Welcome to this walking tour of modern ghost signs!
This 40-minute journey will guide you through York’s recent past, highlighting ghost signs that have appeared in the last 50 years.
Explore the fascinating remnants of businesses like Aviva, Boots, and Society, each offering a glimpse into the city’s evolving commercial landscape.
The Route
Click here to follow along on Google Maps.
1. Norwich Union
Our tour begins near York Station on the corner of Rougier Street. Now a high-end cocktail bar, Malmaison was once Norwich Union. The rectangular sign is still visible under the current Malmaison script.
Norwich Union was established in 1797, but was phased out following Aviva’s 2008 announcement. This led to the rebranding of Norwich Union as Aviva in 2009, when the sign was removed.
For more information on this sign, click here.
2. Society Lounge
Walk down Rougier Street for another minute or two. On the left side of the street you will see the Hooting Owl Distillery. Still visible under this new sign is faded text reading ‘Society’ in block capitals.
The Society Lounge, established in 2012, was a once-bustling nightspot in York that closed its doors at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
For more information on this sign, click here.
3. Café Charlotte
Walk to the end of Rougier Street and take a right onto Micklegate. At the end of Micklegate, take a right onto Castlegate.
At 21 Castlegate on the corner of the Coppergate Gallery, you can see the faded remnant of Café Charlotte.
For more information on this sign, click here.
4. Virgin Money
Walk up Coppergate heading back into the city centre. Keep going onto Parliament Street and across to Davygate.
At 13 Davygate, where the Rolex shop now is, you can see the silhouette of the ‘Virgin Money’ sign.
For more information on this sign, click here.
5. Debenhams
Just next door at 16 Davygate is the ghost sign of Debenhams.
Much like the previous Virgin Money sign, the white stone still shows the outline of the metal lettering reading ‘Debenhams’.
For more information on this sign, click here.
6. Boots Pharmacy
Head back the way you came along Davygate, and take a left up Church Street.
At the corner of Kings Square, you can see an empty building with ghost signs reading ‘Pharmacy’ in frosted glass window panels.
In the late 1900s, this building became home to a Boots Pharmacy. Although it only closed its doors in October 2023, the Boots Pharmacy sign already has the appearance of a much older ghost sign.
For more information on this sign, click here.
7. Bile Beans
Keep heading up Church Street onto Goodramgate. Walk for 5 minutes, and at the very top of Goodramgate across the road, you can see the famous Bile Beans ghost sign.
The sign, which adorns a wall near the crossroads of Lord Mayor’s Walk and Monkgate, was originally painted in the late 1970s, and then repainted in the 1980s by the York Arts Forum.
For more information on this sign, click here.
Thank you for joining our Modern Ghost Signs Walking Tour! We hope you’ve enjoyed discovering these contemporary markers of York’s vibrant and evolving history.
Got any thoughts or a story to share? We’re all ears—drop your comments below and join the conversation!