Open: Monday - Saturday (including Bank Holiday Mondays) 9.00 - 6.00, Sundays and New Year’s Day 10.00 - 6.00
Very large shop, on three floors. Established in 1974. Extensive and varied non-fiction stock. Also plenty of fiction. Café on the first floor of the premises.
Great location by the river, busy cafe, lots of books but odd practice of mingling new and second hand together. Limited nearby parking. Lost Club 16.11.09
I could spend all day here, with so many different rooms, little nooks and crannies, hidden corners and book stacks to browse! We usually take a 'tea and cake' break partway through in the lovely cafe before hitting the shelves again. Have picked up some great secondhand bargains and new books here - the staff are very knowledgeable too - and it's a lovely spot to visit of an afternoon. Ellie 03.01.12
Up a side street from the square in Cromford, I had really high hopes for this shop. Once inside, I felt a wee bit overwhelmed. You really need several hours just to scratch the surface. Lacking this, I made a beeline for my usual subjects but was put off somewhat by the mixing of new and second-hand titles. I eventually left feeling somewhat frustrated. Shall try again when I've got more time to spare! Graeme Rendall 22.10.12
Always worth a visit, but the practice of mixing new and old is a bit off-putting. Excellent cafe. GB 19.11.12
I find the mixing of old and new at Scarthins quite useful - after all if you are interested in, say, dragonflies or arts & crafts houses or pre-dreadnought battleships you're likely to be pleased to see both old and new books on the subject. Henry Middleton 30.11.12
The mixing of old & new books is strange especially as some of the new books are obviously several years old and look like bright second-hand copies. Mr Superbus 12.02.13
I rather like the new and old together as it helps my specialisms hunts. Very decent prices, nice cafe, old fashioned shop, excellent all round for a detailed visit. Norman Davies 01.05.13
It had been fourteen years since my last visit and I had completely forgotten what a treasure trove this bookshop holds. For all of my time on the premises everyone I came across was helpful and I was taken to all the sections which contained books I collect. The holdings are so massive that it would be unfair to categorise them. I came away with a car boot full of gems. WWAD. Chris Harte 11.07.13
Three-storey building, once a dwelling, now entirely given over to bookshelves. Even the loo houses the Victorian sets. Priced competitively and the stock seems to be frequently refreshed. Cafe is a bit "right-on" for non-veggies, but the books make up for this. Charles Murray 21.11.13
This is everything a good bookshop should be. It has an extensive, interesting and sensibly priced stock, which is helpfully laid out over three floors and is all well chosen and presented. The staff are cheerful, helpful and knowledgeable, and the place has a very professional atmosphere. On top of that its open seven days a week, so what more could you want? One of the best shops I've visited for some time and well worth a detour. Nicholas Pendower 12.04.14
Given up after many - too many - years. Ditsy café workers discussing personal problems; piles of books lying around waiting to trap the unwary; every cretin in Derbyshire roaming around at weekends ... Andrew Bradley 21.06.14
I have tried very hard to like this shop but have now given up. They seem to buy in very little antiquarian stock, and the most interesting titles are beyond reach on a high shelf marked 'Internet Stock'. The implication is that you can't touch it. They also put obviously second-hand books on the 'new shelves' and try to charge you the publisher's original listed price at the till. But the thing that finally tipped-me over the edge was this: they have a beam circa 6 feet high that I have often banged my head on. On the beam is a sign saying 'If your head touches this you can claim £4 worth of free books'. I have never sought to take them up on the offer but decided I would on my last visit, if for no other reason than I had decided to buy an over-priced item and wanted the price somehow adjusted more fairly. But when I tried to obtain the discount (I am somewhere between 6ft 3 and 4) the woman at the till asked me where my children were. Why? I asked. "Because," she explained, "the offer applied to parents with children because the low beam is in the children's section". Utterly absurd! I have regularly scoured the children's section and believe the discount should apply to anyone trying to negotiate the low beam in that part of the shop. Needless to say, the sign does not restrict the discount to parents. When I explained that my child is disabled and would not be able to cope with either their messy shop or the steep steps, and tat I therefore bought books for him on my own, a very grudging and disbelieving discount was offered. I refused it and paid the full price. This wasn't quite prejudice against the disabled but it falls half way between. Anyway, I will never enter the shop again. Mr Superbus 27.04.15
After reading the comments of Mr Superbus and Andrew Bradley it seems to me that Scarthin Books were extremely fortunate in raising £12,000 recently from their customers. If only they'd heeded the warnings of the prophets. Mab 19.05.15
Just up (and away) from the tourist bustle of Matlock Bath is this gem. It is the very epitome of what a secondhand bookshop should be, a little Aladdin's cave with books in all sorts of nooks and crannies. Prices very reasonable, although new and secondhand shelves are intermingled throughout the shop. Steven Kelly 10.08.17
This is a legend in the east midlands! 3 floors of well-sorted books open 7 days til late, with 50p books kept in outdoor porch with honesty-box for out-of-hours purchases; knowledgable staff; cultural events like philosophers' café and poetry readings. Some bizarre comments above by humourless visitors with no common sense; the new books are on separate shelves in joint sections but apparently this (to quote Peter Cook) could easily confuse a stupid person. One of the best shops in the Country. glenk 10.07.18
Visited for the 1st time as a birthday treat on a sunny July weekday and it is easy to see why this is so highly regarded. First its location is fantastic with a large pound with ducks and swans and the river just opposite. Parking was available in the Greyhound car park down the hill or one can park for 30mins on the street outside. The shop benefits from having onsite toilet and cafe. All books are sorted and the 2nd hand are kept apart from the new. The new stock seemed to all be at RRP so not great but the 2nd hand titles is where this shop shines. I came away with 5 books and a discount and £2 worth of Scarthin book tokens which I then proceeded to spend immediately in the cafe. This shop is what all 2nd hand bookshops should aspire to. Laurence Batchelor 03.08.18
Six years since my last report and the stock is still as interesting as ever. Many staff changes meant that the treasures in the attic were not available to be seen. The problem with going in late August were pretentious parents showing off their little knowledge of books to clearly bored children. Chris Harte 03.09.19
Wonderful shop and great cafe. Lovely afternoon out. Bibliopolis 11.11.19
A classic case of the demise of bookshop where a decade ago this shop had interesting well priced book shelves. Now those shelves are still full but with largely tired run of the mill uninteresting stock [due to their heavy internet operation so the public never see them].
