Open: Summer, Monday - Friday 10.00 - 4.30, Saturday 10.00 - 5.00. Winter, Thursday to Saturday 10.00 - 4.00
East Anglia's Largest bookshop with something for everyone - over 60,000 books including the UK's largest stock of Transport/Shipping/Aviation Books (20,000+). Also Military, History, Art, East Anglian, Maps, Industrial History and a large stock of cheap Fiction/Classics/Childrens/Sci-Fi/Crime etc. Quality books always wanted.
Huge stock all on one level, well organised and labelled, clean and fairly (but not cheaply) priced. Wide range of subjects. WAD. Located slap bang in the centre of town facing the triangular town square, and just across the road from a car park. Roger Pearse 27.06.08
This is one of the best secondhand bookshops I have been to. Well organised & labelled & the shop seems to stretch back for miles! A lot of books, especially the collectable ones, have dustwrapper protection & new stock appears constantly. Have to disagree with Roger Pearse regarding prices - I think they are very reasonable. Bee Clarke 29.07.09
Quantity does not necessarily equal quality. Although this shop has a huge number of books on shelves which go deep into the back of the premises, the quality stock is to be found on the front shelves. Local titles are good but the majority of the rest is really just for the reader. Chris Harte 24.02.10
This has the most extensive collection of railway books at very reasonable prices I have seen for years. Genuinely WAD for other subjects too; the quality is in the specialist subjects as well as older books in the front. Norman Davies 16.07.10
A bit like Aladdin's cave, there is a lot more in this bookshop than might seem to be the case at first sight: room after room with books on most subjects, most of which are reasonably priced. Together with Poor Richard's, this makes Felixstowe a must for any secondhand book lover. Geoffrey Warner 15.12.11
As with its counterpart in Colchester, this is an extremely well-run and rewarding book shop. The stock is comprehensive and sensibly priced and the assistants were extremely helpful. There was a half-price sale on the day that we were there and we picked up a significant amount of good stuff. Highly recommended. Nicholas Pendower 06.03.13
Very well organised shop - remarkable transport collection. As for Castle bookshop Colchester a very good sale on at present. The Herne 26.03.13
The second of the two superb second hand bookshops in this provincial seaside town with a pethora of charity shops and one good charity bookshop. This place is truly tardis like and just kept going further and further back . I looked round outside and could not work out how it was done! There is a lot of transport specialism at the front of the shop which all looks good quality and reflects the new management interests. If that is not your thing, do not despair as there are extensive quality comprehensive sections on almost everything as you penetrate deeper, Rates the accolade WWAD as does Poor Richards, further towards the beach. Jon Morgan 13.08.14
Rounding off a most enjoyable visit to Felixstowe, this shop is unmissable. Transport selection alone worth the visit. But much to see in almost every section. Poetry especially well catered for and prices sensible. Herne 26.04.18
Revisited after some years. Superb. Amazing transport at sensible prices and a plethora of decent titles on other subjects in the Tardis like interior. Worth quite a substantial detour on my part. Norman Davies 15.08.19
I echo the last two comments. A huge amount of quality stock, nearly all in excellent condition too, with prices to match. I suspect if you are searching for any book on Rail, Road or Aviation you will have a 80% chance of finding it here. I spent so long looking round I did not have time to visit the other two bookshops in the town. Steve Newman 10.11.21
My only complaint about this remarkable shop is that paperbacks and hardbacks are shelved together in the otherwise admirable fiction sections. Not everyone minds that but I do. Overall this is one of the best shops in the country. With all due respect to our busiest port, it's a shame that it's in such an out of the way town, perched on the very edge of England. Laurence Purcell 18.11.21
This really just echoes what others have said. A shop that just seems to go back and back, with room after room. They didn't have the one transport book I wanted in their huge stock, but I bought a number of London books that I'm very happy with. Glad to see the shop was busy (but it was on a Saturday).
There were quite a lot of books on the floor, but I understand they were in the process of restocking, and it didn't really prevent access. They are due to get some large collections and they have regular sales of unsold books, pointing to a healthy turnover of stock. Long may it continue. Adrian 03.02.22
Excellent bookshop. Fiction and nonfiction. Hardback and paperback. Bargains outside in boxes and mid to pricey inside. Friendly welcome and very helpful owner / staff member. Give yourself plenty of time to look around. I got myself a rare book at a very good price. Jayne 21.06.22
I could not let my, long overdue, visit to Treasure Chest Books in Felixstowe yesterday, pass, without a mention.
I remembered it as being cavernous and 'tardis'-like (Seriously - A woman was near the cash desk shouting for her daughter - There is no way on earth she would have been heard at the back of the shop.) but it seemed more so.
Helen Bott, the very friendly and extremely helpful owner, told me of an episode when her son was young and at work with her, when they closed the shop, locked up and popped-out for fish and chips. On their return, happily munching at the counter, a woman came from the depths of the shop to pay for her purchases, utterly unaware that she had been locked in...) but it seemed even bigger and packed with books. Every corner, nook and cranny, leads off somewhere else and not necessarily back to the beginning. Recent acquisitions are still in bags awaiting shelving - there are notes inviting you to rummage - I did!!
This shop, for me bucked the trend of many secondhand bookshops these days where half empty shelves and much depleted stock is, or appears to be the norm - in London anyway. I have no doubts that this is due to the hard work of both Martin and Helen Bott, in chasing down new stock, whether it be in the specialist areas of transport - railways (My late father would have been in seventh heaven), local topography, military etc or in the wider areas of modern fiction, crime and biography. They are frequently reviewers on here, when picking up new stock from sometimes far away places - This shop has it all in spades!
I came away with a decent sized carrier bag, with handles re-inforced so it didn't break before I got back to the car, stuffed full of books for a very reasonable price.
I was in the shop for so long that I had to leave my first pile with Helen at the desk and go and move the car as the parking time had elapsed. - There is a public car park nearby but free parking is also possible on nearby roads.
Despite the current cost of petrol and distance travelled - 70 odd miles - I will be a more regular visitor here as it is the kind of shop you might have though had gone for ever.
Long may it survive with its great customer service ethos, brilliant stock and really nice other customers. The phone hardly stopped with people seeking books to buy or collections to sell and I somehow felt right at home..... the sign of a well-run and welcoming establishment A sunny day, nice people, excellent books and as a bonus, Boris resigned!
Get yourself down to Felixstowe, sod the journey, put a good long spell on the parking, take a big bag - you will need it. Firedrake 08.07.22
A wonderful bookshop with helpful and knowledgeable staff. It must be one of the largest second hand bookshops in the UK and certainly the best. The prices are very reasonable and I always come away with at least one purchase. Egduf 18.05.24
A brilliant bookshop with very good prices. It has something for everyone particularly all types of transport and military. It has a very good section on the Royal Navy from Tudor times to the Cold War and present day. The revolutionary wars and Napoleonic wars are particularly well covered. Over the years I have purchased books on Cochrane, Pellew and Saumarez here plus British Destroyer Development by Parkes, together with the standard work on British minelaying operations through the two world wars to 1960’s. So whether a general reader or after more specialist publications there really is something for everyone. I shall be back for more books as soon as I can. Tricky 18.05.24
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