Medway, the unitary authority on the Thames estuary in north Kent that joins Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Strood and Rainham, keeps its second-hand books in a few separate pockets rather than along one bookshop street. Rochester High Street carries the heaviest load, with Baggins Book Bazaar at No. 19 and an Oxfam at Nos. 25-29, both close to the Guildhall Museum. Gillingham High Street has a second Oxfam, Rainham has the volunteer-run Sunburst Books on Station Road, and Demelza trades from Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre south of Gillingham. Prices mentioned on this page are given in sterling.
One stop sits beyond the Medway boundary: the Oxfam Bookshop in Maidstone, 7.5 miles to the south, a specialist book branch worth folding into a drive down the A229. Outdoor rummaging follows the car boot calendar, and the Sunday boot fair near Upnor ran its 2026 season until 27 September and had published no 2027 dates by 1 October 2026.
Second-hand and rare bookshopBaggins Book Bazaar
19 High St, Rochester ME1 1PY
In Rochester, next door to the Guildhall Museum, Baggins has sold second-hand books since the London rare book dealer Paul Minet founded it in 1986, and it bills itself as England's largest rare and secondhand bookshop. In a 7 February 2026 article on the shop's 40th-anniversary year, KentOnline quoted Godfrey George, who has run it day to day for four decades, estimating around 100,000 books on the premises, about 10,000 of them in the front room, all organised by subject from science and crime to art and biography. He also told the paper he is planning to retire and hopes to hand the business to someone who genuinely cares about books, while Kent Live, visiting on Sweeps Festival weekend in May 2026, found it sprawling over several floors behind its original old-style windows. Ring 01634 811651 before a long journey, since the shop keeps its news on Facebook rather than on a working website.
Charity bookshopSunburst Books
21-23 Station Rd, Rainham, Gillingham ME8 7RS
Over in Rainham, on Station Road, Sunburst is a volunteer-staffed charity bookshop that started in 2006 to raise money for repairs at St Margaret's Church and, according to a February 2024 history on the Rainham History website, passes its profits through a community interest company to local churches, charities and voluntary groups. The website sets paperbacks at £1.50 and hardbacks at £2.50, with CDs and DVDs at 50p or three for £1, and asks for unwanted books, DVDs, CDs and jigsaws as donations. Its Facebook page shows the shelves turning over, from 500 Haynes manuals offered on 3 September 2026 to the arrival of manga posted on 30 September 2026.
Hours: Mon–Sat 9am–3pmWebsite Charity shop (Oxfam)Oxfam Shop Rochester
25-29 High St, Rochester ME1 1LN
In Rochester, within a minute's walk of Baggins, Oxfam runs a general shop that its own branch page, as archived in May 2026, calls a boutique selling a wide range of books, music, homewares and furniture. A separate room holds men's clothing and vinyl, and the shelves also carry stamps, Fairtrade food and the charity's Sourced by Oxfam range. The page describes its listed times as core hours and invites a call on 01634 814790 for anything more precise.
Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–5pm, Sun noon–4pmWebsite Where can I find cheap used books in Medway?
Sunburst Books in Rainham publishes the clearest prices: £1.50 a paperback and £2.50 a hardback on its website, with discs at 50p each. The Oxfams on the Rochester and Gillingham High Streets and Demelza's unit at Hempstead Valley sell donated books among clothing and homeware, so the stock shifts with whatever arrives that week. Baggins in Rochester is where the depth is, with six-figure stock by Godfrey George's own estimate to KentOnline in February 2026.
Where do I sell used books in Medway?
The charity counters here, Sunburst, the two Oxfams and Demelza, take books as donations to raise money rather than buying them. Baggins built its stock by owning it outright after early years selling on commission for other dealers, KentOnline reported in February 2026, but that coverage sets out no buying terms, so phone or email the shop before you load the car. For selling direct, eBay.co.uk and Vinted reach UK buyers without a middleman. Ahead of that, give the bookcase one photo in BiblioScan: it picks out the spines in the image and tags each with what it might fetch second-hand, which tells you which few deserve eBay.co.uk and which can ride over to Station Road in a carrier bag.
Which day is best for book hunting in Medway?
Saturday covers the most ground: Sunburst, Oxfam Rochester and Demelza at Hempstead Valley all publish Saturday hours, and Sunburst closes mid-afternoon, so start in Rainham and finish in Rochester or at Hempstead. On Sunday, Oxfam Rochester opens for the afternoon and Demelza from mid-morning, while Sunburst stays shut. Ring Baggins and the Gillingham and Maidstone Oxfams before any special trip, since neither of those Oxfam pages prints a timetable.
Which charity shops have books in Medway?
Sunburst Books on Station Road, Rainham, is a charity bookshop outright, run by volunteers for local causes. Three general charity shops name books in their own branch descriptions: Oxfam at 25-29 High Street in Rochester, Oxfam at 121 High Street in Gillingham, and Demelza in Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre. Just over the border, the Oxfam Bookshop on Gabriels Hill in Maidstone is given over to books, music and DVDs.