We paint shopfronts, pub frontages and commercial buildings in Moulton, NN3, about 4.3 miles north-east of Northampton town centre. Most of the village's businesses trade from older buildings around Stocks Hill inside the conservation area, so Dean plans the colour, the access and the working hours with you before starting.
Who trades where in Moulton
Moulton’s commercial life is concentrated rather than spread out. Stocks Hill is the village centre, with village shops, the Co-op and its rear car park, Rochmills Chemist and the Village Autos garage. More premises run along the High Street, and on West Street the JGallery and a coffee house occupy converted agricultural buildings, and there is the West Street Garage site. Add the pubs, the Cardigan Arms, The Telegraph and The Artichoke, and you have most of the village’s frontages.
Almost all of these sit in historic buildings. The Artichoke on Church Street, with a datestone of 1680 and stone mullioned windows, and The Telegraph are both Grade II listed. Village Autos and the Cardigan Arms on Stocks Hill are locally listed. That puts frontage painting here in a different category from a parade on a modern estate, because the building around the shop matters as much as the shop itself.
What the conservation appraisal asks for
The 2017 Moulton Conservation Area appraisal notes that Stocks Hill has larger modern advertising windows and some rendered buildings, and says shopfronts and advertising should be sensitive to the conservation area. In practice, for a repaint, that points towards:
- deeper, traditional colours on fascias, pilasters and stallrisers rather than bright corporate shades
- leaving bare ironstone and ashlar around the frontage unpainted, and keeping paint off stone sills and lintels
- repainting existing timber shopfront joinery rather than boxing or cladding over it
- a colour for rendered walls above the shop that sits quietly with the stone buildings beside it
If the building is listed, a change from the existing colour may need consent, and a new or altered sign may need advertisement consent. We paint the board ready for your signwriter or sign company and work around existing lettering where you want it kept.
Keeping the door open on a tight street
Stocks Hill is busy for its size. The conservation appraisal records pressure on on-street parking and a one-way system, and it flags traffic as a priority issue for the parish. Our approach on a Moulton frontage:
We unload early and park off the street, using the car park behind the Co-op or Barlow Lane where possible, rather than leave a van on the hill all day. Ladders and towers are set so the entrance always stays clear, with barriers and wet paint signs on the footway. The noisier preparation, scraping and sanding, is done at quieter points in your trading week, which we agree with you in advance. Pubs often prefer the morning before opening; a chemist or convenience store may want the entrance painted last thing so it dries overnight. Paint needs dry, mild conditions to cure, so we keep an eye on the forecast and move days rather than risk a wet coat on a customer’s sleeve.
Beyond the frontage
A shopfront repaint is a good moment to look at the rest of the building. A garage such as Village Autos may have workshop doors and painted walls, a pub may have sign brackets or railings, and the converted agricultural buildings on West Street have timber doors and boarding. All of that can be added to the same visit. The full approach to commercial frontages is on our shopfront painting page, and for homes and other work in the village see our Moulton area page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
