Updated 01/10/2026
Northampton, England, has two of its secondhand stops on the north-east side of the centre, where Heyford Books on Kettering Road and the Close Encounters comic shop on Abington Square are less than 0.4 miles from each other. Sue Ryder trades upstairs in the Grosvenor Centre, Mind and Oxfam share a Kingsthorpe parade about two miles north, Delapré Abbey's volunteer-run bookshop is on the southern edge of town, and the town museum hosts a book fair in November 2026. Sums below are given in pounds sterling.
West Northamptonshire stretches well beyond the town. The Reading Tree fills a first floor at The Depot in Weedon Bec, a little over seven miles out, the Brodie Lodge Playing Field charity in Flore holds car boot Sundays from May to September a mile or so short of it, and the Old Hall Bookshop trades on Brackley's Market Place, nearly 18 miles south-west. Across the authority boundary, Wellingborough's Volta Books lies just over ten miles the other way.
Heyford Books, Close Encounters and the Mind shop in Kingsthorpe share their news on Facebook, which is also where to confirm the day's hours. A quick message before setting off is the surest way to find the door open.
155 Kettering Rd, Northampton NN1 4BS
A secondhand bookshop on Kettering Road, 1.1 miles north-east, whose Facebook introduction promises books at between £1 and £5. The page keeps a running log of what hits the shelves: an expanded military history section on 11 September 2026, Dante's Divine Comedy in a Polish translation on 15 September and a counter of children's factual books on 26 September 2026. Check that page for the day's hours, or message the shop, before heading over.
Building 1, The Depot, Weedon Bec NN7 4PS
In Weedon Bec, 7.5 miles west, The Reading Tree occupies the first floor of Building 1 at The Depot, and its website counts over 40,000 new, pre-loved, vintage and collectable books across 5,000 square feet, plus a café. The site gives daily opening hours, asks visitors to check Facebook for unforeseen closures and warns that there is no lift. The Depot's own directory says the shop has been trading since 2020, and its website is selling tickets for Storytime with Santa on 21 and 22 December 2026.
32 Market Place, Brackley NN13 7DP
In Brackley, 17.7 miles south-west, this Market Place shop describes itself on Facebook as an independent bookshop for new books and maps and for secondhand and antiquarian books, with a search service for out-of-print titles. Its website traces the business to July 1977, when it opened to sell second-hand and antiquarian books and added new ones shortly afterwards. On 25 September 2026 its Facebook page was introducing a local novelist who had dropped in with copies of her latest book, a reminder that new titles share the rooms with the older stock.
29 Abington Square, Northampton NN1 4AE
On Abington Square, 0.8 miles north-east, a comic shop whose Facebook page claims more than 200,000 back issues in stock alongside new comics, graphic novels and manga. The same page posts secondhand arrivals with prices attached: on 26 September 2026 that day's buy-ins went up at £5 each, with the Spider-Man and Secret Warriors issues at £10, and a mixed batch followed on 29 September, priced as marked. Its web shop also has a books section, with crime, horror, romance and science fiction among the categories.
Unit 1, Nene Court, The Embankment, Wellingborough NN8 1LD
In Wellingborough, over the line in North Northamptonshire and 10.5 miles east-north-east, Volta Books sells what it calls quality pre-loved books, a small range of new ones and bookish gifts. The Northamptonshire Telegraph covered its opening at Nene Court on Saturday 15 November 2025 and reported on 4 July 2026 that it had moved into Unit 1, the first shop on the left past the front gate, with its opening times unchanged. A Facebook post on 23 April 2026 put most of the pre-loved stock at £2 and described the shop as wheelchair accessible.
Delapré Abbey, London Rd, Northampton NN4 8AW
In the grounds of Delapré Abbey, 0.9 miles south-east, a second-hand bookshop reached through the Stable Block and the Walled Garden. The Abbey's plan-your-visit page already had it open daily when the Wayback Machine saved it in May 2026, and an Instagram appeal from the Abbey on 24 July 2025 said volunteers run it and every sale goes to supporting the Abbey. On 1 October 2026 that same page also reported the Walled Garden shut for safety work, so ask the Abbey how to get to the shelves.
