Lincoln, the cathedral city of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands of England, starts its second-hand browsing on the hill. Steep Hill climbs past the county history society's bookshop in Jews' Court to Bailgate, where Lindum Books sells old stock beside the new and the Linkage charity shop trades a few doors along. Back down among the shopping streets, Oxfam keeps its specialist book-and-record shop on Cornhill and a general shop further along the High Street. All the prices you'll see here are in pounds sterling (£).
Out towards the north-eastern edge of Lincoln, two big charity outlets stand a short drive apart: St Barnabas Hospice's Warehouse on Cardinal Close and the Sue Ryder superstore on Deacon Road. Closer in, on Burton Road, YMCA Lincolnshire was pricing its book-club picks at pocket-change level in September 2025.
The real detour lies almost 12 miles up the A15 at Hemswell Cliff, where four buildings of antiques dealers keep a books section of their own and a weekly Sunday market and boot sale takes over the ground next door early in the morning.
History society bookshop (new and second-hand)Steep Hill Bookshop (SLHA)
Jews' Court, 2-3 Steep Hill, Lincoln LN2 1LS
Partway up Steep Hill, 385 yards from the Guildhall heading north-north-east, the Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology runs its bookshop from Jews' Court, the building that doubles as the society's postal address, and a Wayback Machine copy of its contact page from 10 March 2026 still gives the shop its own line, 01522 532280. Alongside new Lincolnshire titles it sells good-quality used fiction, non-fiction, maps and journals, every item given by members and friends, according to the society's bookshop page as the Wayback Machine kept it on 20 January 2025, which adds that the society does not buy books. That capture listed opening from Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm, so ring before you climb, and Steep Hill Bookshop's own Facebook page was putting up photos as late as 31 January 2026.
Bookshop (new and second-hand)Lindum Books
4 Bailgate, Lincoln LN1 3AE
Up on Bailgate in the Cathedral Quarter, roughly 670 yards due north from the Guildhall, this independent bookseller spreads curated stock, both new and second-hand, over two floors, by the account of its Visit Lincoln listing. LincolnshireWorld's guide to underrated spots in the city, published in July 2026, placed it close to the Exchequergate and the Magna Carta pub, singled out contemporary, children's and young-adult fiction among its titles, and mentioned a reading group, author events and a shelf for Lincolnshire writers. Treat it as a mixed shop, not a purely used one; the old lindumbooks.co.uk address showed a web host's holding page in October 2026, so follow the shop on Facebook instead.
Oxfam Books & MusicOxfam Bookshop Lincoln
5 Cornhill, Lincoln LN5 7HE
On the Cornhill square, about 180 yards south of the Guildhall, Oxfam's books-and-music branch advertises a huge selection of books in every genre and format, with audiobooks, vinyl, sheet music, stamps, coins, postcards, jigsaws and model kits on the side, wording its branch page held unchanged in a 15 June 2026 snapshot on the Wayback Machine. With no opening grid from Oxfam, call 01522 510858 before making a special journey.
Charity superstore (St Barnabas Hospice)The Warehouse by St Barnabas
12 Cardinal Close, Lincoln LN2 4SY
On Cardinal Close, around 1⅓ miles out from the Guildhall towards the east-north-east, St Barnabas Hospice turned its old sorting warehouse into a flagship shop of 5,000 square feet in 2022, and the shop's Instagram celebrated its fourth birthday on 10 February 2026. Books have shelves of their own there: on 6 March 2025, World Book Day, that account filmed a browse along them and noted that children's titles go for half a pound unless otherwise priced. The hospice's web page for The Warehouse, in its Wayback Machine copy dated 16 April 2026, gave weekday and Saturday trading of 9am to 4:45pm and a Sunday of 10am to 4pm, yet its list of shops a month later showed Sunday ending at 3:45pm, so confirm Sunday times by phone; parking out front is free.
Antiques centres with a books sectionHemswell Antique Centres
Caenby Corner Estate, Hemswell Cliff, Gainsborough DN21 5TJ
At Hemswell Cliff in West Lindsey, a former RAF base almost 12 miles due north of the city centre, more than 400 dealers fill four buildings with what the business calls Europe's largest selection of antiques. Its Antique Books section showed 127 items for sale on 21 October 2026, from a Folio Society set of Sherlock Holmes novels at £195 to a compact Oxford English Dictionary at £48, and the site reckons that only about a tenth of the stock is online, so the shelves in person go deeper. Only three winter bank holidays close the doors, Christmas Day and Boxing Day plus 1 January, and both holiday eves end early at 2:30pm.
Hours: Mon–Sun 10am–5pmWebsite Where can I find cheap used books in Lincoln?
YMCA Lincolnshire set its book-club selection at 50p apiece in September 2025 at both of its shops, Burton Road and Moorland Avenue. Further out, The Book Nook inside the Lincoln Antiques Centre at Teal Park charges £1 a book or £10 for any dozen, and Hemswell Cliff's Sunday boot sale rewards an early start for anyone happy to dig. In the centre, the Oxfam bookshop on Cornhill and Linkage on Bailgate are the charity-priced stops.
Where do I sell used books in Lincoln?
Not easily over a counter: the history society behind the Steep Hill Bookshop takes donated stock and says it doesn't buy, and none of the charity shops here pays for books either. Older or collectable titles may interest the dealers at Hemswell, while ordinary copies usually do better listed online by you, through Amazon.co.uk or on Vinted and eBay.co.uk. Sorting the pile first is quicker with BiblioScan: stand the books upright, spines towards the camera, and one photo of that row gives each title the app recognises its own second-hand price, which sorts the few worth listing from those bound for the Oxfam bag on Cornhill.
Which charity shops have books in Lincoln?
Oxfam's Cornhill branch is devoted to books and music, and Oxfam's general shop on the High Street also takes and sells them. Uphill, Linkage on Bailgate and the YMCA on Burton Road both count books in their stock. Over towards the north-east, the St Barnabas Warehouse on Cardinal Close and Sue Ryder's Deacon Road superstore are the large-format options.
Are there any used book fairs in Lincoln?
No fair was on the calendar in October 2026. The last Lincoln fair that the Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association shows online took place at the White Hart Hotel on Bailgate on 2 June 2024, and the association's fair pages list nothing for the city after it. For antiquarian stock until another date appears, the antiques centres at Hemswell Cliff keep a books section and open almost every day of the year.
Which day is best for book hunting in Lincoln?
Sunday works best with a car: the Hemswell boot sale gets going before 7am, the antiques centres next door open at 10am, and back in the city Linkage, Sue Ryder and The Warehouse all trade that afternoon. Saturday suits a walking day uphill, since the Steep Hill Bookshop's last published opening pattern, from January 2025, ran Wednesday to Saturday. Neither Oxfam branch nor the YMCA shop sets out its hours, so ring ahead on any day.