Lark Lane has been an area of great character ever since it was first noted in a street directory over 125 years ago. 

During the 19th century the buildings which now house Maranto's were in use by such diverse occupants as a Chemist, a Plumbers Merchant, Hosier and Wesleyan Mission Chapel.

In the first quarter of this century the main (Restaurant) building was put to popular use as a cocoa rooms for local workers and their families. During the same period the Gathering Place site has passed through various hands as a Laundry, Skating Academy and after the Great War, as premises for a Motor Company. A Child Welfare centre and an Antique Dealer occupied the respective buildings during the "Swinging Sixties" and, prior to the refurbishment by Maranto's (1983) the main site was used by a manufacturer of window blinds.