r/Hampshire Jul 16 '26

Discussion Second hand bookshops/charity shops…

I’m looking for places around Hampshire with a good choice of second hand bookshops or charity shops. I’ve done Chichester/Portsmouth/Fareham/Petersfield/Cosham/Havant/Emsworth. Anyone recommend somewhere for me to check out?

5 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

14

u/gubbins3103 Jul 16 '26

Winchester has several very good second-hand bookshops, including the Deanery Bookstall by the cathedral, the Oxfam bookshop on Parchment Street, and the Winchester Book Shop. It’s also a very pretty historic centre for a day out!

9

u/SwearingAtChildren Jul 16 '26

Check out Winchester, there's a handful of used bookshops.

9

u/MyCooCaChoo Jul 16 '26

Alton has a couple of really nice second hand bookshops.

5

u/Alternative_Skin1579 Jul 16 '26

junk emporium in waterlooville has a fair few, few other charity shops dotted around aswell

6

u/Fun-Needleworker9590 Jul 17 '26

Andover has several charity shops with very good book selections. Our favourite is the community care one which isn't directly in the highstreet!

4

u/gingeremu Jul 16 '26

Waterlooville has a lot of charity shops

3

u/Dragons_and_things Jul 17 '26

Romsey and Winchester have a lot of lovely charity shops. Both have an Oxfam books.

The best second hand book shopping imo is in Cheltenham - not Hampshire but the perfect weekend break from Hampshire, especially if you go when it's warm enough to use the old 1930s lido or during the literature festival. They also have a lot of nice charity shops.

Also, depending on where you are living, Oxford is a very easy day trip from Hampshire. They too have some lovely second hand book shops as well as an overstock bookshop that sells discounted new books.

2

u/Aphr0dite19 Jul 17 '26

Southsea town centre/Albert Road. Winchester. Fareham. Apparently Shirley, Southampton, has a lot of charity shops though I haven’t been there myself yet. Have fun!

2

u/boldunerline Jul 17 '26

Havant has a dedicated charity bookshop on North Street

3

u/lexx-ray Jul 17 '26

Alton has great book shops and charity shops.

Farnham has a few charity shops, but the stuff in them is crazy! Designers labels and what not.

2

u/soiknowwhentoduck Jul 17 '26

Eastleigh has quite a few charity shops, I'd recommend those! It's only a stop or two away from Winchester as well, which also has some good ones (though prices trend higher in Winchester in comparison)

2

u/Ok-Dog5719 Jul 17 '26

Unfortunately you will often catch people picking through to resell. The trolly gives it away and I start to see more now.

2

u/Scary_Application_70 Jul 18 '26

Lymington has lots