I always used to find a pile of books, but no more. If you do stumble on a nice collectable item make sure a chair is at hand because the price may well not be a bargain. Their last review from me as I will not be going back High Peaker 16.08.21
As a regular visitor for in excess of thirty years, I have noted a drop in the quality of the books being offered for sale. But what annoyed me more was the attitude of some of the male staff. They were certainly not interested in directing a customer to where his interests might be found. In the end it took one of the cafe's waitresses to show me what I wanted to see: what had once been on shelves forming the side of a wall in a room was now just a six foot long shelf precariously perched above a window. Oh dear! Chris Harte 20.02.22
As we were in Cromford visiting Countryside books we thought we may as well look in at Scarthin and see if there had been any improvement since we were last there.
But, as recent comments show, it continues to decline. The percentage of new books continue to increase and the second-hand stock doesn't appear to have been refreshed for years.
It is very sad as this used to be an essential port of call but no more. There also seems to be a high proportion of pretentious customers there these days. David 07.06.22
Have to agree with the recent comments. It does appear that second-hand stock is being run down rather than replenished. The language section hidden via a precarious garden path is now almost neat and tidy, whereas it used to be chock full with immovable boxes and crates strewn all over the floor and over the piano. Sadly, the stench of mildew permeates the air and has feasted on some books. Still, it boasts the largest collection of (sadly not very interesting) Icelandic books I have seen on my travels, so there's that. Prices are still on the high side given the condition of the stock. Stive 25.02.24
To echo previous comments, the second hand sections have been dwindled right down. Barely any fiction unless you want new, most non-fiction is 50/50 new to second hand, if not more given over to new. Some average finds but nothing special. AHowl 23.03.25
Not as good as it used to be, as others have already noted. Two signs of decline are evident: the second-hand books now account for a smaller proportion of the stock and - more problematically, I'd say - there has been a decrease in quality. Fiction seems to have borne the brunt. The hardback stock in particular is much diminished. Still quite a lot of paperbacks at low prices: £1.50-£2.50. Vintage Penguins almost all £2.50. Sixty vintage green crime Penguins at £5-£20, depending on condition and scarcity; most at the lower end of that range. About 300 Folio Society volumes (mostly £5-£10). Quite a large stock of graphic novels, not too pricey (many £5 to £7.50). The poetry section is still decently sized and good quality. The drama is less impressive on both counts.
Some non-fiction sections are still rather good: history, topography, art, the esoteric, natural history/ornithology and local interest. A varied range of books on music and a good selection of sheet music. The military section has a smattering of better-quality stock. Some decent railway books. Quite good for politics and the social sciences. Other sections with reasonable stock include gardening, film, architecture and ceramics. The religion and science sections are dull, as are most of the sports books, although angling and equestrianism are partial exceptions. Prices are mixed. High for the better art books and for some of the local interest titles. For history, transport, music and the social sciences, the prices seem more reasonable, although I would not describe them as low.
The shop chalked up its half-century last year, but its best days seem to be behind it now. Disappointing though this is, Scarthin Books is still a decent shop and you stand a fair chance of finding something you will want. But NWAD any longer, I feel. Cromford, though, is a lovely village and it would be folly to visit it without checking out the shop. The Market Place bus stops are two minutes away: buses to Derby and Bakewell (route 6.1), Wirksworth (6.1, X17; also, Monday-Saturday only, 110/111), Matlock (as for Wirksworth; also 158 on Monday-Saturday), Chesterfield and Sheffield (X17), Ashbourne (110 and 111; not Sundays). The 140 (Matlock-Alfreton; Monday-Saturday) serves Cromford railway station, a 12-minute walk away. Booker T 29.07.25
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