The original site closed at the start of the first lockdown. Since the launch of the new site in June 2021, changes since lockdown have been recorded and the listings brought up to date. That said, we still occasionally discover shops that are unaccountably missing, and it is an unending task to discover and record shop closures and new shops. The main changes we see are to shops' opening hours. Many, perhaps most shops have reduced their hours or the days they open, and therefore we strongly recommend contacting any shops in advance if you are making a special journey.

Book fairs are now recorded on our associated Facebook page, maintained by Jon Morgan, including any local community fairs we hear of, and the Sheppard's Confidential site also lists the next few months' dealer book fairs.

Sheppard's Confidential also maintains a calendar of book auctions.

Our Facebook page also posts a monthly rundown of the latest reviews with shop photos.

Our updates are mainly the work of a dedicated core group, some of whom cover much of the country on book-buying trips. To keep up with the latest changes we ask you all, bookshop visitors and bookshop owners, to please let us know of all changes to shop details - opening hours, contact details, temporary or permanent closure etc. Details of how to do this are on our guidelines page.

Visitors and shop owners have pointed out that many comments are very old and unlikely to represent a shop's current state, especially when a shop has been taken over and restocked. For this reason, comments made before 2018 are now hidden by default. The Show older comments link near the top of each listings page displays them.

Map links: the marker position is that of the shop's postcode, and is therefore not exact, but usually within a few buildings.

Lastly, sad though it is, we like to record the passing of bookshops. From June 2021 all bookshops removed from the listings are moved to the Graveyard page with all comments.

Bookshop name index

Bookshop place index

Interactive Bookshop map

Bookshops removed since January 2024

Bookshops removed from June 2021 to December 2023

Bookshops by location

Central

   Bedfordshire
   Derbyshire
   Herefordshire
   Hertfordshire
   Leicestershire
   Lincolnshire
   Northamptonshire
   Nottinghamshire
   Rutland
   Shropshire
   Staffordshire
   Warwickshire
   West Midlands
   Worcestershire

East Anglia

   Cambridgeshire
   Essex
   Norfolk
   Suffolk

London

   WC & EC Postcodes
   E Postcodes
   NW Postcodes
   N Postcodes
   Outer
   SE Postcodes
   SW Postcodes
   W Postcodes

North East

   Cleveland
   County Durham
   East Yorkshire
   North Yorkshire
   Northumberland
   South Yorkshire
   Tyne And Wear
   West Yorkshire

North West

   Cheshire
   Cumbria
   Greater Manchester
   Isle of Man
   Lancashire
   Merseyside

South East

   East Sussex
   Kent
   Surrey
   West Sussex

South West

   Bristol
   Cornwall
   Devon
   Gloucestershire
   Somerset
   Wiltshire

Southern

   Berkshire
   Buckinghamshire
   Dorset
   Hampshire
   Isle of Wight
   Oxfordshire

Northern Ireland

   Belfast
   Co. Antrim
   Co. Armagh
   Co. Down
   Co. Fermanagh
   Co. Londonderry
   Co. Tyrone

Scotland

   Central Scotland
   Edinburgh
   Glasgow
   North East Scotland
   Scottish Highlands
   Scottish Islands
   South East Scotland
   South West Scotland
   Wigtown

Wales

   Mid Wales
   North Wales
   South Wales
   West Wales

Republic of Ireland

   Co. Cavan
   Co. Clare
   Co. Cork
   Co. Donegal
   Co. Dublin
   Co. Galway
   Co. Kerry
   Co. Kilkenny
   Co. Leitrim
   Co. Limerick
   Co. Mayo
   Co. Meath
   Co. Offaly
   Co. Roscommon
   Co. Sligo
   Co. Tipperary
   Co. Waterford
   Co. Westmeath
   Co. Wexford
   Co. Wicklow