Open: Monday - Saturday 10.00 - 5.30.
A stock of some 50,000 titles, including children's, needlework, art & antiques, transport, military and antiquarian.
So many books, but they are everywhere. Very difficult to browse downstairs with the ever present fear of being hit by a falling book. Huge selection of books on all subjects. John F Bacon
Books piled everywhere. You need at least half a day to do justice to a wide and varied stock. Chris Harte 01.04.09
Revisited Camilla's recently. Browsing purposefully got me nowhere and neither did asking for specific items/categories. Camilla has been there for years but the stock now looks tired, unloved and tatty. The gems are lurking somewhere but are well hidden! Mary Corin 11.01.10
We were on holiday last week in Eastbourne and visited this shop - probably some very good books but you need a spade to find them ! no wonder OXFAM opposite does so well ! Gavin Richardson 24.02.10
I was delighted to see the parrot still flourishes ! I found plenty to tempt me in transport and fiction as well as topography. Almost all the stock is accessible but a ladder is needed for some of the higher items. Herne 30.03.11
Packed with loads of great stuff, including lots of very interesting older 20th century material, but sadly it really is rather heavy going to navigate and plough through. David C 10.01.13
What a wonderful cave of books ! If you have plenty of time and a love for old books this is the place for you. There's not enough shops like this left. Bookmadmart 16.02.13
I had great fun rummaging in the boxes outside - so much so that I ran out of time before I even got through the doors. As several have said, this place needs time. Steven Whitehead 06.03.13
The parrot's still there and as vocal as ever but they have apparently stopped doing their distinctive bags. Never fail to buy something ... and more. Herne 28.05.13
Half a million books they claim - and I believe them! Yet I managed to find one I had been looking for within minutes so Camilla's is now my favourite bookshop in Sussex. Steve 20.02.14
Good to see the pink bags are back and the front is now clear. Did not leave empty handed. No parrot but I gather he'll be back soon. Francois round the corner is good for ephemera. Herne 01.04.14
Where to start, More books in one place than I have seen outside a Book Town. Some real gems and some hidden ones, literally hidden under piles and piles of books. Books are literally floor to ceiling and the ceilings are high! There is a pyramid of books in the centre of the ground floor which I suspect will disappear one day in to the cellar, Did I mention that the shop is also back rooms, basement, first floor etc. I am told that the parrot is only in residence when Camilla herself is present. With a good clear out and all books shelved and accessible this could be one of the best stocked and priced shops in the country. Fantastic kids sections old and new; CS Forester, Excellent military an history section on the first floor. Books I have never seen before..... I could go one but you will be very frustrated that you cannot see or get to many of the books. NB Tomes also WWAD, Many charity shops but none , even the Oxfam, are really worth a visit. Jon Morgan 19.04.14
A heavenly place, well worth a visit, put aside hours and forget you're in the 21st Century. This bookshop is a haven of a lost Britain. You will always find something you want in here. Lew 21.05.15
Much the same as it always was, but for any railway enthusiasts out there they have just acquired a collection of some 5,000 good quality railway books. Regulars will wonder how another 500 books could be squeezed in let alone 5,000, but for the railway buffs among you ... Steve Newman 06.06.15
For those who know this wonderful shop, it is still chaotic. Local rumour has it that following a fire safety visit thousands of books found a new home rather quickly. A further inspection gave the shop it's safety all-clear. Since then the piles in the aisles have grown even higher. A treasure-trove for me as I left with two boxes full to the brim. A quick visit is impossible; allow at least half a day. Chris Harte 08.04.16
Back to Eastbourne to find the parrot in excellent form and now aged 21. Some of the books are rather older but you're bound to find something good at a fair price. Raliways seem to have been a growth area of late. Herne 26.07.16
Great bookshop with too much stock. The shelves and stacks of railway books included some good titles at very reasonable prices but it took some time to check through them. The parrot kept my partner occupied and I will return when I should have more time for a proper hunt. Recommended. SteveBrissle 05.12.16
I last went to this shop many years ago and fondly recalled it as one of the best ever and must re-visit. This week I was shocked to find they have gone insane in filling every bit of floor space in front of all the shelves, up and down stairs, so that one can not reach anything on the shelves anymore, even a ladder is of little help because of so little floor space. The books are piled 3 or 4 piles deep up to at least 4 foot high. I asked for a ladder to try and reach one small shelf and the attitude of the man behind the desk was horrible. I walked out totally disappointed. I shall never return, they have spoilt the shop with greed hoarding too many books in the gangways which are also inaccessible. UAX13 10.03.17
I agree that the ridiculous amount of books can be overwhelming, and it's a real effort to shift the piles about to get at hidden books, often on your hands and knees - but then I have unearthed so many unexpected gems over the years, at such reasonable prices! Well, like proper pubs, I remind myself one day I'll arrive to find a closed shop, never to be replaced; enjoy while you can. Yossarian 13.03.17
After I went to the Oxfam I found this shop much too late. Lots of items outside and many cheap ones just inside. Had to walk on then to the art gallery for this exhibition. Too in need of going on to Lewes to return. Sorry. Chris K 15.09.17
This wonderful shop either needs a day to excavate all the piles of books mentioned elsewhere or just treat it like a lucky dip. I never leave without something and always think I have missed much more. It should be said that the books are generally well sorted and the bloke behind the till knows what he has and roughly where it might be. Steven 22.02.18
I agree that negotiating Camillas can almost be like an exercise in 'The Krypton Factor'. I also have a feeling that once you enter this shop you never really leave. I'm sure I've bumped into the same people downstairs on many occasions.
