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Now for sale: this Welsh bookshop that comes filled with hundreds of books

It goes to auction next week with a starting price of £75,000

Amy Houghton
Written by
Amy Houghton
Contributing writer
Outside of a bookshop
Photograph: Courtesy of Paul Fosh Auctions
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Calling all bookworms: a fiction-filled property in Wales has just come on the market and it could well be your dream house. The former bookshop in the mining town of Blaenavon goes to auction next week, with a guide price of just £75,000 – a steal, if you ask us. 

The shop closed back in 2021, and the building’s turquoise exterior could certainly benefit from a lick of paint. But the sale also means that the new owner would have the opportunity to rejuvenate this former book haven – not least because there are shelves upon shelves of fiction and non-fiction included in the sale. There are two floors above the shop that make up a three-bedroom maisonette, as well as a basement and large attic, meaning there’s no need to fret about book overspill. 

Debra Bisley, of Paul Fosh Auctions, said: ‘We’ve already had interest from people intrigued by the area which is steeped in history from the dawn of the industrial revolution at the start of the eighteenth century, while others recognise the opportunities there are for exploiting the potential for these and other properties in this World Heritage town.’ 

Twenty years ago, Blaenavon was launched as an international ‘book town’ to rival fellow Welsh town Hay-on-Wye. The bookshop is just around the corner from the town’s main tourist attraction, the Big Pit National Coal Museum, as well as Blaenafon Cheddar Co., a specialist cheddar company which matures cheeses in an old mining pit. 

Bidding is scheduled to open at midday on March 7 and will close at around 6pm on March 9. You can take a closer look at the property here

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