Kelly's Directory, 1933

Meldreth is a parish and straggling village on a branch of the river Rhea, with a station on the Hitchin and Cambridge line of the London and North Eastern railway, 4 miles north-by-east from Royston, 9 1/2 south-west from Cambridge and 42 from London, in the hundred of Armingford, petty sessional division of Arrington and Melbourn, rural district of Melbourn, county court district of Royston, rural deanery of Shingay and archdeaconry and diocese of Ely.  The church of Holy Trinity is a building of stone and clunch in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle, south porch and an embattled western tower containing a clock and 5 bells;  the chancel, north wall of the nave & tower are, however, of the Norman period;  in the church is a monument to George Pike, esq., who died 1658, and the family vault of the Mortlock family:  there is a memorial window, erected by the Rev. E.W. Cory, a former vicar, to the memory of his wife;  another by friends of the Rev. E.W. Cory, previously mentioned, and a third was presented by J. G. Mortlock, esq., in 1885:  the church was restored in 1898 at a cost of £1,200 and has 300 sittings.  The register of baptisms and burials dates from 1681;  marriages, 1692.  The living is a vicarage united with that of Whaddon in 1932, joint net yearly value £440, with residence, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Ely, and held since 1932 by the Rev. George Hunt Holley B.A. of Jesus College, Cambridge, who resides at Whaddon.  There is a Congregational chapel, erected in 1852, having sittings for 100 persons, and a Methodist chapel.  Opposite the entrance to the railway station is a cross, erected in 1920, in memory of the men of the parish who fell in the Great War, 1914-18.  Charities producing £13 yearly are distributed in fuel.  St. Thomas’ Hospital, London, are lords of the manor of Topcliffes.  Christs College, Cambridge, Alfred Russell Fordham, esq. J.P., Hubert Oslar Shepherd Ellis, B.A., LL.B and George Palmer, esq (who is lord of the manor of Sheen) are the principal landowners.  A cement company here provides work for a large number of inhabitants.  The soil is loam;  subsoil, chalk.  The chief crops are fruit, wheat, barley, beans and winter oats.  The area is 2,513 acres;  the population in 1921 was 572 in the civil and 527 in the ecclesiastical parish.  Under the provisions of the Divided Parishes Act a part of Meldreth was in 1882 added to Melbourn.

Clerk to the Parish Council and Rating Officer, Frank Farnham.

Post, T. & T.E.D. Office.  Letters through Royston (Herts.).  Shepreth is the nearest M.O. office

Railway Station (L. & N.E.)

Private Residents

Dainty, Harry Wm., Belmington Close
Dyne-Elin, Henry, The Gables
Ellis, Capt Hubert Oslar Shepherd, B.A., LL.B, Oak Villa
Ellis, Misses, The Grove
Farnham, Charles Wm., Blenheim House
Howard, Alwyn Andrew, J.P., Chiswick Farm
Jebb, George, The Manor House
Lambeth, Albert, Longmoor
McGuire, Maj. Michael, O.B.E., The Warren
Mortlock, Miss, Meldreth Court
Palmer, George, Sheene Manor
Palmer, Misses, Elmcroft
Robbs, Mrs. Meldreth House
Russell, Fredk. George, The Laurels
Searle, Misses, Manting House
Spooner, Mrs., Whitecroft
Woods, Henry, The Homestead

Commercial

Marked thus* farm 150 acres or over

Adcock Bros., bakers
Adcock, J & Sons, millers (water) [Topcliffe Mill]
Atlas Stone Co. Ltd., asbestos cement mfrs,
Cam Blue Lias Lime & Cement Co. Ltd., (Frederick George Russell, sec. & managing director), lime burners & cement manufacturers
Coningsby, A.R. & Son, coal merchants, Station Yard
Conservative Club, (Capt. H.O.S. Ellis, president)
Cooper Ann (Mrs) farmer
Course, Humphrey, farmer
Course, Rose Amanda (Mrs.), farmer
East, William, farmer
Elbourn, Percy E. machinist
Farnham, Chas Wm., fruit grower
Gipson, Herbt., beer retailer [The British Queen]
Greensted, Cyril Ernest, grocer
Hale Bros., motor body builders; caravans  a speciality;  estimates free
Handscombe, Fredk., grocer & post office
Harrup, Charles, fruit grower
*Hart, Vernon, farmer, Fenny Lane
Howard, Alwyn Andrew, farmer & fruit grower, Chiswick Farm
Jacklin, Louisa M. (Mrs), fruit grower
Kerby, Benj., Railway Tavern
Law, Albert, farmer
Law, Emma (Mrs), farmer
Melbourn Lime Co., (Frederick George Russell, manager), lime merchants & burners
Newell, Albert Edwd., fruit grower
Newell, Wm., fruit grower
Nodder, Sidney, carpenter, joiner & builder;  estimates free
*Palmer, George, farmer, Sheene Manor
Paterson, Jn., builder
Pepper, Harold, Queen Adelaide P.H., (letters addressed Whaddon)
Ritagen Ltd., (Fredk. Geo. Russell, sec. & managing director), disinfectant mfrs.
Stockbridge, Joseph, farmer, St. John’s college
Turner, Jas. Albt., beer retailer [The Sailor’s Return]
Warren, Charles, baker
*Wedd, Percy, farmer, College farm