Iconic Northampton coffee shop and part of the town's history could reopen soon thanks to pub landlords

An iconic Northampton coffee shop that used to be a major part of the high street will hopefully reopen by the end of the year thanks to two passionate pub landlords.

Lawrence’s in St Giles Street, which was part of the Oliver Adams building, traded in the town centre for decades before it closed in 2017.

Now plans are in place to renovate, revamp and reopen the piece of history as an independent coffee shop.

Pub landlords Craig Ryan and Martyn Edwards, who run the Edge of Town and Bat and Wickets, are in the process of buying the premises and are keen to restore it to its former glory.

Craig said: “I was born in Northampton, my parents were and my grandparents were too and no-one has ever known that shop to be anything other than Lawrence’s.

“Whenever anyone posts on social media about Lawrence’s, there are always 100-150 comments.

“It was really popular and people have a lot of memories of it.

“We want to restore the shop and those memories. This is what we do - keeping historical things that way. This is what we are passionate about.”

Back in 2019, Craig and Martyn took on the Bat and Wickets in Baliff Street after saving it from being turned into flats and it is still running, successfully, as a pub now.

Now the pair are waiting to complete the legalities on their latest venture at Lawrence’s where they hope they can bring about some nostalgia for the people of Northampton.

Craig added: “We could not change the name as everyone would still call it Lawrence’s anyway.

“We’re just waiting to sign on the dotted line and then we’re good to go.

“As soon as we get the keys work will begin. There is a lot of work required and we’ll have electricians and decorators in.

“I think in total there will be about six months of work needed, including getting all the furniture and stock in.

“It will be a lot of hard work and I am nervous, especially as people will walk in and it will look completely different as everything that was there before was taken.

“But we will keep the traditional theme and hopefully we will pull it off and it will go down well.”

Once up and running, Craig and Martyn will serve early morning breakfasts, as well as afternoon teas and, of course, coffee. They have also acquired the recipe for 'The Northampton Cheesecake', which was a must-have, as well as another Lawrence's favourite - Lemon Meringue Pie.

Future plans also include introducing an evening menu so the venue can remain open for dinner service too.