Yet if you're patient, pretty much any book you're after will be in there, somewhere, even if it may take several visits over many years for it to work its way up from the bottom of one of the piles of books. It's a shop to enter with a very open mind.
Camillas is a national treasure. There aren't many shops like this left. I've a feeling that whatever happens to humanity, this shop will still be there, plodding along as if nothing has happened, grumbling cheerfully about how the decline in secondhand bookshops means all the stock gravitates towards them.
So don't fret about the piles of books you either trip over or send flying, or that indeed trap you downstairs, for ever. The books are there because nobody else takes them. Camillas flies the flag. Cherish it. Joseph K 26.06.19
My friend toppled a pile of books six feet high that almost set off an avalanche to bury him alive: two thousand railway titles, the proprietor had warned. Perhaps I am just too old for this game, but I don't see the point of tall stacks three-deep, obscuring shelves from floor to high ceiling. Books at the higher levels can be seen, but not identified without binoculars. The photography section - from what I could see of it - is disappointingly middlebrow. Even so, we were glad to rescue an old album of Irish railways and two Middleton Press titles at knock-down prices. Nicholas Sack 13.08.19
Camilla's isn't a shop, it's a lucky dip - what sort of a business is it that actively frustrates potential customers by denying them knowledge of around 50% of its wares? There's bound to be bibliophile gold in them there piles but there seems little hope that anyone will ever find it. I left, deeply frustrated, with two excellent purchases at very reasonable prices. Henry Middleton 29.08.19
This shop is really out of hand. So many of the books are totally inaccessible because of the piles of books on the floor. It's a shame because there are interesting books at reasonable prices if only you could reach them. HB 08.02.20
Camilla's continues to be a paradise for those who love browsing a well-stocked shop. Spread over three storeys of floor to ceiling bookcases, it is impossible to walk out without several reasonably-priced purchases. For some, the shop might seem a little overwhelming as books are often in piles two or three deep, but to me that just makes the search for what is there even more enjoyable. A shop not to be missed if you are in the area. Wessexman 06.08.21
This shop tries my patience. Undoubtedly there are good things to be had and at reasonable prices but how is one to find them? If you could get it down there, you'd need an excavator to clear a way to the lower shelves of the extensive fiction section in the basement. The scene on the first floor is almost surreal, with shelves of books skyed beyond range of reading the titles and anyway inaccessible because of the barricades stacked on the floor. As you come into the shop you are halted by a vast heap of (mostly Folio) books piled together as if in readiness for an auto-da-fe. This is all extremely frustrating. Laurence Purcell 24.08.21
Being five foot eleven and when wearing my winter coat taking up more than my fair share of floor space I was prepared for the challenge of the Camilla clutter. I decided not to waste time worrying about what I could not get to and confined my search to only those books I could reach without having to move anything else. Thus some aisles were closed to me and I know I only skimmed the surface but I had a happy forty-five minute browse, found much of interest and left as a happy customer. Yes, there were probably many other books I would have been interested in had I bothered to excavate or brought a skinny friend to wriggle through the narrow gaps on my behalf but life is too short to stress about matters beyond my control and, on reflection, I don't think I would have Camilla's any other way. Steven 23.02.22
Everything about Camilla's has already been set out above, and in my heart of hearts I love the place, having visited it and made many purchases there for maybe three decades. But when I called today, the huge number of books piled up in front of the bookcases and the lack of aisle space to deploy the stepladder finally defeated me, and I left empty-handed. This is a great shame, and I shall return next year, hoping against hope that the shop reclaims its role as retail premises rather than storage warehouse. Wessexman 05.09.22
The piles of books are getting bigger, in some areas there are stacks of books 4 deep (how do they pass fire safety assessments?, especially with the number of books on the staircases) The frustration outweighs the pleasure now, there are so many books it’s impossible to see, and many more you can see but not reach. Prices are reasonable and there are some interesting books, it’s just all got out of hand HB 10.10.22
I agree with most of the comments above. I go regularly to this shop about twice a year and it doesn’t change much. The stock is incredible and it is being added to all the time! As I understand it Camilla’s is one of the few shops that is still buying large collections. Hence, when yet another book shop closes, there is a good chance that the contents will end up here.
This is all well and good - but if a customer can’t see what they have in stock then it defeats the purpose of the shop.
Doing a rough calculation yesterday with many places stacked 5 deep I estimate that you can only see the titles of around 20% of the stock. If you add to this that many of them are in stacks about 6 feet high, it is more or less impossible to actually pull a book out of such a tall (outermost) stack without causing the whole pile to fall on top of you. This means you can only get to about 10% of their stock!!!
Now this fact, to a hardened, inveterate, bibliophile like myself is just so painful it’s not true. You keep on imagining all the books that might be in the shop that you cannot see or retrieve. It’s a heart breaker for a book nut.
So - the question is - is it worth a visit? My answer is YES if you can bear the anguish and frustration of knowing that the book you seek is probably there somewhere- if you could only find it!!
There is no doubt that the prices are reasonable and the visit will be memorable - especially if you engage with the “Hello” from the parrot at the front door.
But if you are prone to having dystopian nightmares about little narrow passages between stacks of books five deep about to topple over at any point in time - then best to stay away.
Personally I love the shop. It’s a part of another, soon to be bygone world, full of books where social media has no place!!
Did I buy anything - NO - I could see what I was looking for - yet I bought 4 books 50 yds up the road at the Oxfam shop where I could see their stock!!!!
QED - I rest my case!!! PeterD 15.10.22
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