Axminster's Archway Bookshop moves to new home after 55 years

After 55 years tucked away behind the Minster Church, Axminster's Archway Bookshop moved centre stage this week when it opened its new shop in Trinity Square.

The business became the latest local independent to join Axminster Property's extensive restoration at Trinity House, which already houses the Lou La Belle boutique, The Crafty Hobbit and The Community Waffle House.

The arrival of the bookshop completes a dramatic turnaround in fortunes for a building that was abandoned as an unprofitable department store two years ago.

"It didn't really fit into our property portfolio at that time but to see it empty was very painful," says Ian Styles, managing director of Axminster Property.

"I'm really glad now with the way in which we have been able to bring it back to its old glory, and to have local independent businesses living there is an absolute pleasure."

He added: "What has been really satisfying has been to work with each of the individual businesses and to take what in each case was the germ of an idea and to build it with them."

The Archway Bookshop started in nearby Church Street in 1966.

Current owner Simon Holmes took over the business at the beginning of 2019. He admits to feeling "rather sad" about leaving such beautiful old premises.

"It is the epitome of what an independent bookshop should be," he says.

"However, the reality is that it no longer has the space that we need and doesn't allow us to expand as we would like.

"It is also inaccessible in that the great majority of our non-fiction department lives at the top of a spiral staircase.

"Trinity House has more than 200 years of history of its own, but it also offers us a lot more space and we have been delighted by the work Axminster Property has done in creating something rather special for book lovers.

"We have every confidence that it will become one of the most popular bookshops in the South West and indeed beyond."