We have sold books on the Market Place in Helmsley since 2000, when the shop opened as the Cut-Price Bookstore. Today the front room holds new releases and the cut-price wall, and a few steps at the back lead up to two further rooms, each full of book-ish treasure. New titles, deep discounts, local-interest reading for the moors, plus cards, gifts and jigsaws. An independent, family-run shop below the Feversham Monument, a short walk from the castle.
From the Market Place the shop looks the size of one room. It is not. New books and the cut-price wall on the ground floor, two more rooms of books up the steps, and the town card-and-gift stock throughout.
Bestsellers, quirky reads, deep discounts
The front room holds new releases and current bestsellers alongside the deep cut-price wall we have kept since the shop opened as the Cut-Price Bookstore in 2000. A full bag of reading without a full-price receipt.
Much bigger than it looks from the square
At the back of the ground floor, a few steps lead up to two further rooms, each full of book-ish treasure. Most first-time visitors are surprised how far the shop goes back from its Market Place frontage.
For all occasions, plus toys and puzzles
Cards for every occasion, gifts, and an extensive range of jigsaw puzzles and toys, so the shop is as much the town card-and-gift stop as it is the bookshop on the square.
We sit on the square in Helmsley, on the edge of the North York Moors National Park, by the banks of the River Rye. The Feversham Monument stands a few yards from our door, Helmsley Castle is a short walk, and the market has been held on this square since 1467. A morning here is the bookshop, the castle, a tearoom, and the moors beyond.
We opened in 2000 as the Cut-Price Bookstore. The name changed to The Helmsley Bookshop, but the deep-discount wall stayed, and it still sits alongside the new releases at the front of the shop. Over twenty years on, we are still independent and family-run, still on the same Market Place.
Regulars know the shop goes back further than it looks. Past the front room, steps lead up to two more rooms of books. The people behind the counter read, and are happy to point you at something, which is the part the reviews tend to mention.
“The perfect shop to browse in. I found some real gems that I wasn't expecting.”
From two of our Google reviews · rated 4.8
If it is not on the shelves in the three rooms, we will order it. Tell us the title or just the gist, and we will track down almost anything in print, hold it for collection or let you know when it lands. You can also buy from us online through our Bookshop.org page.
Or phone 01439 771130, email info@helmsleybookshop.co.uk, or buy online via our Bookshop.org page.
We are at 11 Market Place, on the square below the Feversham Monument, a short walk from Helmsley Castle. Park on the Market Place itself or at the Cleveland Way car park off the square. Friday is market day, so come early if you can.
Hours can vary on bank holidays. Phone 01439 771130 if you are travelling a distance.
For anything not here, phone the shop on 01439 771130 or email info@helmsleybookshop.co.uk.
Yes. If we do not have it in the three rooms, we will order almost any title in print. Phone 01439 771130, email info@helmsleybookshop.co.uk, or ask at the counter, and we will hold it for collection or let you know when it lands.
We do. The shop opened in 2000 as the Cut-Price Bookstore and we have kept the deep-discount wall ever since, alongside the current bestsellers. It is the reason a lot of regulars leave with more than they came in for.
Yes. We sell online through our Bookshop.org page, the platform that supports independent shops rather than the warehouse giants. Every order there is credited to us here on the square.
We do. Cards for all occasions, gifts, toys and an extensive range of jigsaw puzzles sit alongside the books, so the shop doubles as the town card-and-gift stop.
We are at 11 Market Place, on the square below the Feversham Monument, a short walk from Helmsley Castle. There is parking on the Market Place itself and at the Cleveland Way car park off the square. Friday is market day, so the square fills early.