Meldreth is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, located around 10 miles (16 km) south-west of Cambridge.
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.
[2] 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.
Tenant-in-chief and Lord in 1086: Abbey of Ely (St Etheldreda), Households: 10 smallholders.
In the early 16th century, Christ's College moved to its Meldreth estate to escape the plague.
[4] In 1952, the Royal Train carrying King George VI's body passed through the station on its journey from Sandringham to London.
Residents gathered on the platform to pay their last respects to the King.
[6] 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.
[7] The chancel is unusually long and dates from the 12th century, perhaps indicating the existence of an earlier minster on the site.
[4] The village, once famous for its fruit production, is now home to many commuters who work in Cambridge and London.
The village retains its own railway station which opened in 1851.
In 2001, local celebrations marked the 150th anniversary of Meldreth railway station, which serves the residents of Meldreth and the neighbouring village of Melbourn.
Trains from the station run into Cambridge and London King's Cross.
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.
[8] 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.
A stone marker was erected near the western end of Fenny Lane, and unveiled in December 1999 by the Astronomer Royal, Sir Martin Rees.