Building record 1160/0/735 - 56 Guildhall Road, Northampton

Fragmentary ghost sign of uncertain function on a terraced building at 56 Guildhall Road.

{1/2/3} Painted advertisement on the south-east-facing elevation of the three-storey brick terraced building at 56 Guildhall Road. The sign comprises blue lettering on a white background within a blue-bordered rectangular panel. An enlarged capital 'L' forms part of the design. The surviving inscription is only partially legible and appears to read 'LA [ ? ]' and 'SPARK [ ? ]'. The sign remains highly visible despite areas of flaking paintwork, although part of it is obscured by a mid-20th-century building addition. The building has a slate roof and remains in residential use. The original purpose of the sign relates to a company called Lants who produced sparkling soft drinks. Mineral water businesses had been based at 56 Guildhall Road and the adjoining premises in St John’s St for five decades by the time the Lants were here in the early 1950s. The company had been founded in Coventry in the nineteenth century. It was present in Northampton in the 1940s, and according to a newspaper advert in 1953 moved from 56 Guildhall Road to the old St James’s Mill in Northampton. Lants eventually became part of R.Whites who continue producing similar carbonated soft drinks today.

<1> Project volunteers and MOLA, 2026, Ghosts of Industry record forms (Digital archive). SNN117091.

<2> Kelly, Directory for Northamptonshire, 1898 (Directory). SNN105309.

<3> Chronicle & Echo (Newspaper). SNN114334.

Record last edited

Oct 14 2026 11:50AM