Castle Books, Totnes

08/08/2026

Something for everyone on the table this morning!

06/08/2026

Welcome to The Poetry Well – Totnes’s new home for poetry!

We are so excited to announce the official launch tomorrow of The Poetry Well – a beautiful new poetry bookshop and poets' hub at 5a High Street, Totnes, (next door to Delphini's ice cream shop), lovingly conceived and run by the wonderful Harula Ladd.

Many of you will already know Harula from our monthly Word Stir events at Castle Books. Now she's bringing poetry even further into the heart of our community with an inspiring new space dedicated to the written word.

At The Poetry Well you'll discover:
📚 A carefully curated collection of new poetry books by local poets and small presses
📖 Second-hand poetry treasures
✍️ Creative writing workshops, readings, talks and community gatherings
🖋️ Bespoke poems, written by Harula on the spot on her trusty vintage typewriter

And, of course, there's the Poetry Well itself. Simply drop a coin into the well and take a poem - each one written by a local poet, and waiting to surprise, inspire, comfort or delight.

🎉 The official launch takes place over two days – Friday 4th and Saturday 5th August. After the launch weekend, The Poetry Well will be open Wednesday to Saturday, 9am–5pm.

We'll be sharing more details about upcoming workshops, readings and special events soon. We can't wait to see this wonderful new space become a home for poetry, creativity and connection in Totnes and wish Harula every success in this exciting new adventure.

22/07/2026

We've been researching this recently acquired 1809 edition (rebound, without maps) of 'The Description of Britain (De Situ Britanniae)' and it's not quite what it seems! In fact, it’s an infamous 18th century forgery, perpetrated by Charles Bertram on the historians of England. Bertram convinced scholars he'd uncovered a lost 15th century manuscript revealing new Roman roads, an ancient map and fresh historical ‘facts’ about Roman Britain. Experts believed it for over a century before the truth emerged: it was entirely fabricated. Yet the forgery influenced generations of historians - and is credited with having popularised the name of the Pennine hills. A fascinating reminder that there is nothing new about ‘fake news’!

26/06/2026

Totnes Library's Summer Book Quest events have landed! Join them for a summer of adventure as they celebrate the Mission to Wayfarer Island!😀

Our Summer Book Quest events have landed! Join us for a summer of adventure in Totnes Library as we celebrate the Mission to Wayfarer Island! 🏝️📜 We have lots of things to join in with, put the dates in your diary now!

25/06/2026

Another hot day! Perfect to sit in the shade with a book. There are so many beautiful books at Castle Bookshop today. Come and enjoy a cool atmosphere to browse. Here are a few examples on display today ☀️📚💙

25/06/2026

Poetry lovers, writers and readers - don't miss this month's Word Stir at Castle Books with headliner Simon Travers, hosted as usual by Toby and Harula. 😍

22/06/2026

Every day at Castle Books is a joy, but last Friday was particularly memorable. We were researching a WW1 Field Service Pocket Book dated 1914 and personally inscribed in August 1916. We had acquired it some time ago as part of a clearance, and the name was hard to transcribe. On Friday we made a breakthrough and discovered that the owner had fought in the Battle of the Somme and been awarded an MC for bravery. We were subsequently able to track down his grand daughter and the Pocket Book is now in the post, on its way back the family.

18/06/2026

Thank you Caroline Voaden for this brilliant initiative - and a huge thank you to all our customers for your continued support.

We’re incredibly proud to be one of FOUR independent bookshops in Totnes, alongside The East Gate Bookshop, Flux Books, and The Rowan Tree. And a special shout out to Oxfam Books too!

Independent bookshops thrive because of their communities — thank you for supporting local 💙📚

𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬.

🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

Of course, that’s Castle Books, Totnes

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟗 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝟒 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭.

Collards, as it was named then, was Totnes’s first vegetarian and wholefood café.

It wasn’t until three years after opening, in 1972, that Belle put a shelf of books in the upstairs dining area for customers to enjoy.

Quickly, the books began to take over and in 1975, Collards was transformed into Collards Books, which fast established itself as a hub for crime fiction and early illustrated books.

In 2011, another name change came; this time to ‘Belle, Book and Castle’. As Belle became older, more volunteers joined the team to keep the store open. Sadly, Belle passed away two years later, leaving a legacy that is still going strong today.

𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝟓𝟕 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝟒 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭, 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝟐𝟎-𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟔 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬.

I could wax lyrical about how special Castle Books is, but I’ll leave you all to do that in the comments! So let me say a massive thank you to Castle Books for everything they do for our community.

𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐧!

Please note every independent bookshop in South Devon was invited to be part of this series.

17/06/2026

We love Totnes Library's stylish new reception desk and are delighted to have helped make it possible with our latest donation 😍

When you come into the library you might notice it's a bit different... We have had a lovely upgrade to our staff enquiries desk. With huge thanks to Castle Books, Totnes for their generous donation and with support from Totnes Library Friends group we have a lovely accessible and streamlined entrance.

06/06/2026

Some wonderful new books in the window and shop today Come on in out of the rain!