Great Limber Village Stores
"Great
Limber" (Lymburghe Magna in the Domesday book) means "lime
tree on the hill", and is named after the ancient British
burial site on Mausoleum
Hill. During the middle ages Limber grew around a Knights Templar
establishment and a small Carthusian Abbey - so much so that in 1274 Caistor
traders complained Limber's market was harming trade. Limber's
right to a market was upheld in 1275, and Hugh de Baumer, the
lord of the manor, obtained a charter for an annual fair, too, in
1280. The Dissolution of the Monasteries and outbreaks of Plague
(2 bells in St Peter's were given in thanks for the passing of
the Plague in 1593/5), led to the end of the market by 1636. The
village's needs were supplied by "petty chapmen", whose
stalls developed into permanent shops as the years passed by.
The current shop was built into the market square
on the side of some 18th Century cottages. In the 1820s George
Fytche (1799-1846) and Catherine Fytche (1800-1871) from Irby
took the shop. Daughter Lucy was born in 1825, and son William in
1831. They were grocers, newsagents and haberdashers - the post
office was at the New Inn coaching inn across the square. By 1861
the post office had moved to Fytche's shop (now run by Catherine,
William, Lucy and son-in-law John Dann).
William died in 1865. Lucy and John Dann ran the
shop after Catherine's death - Lucy survived John by 11 years.
Village carpenter and undertaker Arthur West acquired the business on her death
in 1907.
The post office, now combined with telegram,
money order and savings bank services, was transferred to tailor
Edwin Cooper at "Hunter's Moon" on Grasby Rd. It
returned to Arthur West's in 1926. Newspapers were sold by Les
May from a shack next to the New Inn, but when Arthur West
retired in 1948 Les moved into the shop. Britain decimalised in
1971, and Les May retired and sold the shop to Mr & Mrs
Potter. The Potters sold out to Bob and Florrie Cooper 9 months
later. In 1985 Sue and Alan Caine took over the shop, followed by
Dave & Marie Spencer in 1989, and then by Paulette Lymbrick.
Barry & Cheryl Moor took the business in 1995, and
transferred it to Jayne & David Irons in April 2000. Jayne
& David celebrated their first 2 years with an extensive
refurbishment and grand re-opening.
Great Moments in History by Alan Caine
Extract from Arthur Mee's "The King's England" about Gt Limber
Extract from White's Directory of 1856