Aldreth is a hamlet in Cambridgeshire with about 260 residents (2001 census). It is located near the larger village of Haddenham (where the population is listed) and falls under the same Parish council. Aldreth is surrounded by fenland on all sides and is close to the River Great Ouse.
History Toponymy The name "Aldreth" occurs as Alreheða in the 1170 Pipe rolls, and means "landing-place by the alders", from a combination of the Old English words for "alder" and "hythe".Ekwall, E., The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names (4th ed.), OUP, 1960, p. 5 (Aldreth). Cf. Mills, A.D., A dictionary of British place-names, OUP, 1991–2003, p. 5 (Aldreth). Note that Head (1995), p. 86, quotes "Freeman" as follows: "…Aldreth, a corruption of the name of the patron saint Æthelthryth". Head does not give a reference for, or expand on, the statement from "Freeman", but see Head (1995), pp. 7–8, and cf. Freeman, E.A., The History of the Norman Conquest of England (5 vols. & Index), OUP, 1867–9. The name also occurs a number of times in the text of the 12th-century Liber Eliensis, as Alreheðe, with one variant as Alhereðe.Blake, E.O. (ed.), Liber Eliensis, Camden 3rd Series XCII, Royal Historical Society, 1962, pp. 178, 185, 194, 314(x2), 315, 322, 328; the variant "Alhereðe" is at p. 314.
Battles
Aldreth may have been the site of two battlesMiller (1895) chap. XXIMiller (1895) chap. XXV between Hereward the Wake (Anglo-Saxons) and William the Conqueror (Normans). Aldreth was one of three routes, or causeways, into the Isle of Ely at that time; Stuntney Causeway to the south-east, the Earith Causeway to the west-south-west and the Aldreth Causeway south-west of the Isle of Ely.Head (1995) p. 149 plus google earth for distancesDarby (1970) p. 106–118 and fig. 16 on p. 107
Geography
Geology The village is on an east–west running boulder clay (middle-Pleistocene till) ridge sitting on a belt of mainly Jurassic Kimmerigian clays running south-west from The Wash. To the east is a north–south running belt of geologically more recent Upper-Cretaceous Lower Greensand capped by Lower-Cretaceous Gault Clay; the whole area is surrounded by even more recent fen deposits. To the west, again running north-east—south-west, is a scarp belt of middle-Jurassic sedimentary rocks including limestone and sandstone.Darby (1970) p. 3 fig. 1
The flat fenland countryside around the village, typical for this part of the region, lies about above sea-level. The highest point in the village is above sea-level and the highest point in the area is at Ely, seven-mile () north-east. In contrast, the highest point in Cambridgeshire, above sea-level, is at Great Chishill, almost due south. Holme at nine feet () below sea-level is East Cambridgeshire's (and the United Kingdom's) lowest point, and is north-west.
Community Aldreth shares an annual village open day, Blossoms & Bygones, with neighbouring village Haddenham. The event, which includes tractor rides, vintage car and tractor displays, and open gardens, held its 40th anniversary in 2011 with a VE Day theme, with villagers dressed in 1940s costume.
References
Bibliography
External links
Aldreth in Vision of Britain A castle at Alrehede/Aldreth was constructed in 1071 CHER record for Aldreth causeway (archaeology) The search for Hereward the Wake