No.10

Cakebread Robey & Co. Ltd.

Location: London, UK
Date illuminated: September 19, 2016
Layers: 2

This is a palimpsest - a ghost sign showing multiple worn ads painted on each other. This specific sign nicknamed 'Cakebread Robey' has two discernable layers we were able to revive. Learn more below about the business that called this building home.

Layers

Tyssen Road N16

Cakebread, Robey & Co.

Cakebread, Robey & Co. builders' merchants was founded in 1882 by George Cakebread and Arthur Robey. It remained in Stoke Newington until 1965, but from 1914 its manufacturing took place at the Caroba Works on Wood Green High Road. The business was wound up in 2000, with the assets acquired by Neville Lumb and then Saint-Gobain.

The company made a name for itself producing stained and etched windows and mirrors. These survive in pubs and churches around the UK, and as far afield as Barbados. A relatively local example can be found in the well-preserved stained glass at the Salisbury Hotel pub on Green Lanes.

There are at least three layers of signage on this wall, creating a palimpsest that represents the development of the business. Each repainting added new products, necessitating smaller letters to fit them in. For each iteration a whitewash or primer was used to cover the older sign, and these are now fading to reveal earlier layers.