The Deanery Bookstall of Winchester Cathedral — Local services in Winchester

This is a second hand book shop in the grounds of Winchester Cathedral and, as the name suggests, The Deanery Bookstall is a great place for book lovers & keen readers. Since I am both of these things, personally I loved it. The owner, Miranda, is somewhat eccentric but very friendly, and if you need help is more than willing to assist in any way. The shop is quite simply an Aladdin's cave of books and more than likely has a copy of pretty much any book you can think of somewhere in amongst the vast number of shelves and boxes. The range of fiction alone covers all genres from romance to sci-fi to thrillers and beyond, and all eras from the very early classics right through to contemporary best sellers. I saw books on cookery, travel, gardening, carpentry etc, there were self help books, atlases, sporting guides, local, national and world history books, car manuals, dictionaries, biographies and autobiographies, encyclopedias, you name it! I could have literally spent hours in there! Although I don't often get up to Winchester I have family members who go there regularly and they say that their visits would not be complete without stopping at the Deanery Bookstall since there is always something there for them. They've found hidden gems such as a copy of an old and beloved favourite book from childhood and a particularly fascinating local history book along with a number of books by several different authors and from several different series written over the last 20 or 30 years which were missing from their or my collections and were a very welcome addition. In short the Deanery Bookstall is a book lovers paradise and I for one highly...

Great place! My husband and I often come here to buy £15-40 worth of books in one shot. We love our used book shops, but while he is white, I am not, and when shopping alone it can mean a different experience. The only downside to this place is that if you are a tanned Californian (like me), you will probably get hounded by the white lady with blondish short hair, jeans and white button up. I found that my browsing experience kept being interrupted by her putting books back in my area. And I was keeping track of whether they just happened to be by me or by other shoppers? Anyway, when I went outside to pay, there was a security guard there giving strange glances- and I thought- oh! Must be that British hospitality to tanned Americans that may or may not remind them of other unrelated cultures (of course I want to steal £1-3 Christian kids books about Christ, lambs, and donkey’s that could? Im tanned, it’s what tanned people with long dark hair do right?) Anyway, the moment was saved when the old man that is always so kind, took my stack of interesting picks and tallied them up, then lovingly helped me place them in my bag. Lovely place, just keep an eye out for the occasional lurking prejudice personified and incarnate in the “excuse me” lady. Mythical, they say, in this modern age, but still very much leaping off the wooden shelves from time to time, in many a place like this… Not a good look for a business operating out...

Upon first impressions inside the actual bookshop, though it gave me imense Deja Vu like I have been there before, there is an abousouletely enormous selection of books for such a small book store. You really do have to look for more less 'mainstream' classics, but the more well-known ones stare you in the eye (names such as Virgina Woolf, Charlotte Brontë, Mary Shelley, Charles Dickens ect). Modern fiction, more educational/historical/poltical books aswell as a good range of picture books of things like turkish antiques which I found are prominent. I did end up finding the book which I was looking for which was 'Stoner' by John Williams and it was only 2 quid in incredible condition. Overall, for my first visit I had a very hospitiale and benevolent expirence from one of the volunteers and the cute little guard pug :). I will...