Little Coates

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Little Coates is an area of western Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, England. Its history goes back to medieval times with a mention in the Domesday Book.

Previously a separate civil parish covering some 1,000 acres (4 km²), Little Coates stretches northward to the Pyewipe industrial estate, westward to the River Freshney and southward to Laceby Road (A46). On the other side of the river is the parish of Great Coates and the Willows/Wybers Wood estates, while to the south lies the parish of Bradley.

The parish church is Saint Michaels on Great Coates Road, which works closely with the churches in Great Coates and Bradley villages. The Littlecoates Community Centre in Saint Michaels Road, the Yarborough Community Centre (Yarrow Road) and the Yarborough Resource Centre (Central Parade)provide social activities for the residents of their respective areas. There are also tenant and resident associations in the Crowland Avenue, Saint Michaels Road, Laceby Acres and Yarborough areas.

In 2005, following a ballot of tenants, council houses on the Crowland, Littlecoates and Yarborough estates were transferred to the Shoreline Housing Partnership. Due to construction defects the Yarborough Estate, built during the 1950s, is in the process of being completely demolished and will be replaced by modern housing. The rebuilt estate will have the new name of Freshney Green.

Several community magazines used to be distributed within the Little Coates area. The Gilbey Road area is considered to be part of the West Marsh and received its community magazine Riverside. Another community magazine called Toothill and Roundabout was distributed in the Toothill and Yarborough Road area, while a third magazine, Livewire, was circulated in the Crowland Avenue, Bradley Cross Roads and Laceby Acres areas. These magazines relied on funding which came to an end, causing them to cease publication in 2008.

Grimsby Golf Course, Capes Recreation Ground, The Hotel Elizabeth (Littlecoates Road); Grimsby Auditorium, Grimsby Leisure Centre (Cromwell Road) and part of the Freshney Parkway recreation area are to be found within Little Coates. Also located in Cromwell Road is a fire station, the Cromwell Road Resource Centre, which caters for people with complex needs and the headquarters of the Grimsby North Local Team of Humberside Police. Part of Little Coates also comes under the Grimsby South Police Team. Kingston Gardens is situated in the Waterworks Cottages area. The only public library in the area was closed in 2004.

[edit] History

Little Coates was already inhabited by the time of the Norman conquest. By 1861 it had a population of 59 and consisted of Saint Michaels church and a few cottages. There was also a farm on the site where now stand the recreation ground and golf course.

Located just within the parish, near present day Chelmsford Avenue and Westhill Road, were natural water springs. Waterworks were established here in 1863 by the Great Grimsby Waterworks Company. Supplies were pumped from these springs to homes in neighbouring Grimsby via a reservoir at Scartho. Today the site is owned by Anglian Water.

By 1901 the population had reached 83. In the northern corner of the parish fish curing houses were erected and Dixons paper mill was opened in 1906. The population rapidly increased as houses were built in the vicinity of the mill and a community was established in the Gilbey Road area. Little Coates school was opened in Harlow Street; the school is still functioning but the paper mill closed in 1973. In 1921 the population stood at 2,768.

In 1928 Little Coates ceased to exist as a separate civil parish when most of it was absorbed by Grimsby, with a tiny portion being allocated to Great Coates. Before amalgamation the boundary with Grimsby ran along Pyewipe Road. To the east of this line, within Grimsby, were Corporation Road, Armstrong Street and the rest of the West Marsh. On the Little Coates side were Gilbey Road, Elsenham Road and neighbouring streets.

Using the present day street layout the boundary continued southward along the western side of, but excluded, Boulevard Avenue; took in the Yarborough Road area, parts of Marklew Avenue, Marshall Avenue and Morton Road. It then ran along the eastern edges of, and included, Shaftesbury Avenue, Clifton Road, Richmond Road, Kingston Avenue, the Waterworks Cottages, Cambridge Park estate, Sherwood Road and Watford Avenue, finishing at Laceby Road just west of modern day Saint Mark's Church.