Unit 12-14, Grosvenor Centre, 2 Union St, Northampton NN1 2EW
Sue Ryder's shop sits upstairs in the Grosvenor Centre, 0.45 miles north-east, facing Claire's, and gives every donated item a £1 price tag. Books, DVDs, CDs and bric-a-brac appear beside the clothing on its branch page, wording the charity's site already carried in a Wayback Machine capture dated 18 May 2026. Because the only parking is in the shopping centre, the shop wants donors to phone first.
15 Alexandra Terrace, Kingsthorpe, Northampton NN2 7SJ
In Kingsthorpe, 2.1 miles north, the Mind shop on Alexandra Terrace used its Facebook page on 17 September 2026 to call out to bookworms. That post put paperbacks at 75p each or two for £1 and hardbacks at £1 apiece, and urged readers to come in and fill their to-be-read shelf. Look at the same page for opening times before the trip.
8 Alexandra Terrace, Kingsthorpe, Northampton NN2 7SJ
Kingsthorpe's Oxfam is a general shop 2.1 miles north, a few doors from Mind along the same parade. On 21 September 2026 its own Facebook page showed the shop's book window themed on dogs and puppies, tagged #prelovedbooks. The shop posted its Monday-to-Saturday hours on 22 September 2026, whereas Oxfam's national branch page gives no times and points callers to the shop itself.
Brodie Lodge Playing Field, Spring Lane, Flore NN7 4LS
In the village of Flore, 6.6 miles west, Brodie Lodge Playing Field has already posted its 2027 car boot Sundays on its website: 2 May, 6 June, 4 July, 1 August and 5 September. The charity that looks after the field doesn't charge buyers for entry or parking, asking only for a small donation and letting you in free if you can't spare one. Books get no mention in its listings, so a box of paperbacks depends entirely on who unloads that morning.
Northampton Museum & Art Gallery, Guildhall Rd, Northampton NN1 1DP
Northampton Museum & Art Gallery on Guildhall Road, 0.4 miles east-north-east, holds a book fair on Saturday 7 November 2026 across its Central Hall, the Link and The Studio. The museum's call for stallholders, which closed on 30 April 2026, invited antique and historical booksellers as well as authors, publishers and literary groups, so older stock may sit alongside new titles. Traders paid £40 a stall, and the museum says all of them sit on the upper ground floor, which is fully accessible.
At every one of these spots, snap the shelf with BiblioScan: the AI identifies each book and shows its real resale price. Walk out with profitable books, not random boxes.
Try BiblioScan for freeHeyford Books on Kettering Road prices its stock between £1 and £5, according to its Facebook page, and everything donated to the Sue Ryder shop in the Grosvenor Centre sells for a pound. Volta Books in Wellingborough said in April 2026 that most of its pre-loved books cost £2. For pure luck at low cost, the Flore car boot lets buyers in for a donation of their choosing on its 2027 Sundays.
Comics have a local outlet: Close Encounters on Abington Square posts the back issues it has bought in, so ring the shop with a list before carrying a box over. Ordinary books head for Vinted or the UK sites of eBay and Amazon. Before boxing anything, take a BiblioScan picture of the shelf: the app works through the photographed spines one by one and gives each a resale value, so the handful worth selling yourself stands apart from the donation pile. Whatever's left can go to a charity, though Cynthia Spencer Hospice's shop says it isn't accepting book donations.
Saturday lines up the most: the Old Hall Bookshop, Volta Books, The Reading Tree, the Delapré Abbey bookshop and the Sue Ryder and Oxfam shops all list it, and the museum's fair takes over Saturday 7 November 2026. Sunday still leaves The Reading Tree in Weedon Bec, the Delapré bookshop and Sue Ryder in the Grosvenor Centre, while Volta Books stays shut on Mondays as well. For Heyford Books and Close Encounters, plus Mind in Kingsthorpe, check their Facebook pages for the day's hours whichever day you pick.
Northampton Museum & Art Gallery hosts one on Saturday 7 November 2026, and its call for traders asked for antique and historical booksellers among the authors and publishers. The PBFA's dealers' fair came to East Hunsbury on 20 June 2026, with up to 20 sellers of second-hand and antiquarian books.
Bookstore, thrift store or consignment shop in Northampton: get listed in this guide for free, or tell us what to fix.
Contact us