The Fifteenth Century Bookshop

This is an amazing second-hand bookshop, which takes its name from the wonderful 15th-century building in which it is housed. They have an enormous stock, specialising in children's books (although they still have thousands of books on other subjects). The owners are friendly, helpful and very knowledgeable, and also handle enquiries over the web.

I can't help but take reference with Lois' complaint regarding the condition of the books within the Fifteenth Century Bookshop; while I do agree, I feel it is necessary to point out that not many 50 year old books can be found in perfect condition. I personally love this shop, I'm not a hugely avid reader, but this shop has so much character and purpose, that I much prefer it to the uniform Waterstones that sits in every UK High Street. As already mentioned, the shop specialises in older books, normally of a rare breed. If you are a reading enthusiast, or book collector, this shop will be your haven.

This is also the most amazing second hand, and to that matter, first hand bookshop I have ever been in, and so without much of a do I will give it 5 stars. I love the stooping down that is required as you enter, as the process becomes a right of passage,gaining you entry into this magical, dusty old place, and once you've made that stoop, you've been taken to another land. When I went, the place was completely empty apart from myself, and so I was provided the luxury of being able to browse the archaic and anarchic shelves without any need to hurry. My favourite area was the rather small and unassuming shelves dedicated to Literature, and seeing the size of them I didn't feel too confident that I was going to find a lot that I was interested in, but I was pleasantly surprised. Some of my favourite books such as Catch 22, and the Great Gatsby, were sitting there proudly, along with some others I've always wanted to read. Basically there wasn't a spare book on show that was wasting space. I ended up buying a 1958 old Penguin copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night for £2 which I incredibly happy with. There is so much more for those looking for something more specific, such as some weird and wonderful reference books, biographies and art literature.

This is a lovely [very, very old] little book shop. If you like to have a rummage and you're not scared of small spaces, this place is a dream. There are so many old books to look at that you will find something to love. It's well worth the short stroll up the hill to have a look at something that isn't on every high street. Come and enjoy the magical feel of the place, it's quite special.

The Fifteenth century bookshop seems to me to be the way Black Books would have been had they written it a hundred years or so earlier. I like to think of it as the grand farther to that fabled comedy establishment. I first discovered this place on my way out of Lewes after attending the bonfire celebrations one year. I practically screeched to a halt on my motorbike with my friend on the back because I was so taken by the exterior of this shop. Once you step down into the shop from the street the feel of the place seems to carry on in very much the same tack. It's so very stereotypical, the chap working here hides out at the counter behind mountainous shelves of books, his wayward grey hair teetering over the rims of his glasses allowing as little of the modern world in has he can possibly get away with. He even has a tired pair of brown brogues, which instantly reminded me of Stephen Fry's Donald Trefusis. The stock is a tad more varied than you might expect too it had, until a recent trip, always been my belief that this was an antiquarian bookshop but this is not so. There are a great range of books here so not only is it worth a visit to enjoy the place's superb novelty value but also to pick up some well priced reading material.

I'm split between the building and the stock when it comes to this shop. I will start with the building. It's amazing! From the sinking doorway to the timber frame this really is like stepping into the past. Even inside there is a magical feel about the shop and I would love to be able to check out the other rooms and cellar of the place (it's the art historian in me!) Now the stock. I did manage to pick up a very quaint copy of Great Expectations from here, but in general I always expect rarer and more obscure books than are actually available. There are certainly enough books to choose from and a lot of them are precariously stacked up with warning signs to ask a member of staff (usually trying to do as little as possible in a corner) to retrieve them for further inspection. All the expected fiction and non fiction genres are catered for and there is an especially expansive children's selection. Mostly though the books are not particularly inspiring, but the prices are reasonable enough. It certainly is a unique little shop that definitely warrants you checking out, but I would have liked to see a few more occult tomes or rare editions to match the magic of the building itself.

I have known this store for over 50 years and as a proud Englishman who lived in the area for many years I was excited to take my American wife to show her a beautiful old English bookshop. While the shop itself was wonderful the lady behind the counter was the most unhelpful, unfriendly person I have encountered in a long time. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. It's a shame that such a wonderful old store has someone like this running it. I don't know if she was the owner or an employee, however, suffice to say I ended up apologizing to my wife for such an unfriendly experience.

The worst customer service I have ever encountered in a while. Not only didn't I get help with my research, but I also got closely followed and pressured to buy or leave the shop by an extremely unpleasant old lady. I was really looking forward to browsing through the books but in the end it has been an unpleasant and uncomfortable experience. Not the type of service I was expecting for such a lovely place.

This is the most incredible bookshop I have ever been in...I am incredulous every time I duck down to get into the low doorway and walk into this chaos of books. It truly is a fifteenth century half-timbered building with low ceilings, and so many books on shelves and piled on every surface that they may very well have been there since the fifteenth century. I have never seen so many dusty books crammed into a small space! If you can bear to dig through you can find some amazing old enid blyton and other kid's favorites- between ten and a hundred pounds for the rarities. In the back room-a slightly tidier room- there are novels, biographies, reference, history, art and more.

Have to agree with Caroline B and Alec P on the customer service. Entered the shop today to ask if they were interested in purchasing an item I had specially brought in (knowing that their apparent focus is on antiquarian books). About 20 seconds after I'd entered the shop and started looking around for someone to help me a lady appeared, not even saying 'hello' or 'good afternoon' in greeting. When I asked her if she might be interested in seeing what I had to offer she responded with 'well I don't know really', and when I got it out and proffered it to her with the thought that she might like to have a look at it she took a summary glance, left me holding it at arms length instead of taking it to look at (in fact almost shying away from touching the item) and then said 'no, not interested' very rudely. Didn't even reply to my 'goodbye' when I left the shop. In summary- rude, unhepful and very unpleasant. I certainly won't be back and I would heavily recommend the Bow Windows Bookshop further down the street, where the service is polite and friendly, aside from the fact that one can actually step into the shop without having to squeeze through a tiny door half blocked by piles of books. The books themselves, incidentally, are so numerous and disorganised in huge piles all over the place that its actually pretty hard to move around the place. Not good.