Welcome to Books on the Hill
We are an independent bookshop in the heart of St Albans, Hertfordshire. Our doors first opened on 11th November 2019.
Situated on Holywell Hill, we are just a 20-minute train ride from the centre of London. We are a team of dedicated book collectors and reading enthusiasts, who strive to match the right book with the right person.
The dream was of creating a warm and inviting old-fashioned bookshop. A haven for busy lives. A meeting place for readers, writers, poets, talkers, speakers, thinkers and dreamers. To hold literary events for book lovers of all ages.
“independent booksellers – it’s not exaggerating to say that they are lantern bearers of civilisation” Sir Philip Pullman
Our bookshop is on two floors; the ground floor is split into two rooms. The first room, our traditional Green Room, holds our curated New Books and our Curiosity Cabinet. Our second room, painted in Bookroom Red, is home to our non-fiction books, Penguin Classics, Children’s New, Young Adult and our Gifts section. On the first floor we display our Daphne du Maurier collection and stock our vintage and antiquarian books. We serve tea and coffee there also.
The Curiosity Cabinet – holds Rare Books, including First Editions and literary items of interest. Please see our Rare Books page for a list of authors we currently have in our collection.
New Books – includes fiction, history, politics, journalism, nature, travel, art & design, life & lifestyle, food & drink, graphic novels, short stories, essays, biographies, science & technology, poetry and local authors.
Antiquarian Books – our range includes classics, poetry, religion and fiction.
Vintage Books – boasting a wide variety of genres and rare finds, we’re confident we have something for everyone. - Vintage Penguin publications – this includes plays and essays.
Children’s Vintage Books – this delights our customers across all generations, some rediscovering books from their own childhood, and some finding timeless tales for the first time.
Children’s New Books – we work with specific publishing houses as well as independents to provide unique books that produce captivating storytelling, who then work with marvellous illustrators that promote developing imagination.
Young adult – new titles, including a study section and classics.
Gifts – To be given or to be kept for yourself, possibly for your reading corner. We also stock vintage inspired gift wrap (which is suitable to be displayed on one of our oak poster holders), poetry cards, greetings cards, clothbound books, stationery, games, locally made candles, brass candle sticks, exercise books and notebooks and much more.
History of the building
The space we occupy has had many different lives since its construction in c. 1600. From being a tearoom run by Mr and Mrs Hayes from the 1950s through to the mid 1980s* (known as The Pilgrims Rest) to most recently having been a furniture shop (known as Wesley Barrell) this shop has seen it all. But its purpose of being a space for the public to enjoy has remained constant. We also have a fun resident ghost - a monk travelling from St Albans Cathedral in the secret tunnels that run below the city, where he does the flower arranging.
*St Albans Review (2002)
Illustration by Christopher Delaney
