Bookstores in Durham
If you judge a town by its bookshops, Durham, County Durham gives you 11 to judge by. That's 11 bookshops mapped around Durham, each with its own shelves and specialties. The used sections are where the real bargains hide. Staff picks shelves are the fastest way to read a shop's personality.
This guide covers every bookstore we could verify in and around Durham (within about 25 km), built from OpenStreetMap's community-maintained data. Names you'll run into include Collected Books and The Works, plus BookWyrm. If a bookshop's missing from Durham's list, it probably just hasn't been mapped yet.
The Durham bookstore lineup
11 in Durham, plus 18 more around Durham below:
Collected Books
Bookstore0.4 km from Durham
Collected Books is Bookstore.
Durham, DH1 4SL
The Works
Bookstore0.5 km from Durham
The Works — Bookstore, found on 7-8 Silver Street in Durham. Also worth knowing about The Works: it has a website with more detail.
7-8 Silver Street, Durham, DH1 3RB
BookWyrm
Bookstore0.6 km from Durham
BookWyrm — Bookstore, found on Market Place in Durham. Also worth knowing about BookWyrm: it has a website with more detail.
Market Place, Durham, DH1 3NJ
Book Emporium
Bookstore0.6 km from Durham
Book Emporium is Bookstore on Market Place, Durham. Book Emporium also notes on the map: it has a website with more detail.
Market Place, Durham, DH1 3NJ
Waterstones
Bookstore0.6 km from Durham
Waterstones — Bookstore, found on 69 Saddler Street in Durham. Also worth knowing about Waterstones: it has a website with more detail.
69 Saddler Street, Durham, DH1 3NP
Waterstones
Bookstore0.6 km from DurhamRun by Waterstones
Run by Waterstones, Waterstones is Bookstore, found on 55-57 Saddler Street in Durham. Also worth knowing about Waterstones: it has a website with more detail.
55-57 Saddler Street, Durham, DH1 3EJ
People's Bookshop
Used bookstore0.7 km from Durham
People's Bookshop — Used bookstore, found on 18 High Street in Durham. Also worth knowing about People's Bookshop: it has a website with more detail.
18 High Street, Durham, DH1 3UJ
Waterstones
Bookstore3.5 km from Durham
Waterstones — Bookstore, found on 4 in Durham.
4, Durham, DH1 5GB
The Works
Bookstore3.5 km from Durham
The Works — Bookstore. Also worth knowing about The Works: the map lists its hours as Mo-Fr 09:00-19:00; Sa 09:00-19:00; Su 10:00-16:00; it has a website with more detail.
Hours: Mo-Fr 09:00-19:00; Sa 09:00-19:00; Su 10:00-16:00
Sound and Vision
Bookstore8.8 km from Durham
Sound and Vision — Bookstore, found on 156D Front Street in Chester-le-Street.
156D Front Street, Chester-le-Street, DH3 3AY
Get Free Books
Bookstore9.1 km from Durham
Get Free Books is Bookstore on St Cuthberts Walk, Chester-le-Street. Get Free Books also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo-Sa 10:00-14:00.
St Cuthberts Walk, Chester-le-Street, DH3 3YQ
Hours: Mo-Sa 10:00-14:00
What the map tells us about bookstores in Durham
2 of the 11 list their opening hours on the map, which is genuinely useful — bookshops keep civilised hours, so the listed ones are usually reliable.
7 have websites listed. Worth a look for events — readings and signings get announced there first.
There's a cluster: 2 of them sit on Market Place, so you can string those into one walk and drive between the rest.
The Durham bookstore crawl
Making a day of it in Durham? Work this order: Collected Books, The Works on 7-8 Silver Street, BookWyrm on Market Place, Book Emporium on Market Place, Waterstones on 69 Saddler Street, Waterstones on 55-57 Saddler Street, People's Bookshop on 18 High Street, and Waterstones on 4. That's the bookstore crawl in one sensible loop, no backtracking. 3 more are listed below.
Bookstore tips for Durham
Browsing in Durham? A little strategy helps:
- The used section is underpriced everywhere at Collected Books. Books are heavy and slow to sell, so used shelves price to move. First editions hide here regularly.
- Look for local history at The Works. The local-interest shelf tells you what a town thinks of itself. Great for visitors, better for new residents.
- Ask for the out-of-print hunters. Some used shops will hunt down out-of-print titles for you. It takes patience, but the find is worth it.
