Since 1918

Our story

The Petersfield Bookshop was founded in 1918 by Dr Harry Roberts and the artist Flora Twort. More than a century on, it's still a large, rambling bookshop of the kind that's harder and harder to find.

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A short history

1918

Dr Harry Roberts and the artist Flora Twort open the shop at 1 The Square. Roberts was an East End doctor who helped set up the Panel Scheme, the forerunner of the NHS.

1956

Frank Westwood becomes manager for the owner, Mrs Field, and soon after moves the shop to 2 Chapel Street.

1958

Frank and Ann Westwood buy the business and bring it to its present home at 16a Chapel Street, a building that was once stables and a bread store.

1960

The shop joins the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association, as it still is today.

[An old photo of the shop, if you have one – at 1 The Square or on Chapel Street]

More than a century on

It's still shelf after shelf of second-hand and antiquarian books, antique maps and prints to lose an afternoon in. Tucked in among the shelves is a display of antique dolls and a doll's house from Ann Westwood's collection. Our forecourt shelves never close – browse at any hour and pay into the honesty box in the door.

And we still fill the shop with conversation, from our Dead Poets Salon poetry evenings to talks and one-off events. Visit Petersfield calls us “a browser’s paradise”.

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Members of the ABA

We've been members of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association since 1960, and so of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB). Members follow the associations' codes of practice, so you can buy and sell with confidence.