34, 36, 40, 42 & 44 Litlington Road

As Litlington Road wound its way out of the village it had ancient enclosures on the west and south, mostly abutting Cheyney Water. Elsewhere lay the vast open fields composed of strips of land in various ownerships and farmed co-operatively by different farmers. At Parliamentary Enclosure (1806-1817) these open-field lands were divided up into large self-contained fields and “allotted” to individual owners. As part of this process smaller allotments were granted to small-holders and cottagers and one of these was a small field of 4a 3r 3p on the south side of Litlington Road, which was allotted to Nancy Pain. She had acquired in 1812 the adjoining cottage and garden known as Wet Bottom, which today is Cheyney Willows. See 24 & 26 Litlington Road for the detailed history.

After descent through the Pain family and by marriage, the 4a 3r 3p field was sold in 1895 to Ellis Wilkerson, owner of Cheyney Water Farm and when the farm was sold in 1909, it was bought by the Cambridgeshire County Council as part of that farm, which they acquired for letting as small holdings.  One of the small-holding families was the Jarmans, who bought the 4a 3r 3p field, probably in the late 1920s and subsequently in the early 1930s built two modest bungalows, that might be described as Jarman retirement homes?

At the start of World War II 175 acres, lying mainly to the south of Litlington Road, were compulsorily acquired  for the construction of an airfield, which lay to the east of this small field, just the other side of the hedge. This modest part of the Jarman farming empire was left intact, although the two bungalows lay immediately at the end of one of the three runways.

34 Litlington Road

This bungalow was built 1932/34 and became the retirement home of Arthur George Jarman, who had been born on The Green in 1869, son of Samuel and Susan Jarman. Arthur married Elizabeth Ann Newland in 1888, was a shepherd at Moco in 1891 and around 1895 took The Fox beer-house on The Green, becoming a publican and farmer. About 1934 he gave up The Fox and retired to the newly erected bungalow on Litlington Road, with his wife and youngest daughter Doris Martha. The bungalow had a plot of land with rather indeterminate boundaries, although it did not extend, by any means, the full length of the original field.

After Arthur died in 1947, daughter Doris Martha, who had married Stanley William Izzard in 1937, moved from the Wimpole Estate cottage next to the School in Hay Street to this bungalow, where the couple lived until Doris died in 1998 and Stan in 2003. On 7 January 2005, Peter George Jarman & others sold the bungalow to Ixworth Ltd, a property development business, which extended and modernised the bungalow. The owners in 2022, Mark Samuel Taylor and Michele Christine Kerridge acquired the property 3 September 2009.

The bungalow was numbered 34 Litlington Road in 1969 and it appears that otherwise it has only ever been known as The Bungalow.

36 Litlington Road

Built around in the same time, 1932/34 and in similar manner was No 36, which became the retirement home of Frederick Charles Newling and Florence Emily his wife. Frederick Newling’s sister Elizabeth Ann Newland was married to Arthur George Jarman and it was his son George Frederick Jarman, who sold the plot to Frederick on 18 November 1932. Requiring comment is the surname of Frederick Charles, as his parents and siblings used the name Newland, Frederick at birth was registered as Newling. He was Newland through childhood and youth and in adulthood reverted to Newling, which remained his name until death. This was not that uncommon and Newland and Newling were interchangeable in this area.

The bungalow was known as Wincott and numbered 36 in 1969. Frederick Newling lived there until his death in 1941 and his widow until her death in 1958. In 1959 it appears to have been sold to Eileen Lethbridge Wood. In 2006 it was acquired by the current owners John Henry Austin and Ruth Christine Austin. The property has been much extended and modernised in the 21st Century.

38 Litlington Road

Allowed for in the street numbering sequence this remains an empty plot.

40 Litlington Road

As the Jarman farming family grew, more accommodation was needed and in the late 1950s this house was built for Kenneth J & Jillian Jarman, following their marriage in 1958. Ken was son of George Frederick. The house was named Sundale and numbered 40 in 1969.

42 Litlington Road

This was built at the same time and for the same reason, to house the older son of George Frederick, who was Peter George and his wife Winifred Ruth, married in 1957. It was named Goldmere and numbered 42 in 1969. It was sold by the Jarman family on 29 July 2015 to Iain Gareth Walker and Julia Annette Gale

44 Litlington Road

This was the second phase of expansion of housing on the original small field, after the original two bungalows had been built, although this house was built at the other end of the field. The building plot did not extend far southwards into the original field and provided a relatively modest garden area. The property was designed as a cottage style house and built in 1937/38 it almost immediately found it had an airfield as a neighbour. It was built for George Frederick Jarman, the oldest surviving son of Arthur George. George Frederick married Ethel Annie Elizabeth Edwards in 1931 and they lived first from 1931 to 1938 at The Homestead, 15 Church Street. In 1938 they moved in to the new house, which they named Lilton and it was numbered 44 Litlington Road in 1969. In 2022 the house is home to George Frederick’s grandson Graham John Jarman and his wife Deborah.