The Mortar and Pestle The mortar and pestle has been used by apothecaries, chemists and druggists for centuries to grind medicinal powders. It remains one of the chemist’s favourite symbols, depicted on shop signs to proclaim the nature of the … Continue reading
Just as pawnbrokers signal their presence with three suspended balls, and barbers have their red and white striped poles, so jewellers, clockmakers and watchmakers have traditionally attracted attention with elaborate projecting clocks, turret clocks or time balls. Examples can be … Continue reading
Stumbling across the wonderful Star Supply Stores on Lowestoft’s historical High Street – now Raphael Crafts – prompted a bit of research into this retail business. Star was one of many chains of grocers and provision dealers that thrived in English towns during the late … Continue reading
The multiple jeweller H. Samuel has been around for at least 140 years, and has always made extravagant claims, from ‘The Empire’s Largest Jeweller’ to ‘Britain’s Largest Jeweller’. This last boast possibly remains true today. Like most jewellers, H. Samuel … Continue reading
Conservative Neo-Classicism Marks & Spencer did not build shops until 1910, coinciding with Woolworth’s arrival on English soil (if, indeed, this was a coincidence – Woolworth was a direct rival!). The new and more familiar generation of M&S ‘super stores’ … Continue reading
Michael Vyne Treleaven (1850-1934) held the position of Boots the Chemist’s in-house architect for over a decade in the early 20th century, and was responsible for designing the company’s well-known mock-Tudor shops. Treleaven came from the parish of Poughill, near Bude in Cornwall. In … Continue reading
The prominent Nottingham architect Albert Nelson Bromley (1850-1934) designed many shops for Boots between the 1890s and the 1920s. At first he worked in a neo-Jacobean style, with a strong penchant for terracotta, but in the 1920s he switched to … Continue reading
The Historic England Blog Researching Woolworth’s stores in Great Britain and Ireland allowed me to wallow in childhood nostalgia. I clearly remember the old counter-service Woolies – customers clamouring for the attention of the ‘girls’, or testing the gigantic red … Continue reading
This gallery contains 10 photos.
The Historic England Blog London streets are lined with colourful shops, clamouring for our attention. Many are of considerable age, and have survived for our enjoyment only through careful maintenance by generations of shopkeepers. Kathryn Morrison, Head of Historic Places … Continue reading
The Newsboy W. H. Smith’s distinctive enamelled hanging signs depicted a newsboy crying his wares against a bright red background. The newsboy was designed for Smith’s in 1905 by the artist Septimus E. Scott (1880-1966). Scott had trained in his … Continue reading
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Building Our Past 