Sam Read Bookseller
Established by Sam Read, we've traded as a small independent bookshop since 1887, taking advantage of our position in the centre of Grasmere. There can be few places in the country that can lay claim to so many literary connections, from Wordsworth, Coleridge and the Romantics, to John Ruskin, Beatrix Potter, EM Forster, Arthur Ransome and Malcolm Lowry. More recently a wealth of poets have held residencies in the village, from Paul Farley and Jack Mapanje to Helen Mort and Zaffar Kunial.
The bookshop has had only 7 owners in its history. Sam Read, a prominent local Victorian, passed the business on to his daughter Helen, who ran it until the 1950’s. The shop then passed out of the family but the name has lived on – for obvious reasons!
The shop has always prided itself on its range of books and quality of service.
