P&G Wells in Winchester opens bindery with plans for a museum

P&G Wells recently opened its bindery to the public as part of the Heritage Open Days.

This is the first time the room, at the back of the shop in College Street, has been open for people to look around.

The bookshop had its own binder until the end of 2022 when Tim Wiltshire retired. Despite taking most of the equipment with him, the room still has a workbench from the 1790s, presses and a guillotine. 

Steve Scholey has been P&G Wells manager since April 2020. Mr Scholey, 57, said: “Tim came here in the mid-1970s, so he was here for around 45 years. He did his apprenticeship in bookbinding in Winchester at Warren and Son and set up by himself. He was asked to do a job for the Wells family and they agreed a deal that he would come and work here. 

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“He was working full-time up to the lockdowns when he decided to run things down. It would be great to replace him and find another binder. Tim was a real master craftsman. 

“He was training his son up, but he decided to move to Dorchester to set up a bindery there. 

“Binderies like this are quite unusual. They are dotted around all over the place, but not many are closely associated with a bookshop. 

“We hope we can find someone to do some binding here.”

Mr Scholey added that he wanted to use the space as a museum in the future. He said: “This is the first time we have opened it up in this way. It would be nice to have a museum with bookbinding workshops. The space needs to be made available so people can look around and enjoy it.”

A notice outside the shop outlined the shop's history. It said: “The bookshop that has traded since 1891 as P&G Wells is Winchester's longest-running retail business. It is believed to be the oldest bookshop in Britain, having been at 11 College Street since 1789.

“Before this, 'gentleman bookseller' John Burdon had conducted business from his home at number 12 next door since 1757. The roots of the business can be traced back even further, to an invoice for items supplied in 1729 to Winchester College. 

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“Joseph Wells, son of the college's beer butler, started as an apprentice in the early 1830s and became manager in 1845. 

“An inventory taken in 1866, when he bought the business from the previous owner, lists the shop fittings, many of which can still be seen inside. 

“After his death in 1890, Joseph's sons Philip and George were the second of four generations of the Wells family who ran the bookshop for 120 years. Many of our customers still remember Miss Margaret Wells, and her niece Monique who retired in 1983. Since then, the bookshop has continued to operate as an independent business. 

“Jane Austen wrote to her older sister Cassandra in 1798 about books bought from Burdon. Both her father and brother held accounts at the bookshop.

“Other famous literary customers have included Rev John Keble, romantic poet John Keats, at the time of writing his Winchester-inspired ode To Autumn and Victorian novelist Charlotte Yonge.”