- Kids' sections are goldmines. Even without kids. The picture-book art alone is worth the browse, and the middle-grade shelves hold genuine classics.
Good to know
We searched about 25 km around Durham — that covers the town itself plus the surrounding communities you'd reasonably drive to. Listings come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by local volunteers, so a brand-new bookstore in Durham can take a while to appear. Spotted a closure among the 11, or a bookstore we missed entirely? The map is the source of truth here — one OpenStreetMap edit corrects it for everyone.
We don't list prices — they change constantly and vary by edition. What we list is the where: real shops, verified by real mappers, in alphabetical order with no favourites.
If you run one of the 11 listed here and something's wrong — a closure, a move, new hours — the fix is the same: update the shop on OpenStreetMap and the correction flows through to this page on the next daily refresh.
Worth the trip: more bookstores around Durham
18 more within about 25 km of Durham — here are the 15 nearest:
Featherbed Books
Bookstore10.7 km from Durham
Featherbed Books — Bookstore.
The Works
Bookstore13.6 km from Durham
The Works — Bookstore. Also worth knowing about The Works: it has a website with more detail.
Bargain Book Time
Bookstore14.2 km from Durham
Bargain Book Time is Bookstore on The Galleries Shopping Mall, Washington.
The Galleries Shopping Mall, Washington
The Works
Bookstore14.3 km from Durham
The Works — Bookstore, found on The Galleries Shopping Mall in Washington. Also worth knowing about The Works: it has a website with more detail.
The Galleries Shopping Mall, Washington
The Works
Bookstore16.5 km from Durham
The Works — Bookstore, found on Unit 7A3 Team Valley Shopping Park in Gateshead. Also worth knowing about The Works: the map lists its hours as Mo-Fr 09:00-20:00; Sa 09:00-19:00; Su 11:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
Unit 7A3 Team Valley Shopping Park, Gateshead, NE11 0BD
Hours: Mo-Fr 09:00-20:00; Sa 09:00-19:00; Su 11:00-17:00
Phone: +44 1914 871654
Second hand bookshop
Bookstore18.6 km from DurhamRun by National Trust
Run by National Trust, Second hand bookshop is Bookstore.
Renwick's
Bookstore18.7 km from DurhamRun by National Trust
Run by National Trust, Renwick's is Bookstore.
Waterstones
Bookstore19.3 km from Durham
Waterstones — Bookstore, found on The Bridges Shopping Centre in Sunderland. Also worth knowing about Waterstones: it has a website with more detail.
The Bridges Shopping Centre, Sunderland
The Works
Bookstore19.4 km from Durham
The Works — Bookstore, found on The Bridges Shopping Centre in Sunderland. Also worth knowing about The Works: it has a website with more detail.
The Bridges Shopping Centre, Sunderland
The NewBridge Project
Bookstore20.8 km from DurhamRun by Keano Anton
The NewBridge Project is Bookstore run by Keano Anton on 242 High Street, Gateshead. The NewBridge Project also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as We 13:00-17:00; Th-Sa 12:00-17:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
242 High Street, Gateshead, NE8 1AQ
Hours: We 13:00-17:00; Th-Sa 12:00-17:00
Phone: +44 7708 195800
Waterstones
Bookstore20.9 km from Durham
Waterstones — Bookstore. Also worth knowing about Waterstones: it has a website with more detail.
The Works
Bookstore21.0 km from Durham
The Works — Bookstore.
Pauline Books & Media
Bookstore21.7 km from Durham
Pauline Books & Media — Bookstore. Also worth knowing about Pauline Books & Media: it has a website with more detail.
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5HH
Books for Amnesty
Used bookstore21.8 km from DurhamRun by Amnesty International UK
Run by Amnesty International UK, Books for Amnesty is Used bookstore, found on 92 Westgate Road in Newcastle upon Tyne. Also worth knowing about Books for Amnesty: the map lists its hours as Mo-Sa 10:00-17:00; it has a website with more detail.
92 Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4AF
Hours: Mo-Sa 10:00-17:00
Forbidden Planet
Bookstore21.8 km from Durham
Forbidden Planet — Bookstore, found on 49 Grainger Street in Newcastle upon Tyne. Also worth knowing about Forbidden Planet: it has a website with more detail.
49 Grainger Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5JE
Bookstore listings for Durham: 11 in Durham and 18 more nearby mapped from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Photos from Wikimedia Commons contributors; individual photo credits appear in captions. Listing data was last refreshed automatically — verify hours before visiting.