Aldreth
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". The name also occurs a number of times in the text of the 12th-century Liber Eliensis, as Alreheðe, with one variant as Alhereðe.
Battles
Aldreth may have been the site of two battles 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 2.25 miles (3.62 km) to the south-east, the Earith Causeway 10 miles (16 km) to the west-south-west and the Aldreth Causeway 7 miles (11 km) south-west of the Isle of Ely.
Geography
Joan Blaeu (1648) Regiones Inundatae
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.
The flat fenland countryside around the village, typical for this part of the region, lies about 16 feet (5 m) above sea-level. The highest point in the village is 23 feet (7 m) above sea-level and the highest point in the area is 85 feet (26 m) at Ely, seven-mile (11 km) north-east. In contrast, the highest point in Cambridgeshire, 479 feet (146 m) above sea-level, is at Great Chishill, 21 miles (34 km) almost due south. Holme at nine feet (2.75 m) below sea-level is East Cambridgeshire's (and the United Kingdom's) lowest point, and is 18 miles (29 km) 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.
Places adjacent to Aldreth | |
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References
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Miller (1895) chap. XXI
- ^ Miller (1895) chap. XXV
- ^ Head (1995) p. 149 plus google earth for distances
- ^ Darby (1970) p. 106–118 and fig. 16 on p. 107
- ^ Darby (1970) p. 3 fig. 1
- ^ Geological Survey of Great Britain (Map) (Based on 1st series 1:50000 map part of sheet 143 – 1974 ed.). Ordnance Survey. 1981. § Cambridge, Sheet 188.
- ^ Grid reference TL446735
- ^ "UK's lowest spot is getting lower". England: BBC. 29 November 2002. p. 1. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
- ^ "Ely People – Blossoms & Bygones story". Archived from the original on 22 March 2012.
Bibliography
- Darby, H C (1974). The Medieval Fenland. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-7153-5919-3.
- Fairweather, Janet (2005). Liber Eliensis: a history of the Isle of Ely from the seventh century to the twelfth. The Boydell Press. p. 502. ISBN 1-84383-015-9. Retrieved 3 August 2010.*
- Head, Vincent (1995). Hereward. Alan Sutton Publishing Inc. pp. 86. ISBN 0-7509-0807-6.
- Lethbridge, T.C. (1934). "Investigations of the Ancient Causeway in the Fen between Fordy and Little Thetford". Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society. XXXV.
- Miller, S H; Rev. W D Sweeting (1895). De Gestis herwardi Saxonis. Geo. C. Caster, Market Place, Peterborough. Archived from the original on 21 January 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
External links
- Haddenham & Aldreth Blossoms & Bygones Pictures 2011
- 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
