christ's College moved to its Meldreth estate to escape the plague.
Church
The parish church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity since 1443, consists of a chancel, aisled nave with south porch, and a west tower housing eight bells. More peals 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. 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.