Perhaps inevitably, this lettering example was noticed to have disappeared (with a stretch of ancient red brick wall which surrounds the burnt-out St Peter's warehouse which supported it) by late 2005. Presumably this is all part of the radical Waterfront Regeneration scheme which is responsible for the removal of massive unsightly old concrete structures and their replacement with massive unsightly new concrete structures (cynics!).

[UPDATE August, 2010: The old, burnt-out maltings behind this sign have now been demolished.]

[UPDATE May 2011: "... the metal plates with a V in them are not fire marks or fire plates; they indicate the position of valves on the water mains and are of late nineteenth or twentieth century date. The fire marks issued by insurance companies were much earlier, and were generally more ornate." Were grateful for this correction by Bob Malster (See Reading List). Indeed there are some fine examples of the fire plates on the building frontages opposite the Ancient House and elsewhere in Buttermarket.]