Dean paints shopfronts and business frontages in Milton Malsor, about 3.2 miles south-west of Northampton town centre. The village has very few: one shop on High Street, The Greyhound on Towcester Road and units on the Gayton Road and Maple Court industrial estates, each with different constraints.
A short list of frontages
Milton Malsor had 311 dwellings at the 2011 census, and its commercial frontages are few. The sources record:
- One village shop on High Street, in a former post office.
- The Greyhound, a pub with a large restaurant, on Towcester Road.
- The Compass on Green Street, a listed 18th-century building that has been closed as a pub since 2020.
- Offices in the former Hope Brewery.
- Industrial units on the Gayton Road and Maple Court estates.
That is a small set, and no two of them are alike. So rather than a standard shopfront package, each frontage gets its own plan. The general approach to working round trading hours is on our main shopfront painting page.
The High Street shop and conservation-area rules
The village shop sits on High Street inside the Milton Malsor Conservation Area, among listed thatched cottages and the green with its 1920 war memorial. A frontage there is part of that street scene. Repainting the existing colours is maintenance, but a strong new corporate colour, or painting stone that is currently bare, could need planning advice from West Northamptonshire Council, and listed building consent if the building itself is listed. Dean will raise that before quoting rather than after.
A small village shop also cannot close for days. Fascia boards, window frames and the door are planned so the entrance is always usable, with the door done at the start or end of the day and wet-paint signs up wherever customers pass.
On a timber fascia board or window frame, preparation follows exterior joinery practice: sanding back, sealing knots, priming bare wood, then a hard-wearing gloss or satin. Painted or vinyl lettering is protected, or taken down and refitted by the sign maker, rather than painted over.
Holly House care home and the primary school, both on Green Street, are not shops, but they sit in the same conservation area and their entrances need the same care. Signage boards, doors and porches on buildings like these are planned around residents’ or pupils’ routines, with access kept open at all times.
Pub frontages on Towcester Road and Green Street
The Greyhound’s frontage faces Towcester Road, the village’s main road link, so it takes traffic grime as well as weather, and it needs washing down before any paint goes on. Work is timed around service, which usually means mornings before opening, so diners are not sitting next to wet paint.
The Compass is a different case. Its walls are painted coursed rubble under slate, with casements and horned sashes, and the building is listed. If it is repaired or reopened, the painted stone needs testing to find out whether it carries limewash, mineral paint or acrylic, then a breathable coat to match. That is closer to heritage repair than a shopfront refresh, and any change to its colour or finish would need listed building consent checking with West Northamptonshire Council first.
Offices and industrial units
The offices in the former Hope Brewery and the units off Gayton Road and at Maple Court are not shopfronts in the High Street sense, but their entrances, signage boards, roller-shutter surrounds and steel doors still need repainting from time to time. That kind of work fits better under our commercial painting service, and on industrial units it is planned around deliveries and shift patterns. For homes and other buildings in the village, see our Milton Malsor page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
