Lime Tree Farm, Cherry Hinton Road

History of Lime Tree Farm

For general history about this farm and the Coe family see:

https://www.michellebullivant.com/cherryhintonhistory/lime-tree-farm-and-the-coe-family-cherry-hinton#/

1881

George Coe, head, 45, unmarried, market gardener

James Styles, servant, 38, ag. lab., born Essex

Charlotte Coe, head, 65, greengrocer, born Cherryhinton

Ann, daughter, 32, unmarried, born Cherryhinton

Nellie Reynolds, gr daughter, 3, born Surrey

William C, gr son, 2 mos, born Surrey

1891

George Coe, farmer and market gardener

Elizabeth Mary

Jesse

Herbert Matthew

Lizzie Grace

Annie Coe and her household are listed nearby living in Providence Cottage and probably at the same site is Henry Donner and family.

Annie Coe, 42; Jane Jackson, sister, widow, laundress; Rose, niece, 9; May, niece, 9; Walter William, nephew, 1; Violet Edith English, lodger, 3.

Henry Donner, 39, cow-keeper; Agnes, 37; Henry, 15, cow-keeper; Louisa 9; Alice Violet3.

1901

George Coe

Lizzie M

Jesse

Herbert M

Lizzie Grace

In 1901 Ann Coe, 51, her widowed sister Jane Jackson, 43, nephew Walter, 17, and Violet English, visitor, 13, are listed as a household next to George Coe,

1911

George Coe, 75, farmer and market gardener, born Cherryhinton

Elizabeth Mary, 66, (married 29 years, 4 children, 1 died), born Cambridge

Jesse, 28, assistant market gardener, born Cherryhinton

Herbert Matthew, 26, assistant market gardener, born Cherryhinton

Lizzie Grace, 22, born Cherryhinton

Much of the land in this area was once the orchards and fields of Lime Tree Farm. For most of 200 years the farm was run by the Coe family. In the 1960s Mrs Elsie Coe ran a grocery shop here while her husband ran a market garden. (CWN) During the Second World War Mrs Coe opened up her shop as a cafe, offering cups of tea to those drivers who arrived at the transport centre opposite. There is a small modern housing development here called Coe Court. On this 1927 map Coe Farm can be seen just to the west of the Cherry Hinton Hall estate.

Elsie Coe in her shop at Lime Tree Farm c.1964 (Mike Petty Fenland History)

A comment on Mike Petty’s Fenland History with this photo notes: Cyril & Elsie were my cousin’s grandparents, I loved them. I always thought Mrs Coe looked like Madame Butterfly and Mr Coe was a very sweet, kind man. I used to go and play in up in the lofts of the old farm barns at the back of the shop with my cousins. I lived a bit further down on Cherry Hinton Road and sometimes I would be sent down the road to get a tin of meatballs from their shop for tea . Originally the Coe family were market gardeners, the Lime Tree Farm site and land across the road, on what was the old Netherhall Lower School playing field, was used for that purpose. The Coe family are on record as being in and around Cherry Hinton for many years.

In 2017 Patricia Harvey, who used to live at 31 Rock Road, recalled the treat of going to Mrs Coe’s shop on a Sunday during the 1940s:

Cherry Hinton Road (East) on 1927 OS map

The UK census shows several members of the Coe family living and working locally in  Cherry Hinton Road.

1841 Matthew Coe gardener

1851 Matthew Coe gardener and farmer

1861 Matthew Coe gardener

1861 Frederick Coe farmer and gardener

1871 Mary Coe widow

1881 George Coe market gardener

1881 Charlotte Coe greengrocer

1881 Frederick Coe engine cleaner [probably for the Waterworks steam engine]

1891 Waterworks: William Coe engine driver

1891 Annie Coe

1891 George Coe farmer and market gardener

1901 Anne Coe

1901 Lime Tree Farm George Coe

1911 Lime Tree Farm: George Coe

1913 Lime Tree Farm: George Coe market gardener

(Sources: Cambridge News (Cambridgeshire Collection), UK census)