Kelly's Directory, 1936

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 ½ south-west from Cambridge and 42 from London, in the hundred of Armingford, petty sessional division of Arrington and Melbourn, rural district of South Cambridgeshire, 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, consisting of an embattled chancel, nave, south aisle and south porch, and a western tower containing a clock and 5 bells, restored with a new bell frame in 1937, north wall of the nave and two lower stages of the tower are of the Norman period;  the south aisle and the top stage of the tower date from the 14th, and the south door and porch from the 15th century;  the roof of the nave and aisles are 15th century;  there is a 15th century rood screen;  the windows are of various periods;  in the church is a monument to George Pike esq. who died in 1658, and the family vault of the Mortlock family;  there is a memorial window, erected by the Rev. E.W. Cory, vicar 1864-94, 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 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 alternate gift of the Dean and Chapter of Ely and the Dean and Cannons of Windsor, and held since 1936 by the Rev. Leonard Galley, M.A., of Queens 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, Christ’s College, Cambridge, Alfred Russell Fordham, esq., J.P., Capt. Hubert Oslar 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 1931 was 597 in the civil and 563 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 & Rating Officer, Edwin Stittle.

Post T. & T.E.D. Office.  Letters through Royston (Herts.).  Shepreth is the nearest Money Order office.

Railway Station (L.& N.E.)

Private Residents

Dainty, Harry Wm., Belmington Close
Dunn, Charles William, M.A., C.I.E., Manting House
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 (letters received through Whaddon)
McGuire, Major Michael O.B.E., The Warren
Mortlock, Miss, Meldreth Court
Nelson, Henry Iredale, M.A.  Temple House
Palmer, George Cecil Wood, Sheene Manor
Palmer, Misses, Elm croft
Russell, Fredk. George, The Laurels
Spooner, Mrs, Whitecroft
Wilmott, J. Belle Vue
Woods Henry, The Homestead
Wynn Rev. Arthur Eckersall M.A., Longmead

Commercial

Marked * thus farm 150 acres or over.

Adcock J. & Sons, millers (water) [Topcliffe Mill]
Atlas Stone Co. Ltd. Asbestos cement mfrs.
British Queen P.H. (Herbert Gipson)
Cam Blue Lias Lime & Cement Co., Ltd. (Frederick George Russell, sec. & Managing director, lime burners & cement manufacturers.
Conningsby, A.R. & Son, coal merchants, Station yard
Conservative Club (Capt H.O.S. Ellis, president)
Cooper, Ann (Mrs.) farmer, Malting farm
Course, Humphrey, farmer
Course, Rose Amanda, (Mrs.) farmer
Dash, W.H. Haulage Contractor
Dumb Flea P.H. (Fredk. Waldock)
East, William, farmer
Elbourn, Percy E., machinist
Farnham, Chas. Wm., Fruit grower
Greensted, Cyril Ernest, grocer
Hagger, Herbert Chas., saddler
Hale Bros., motor body buldrs.
Handscombe, Fredk., grocer & post office
Harrup, Charles, fruit grower
*Hart, Vernon, farmer, Fenny Lane
Howard, Alwyn Andrew, farmer, Chiswick farm
Jacklin, Louisa M. ( Mrs.), fruit grower
Lambeth, Albt., fruit grower, Longmoor (letter received through Whaddon)
Law, Albert, farmer
Law, Emma (Mrs.) farmer
Marr, Alfd. Duncan, poultry farmer, Chisholm
Melbourn Lime Co., (Frederick George Russell, manager), lime merchants
Newell, Albert Edwd.,  fruit grower
Nodder, Sidney, carpenter, Torpoint
*Palmer, Geo. Cecil Wood, farmer, Sheen manor
Paterson, Jn., builder
Queen Adelaide P.H. (Harold Pepper) (letters should be addressed Whaddon)
Railway Tavern P.H. (Benjamin Kirby)
Ritagen Ltd., (Fredk. Geo. Russell, sec. & managing director) disinfectant mfrs.
Sailors Return P.H. (Jas. Albert Turner)
Springall, Wm. Herbt. Baker
Stockbridge, Wm. King, farmer, St. John’s farm
*Wedd Ernest Percy, farmer, College farm
Woods, H., Court farm
Worland, Abbis, farmer, Valley house

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