MELDRETH, a village and a parish in the district of Royston and county of Cambridge. The village stands on a branch of the river Rhea, near the Hitchin and Cambridge railway, 4 miles NNE of Royston; and has a station on the railway, and a post office under Royston. The parish comprises 2,000 acres. Real property, £5,011. Pop., 735. Houses, 165. The property is much subdivided. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely. Value, £224.* Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Ely. 'The church consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with porch and tower: and was recently in disrepair. There are chapels for Independents and Wesleyans, and charities £9. Andrew Marvell, father of the poet Marvell, was a native.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))