Vintage & Antique Shopping in England
In 2009 a dream [that we didn’t even know we had] came true for my family. We moved to England for two years and had an extraordinary adventure. While we returned once to see old friends but hadn’t been back since 2012.
To celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary, we decided in May of 2025 to take a 3-week trip to visit with friends, see old and new sites, and shop for vintage (of course!). We shopped at antique malls, charity shops, car boot sales, and my favorite, outdoor markets.
All told, I spent $400 on 150 items, in addition to $100 for an extra suitcase. As of this writing, I’ve sold 7 of the pieces on Etsy and grossed a total of $216. I estimate that I’m well on my way to grossing over $2500.
Table of Contents
How to Find Places to Buy Vintage & Antiques
1. Antique Shops
2. Charity Shops
3. Car Boot Sales
4. Markets
About Our Trip
Our trip began in the Cotswolds, then onto the Midlands, from there to Northern Yorkshire, down to Bath, and over to London. I plan on writing more about the cultural aspects of the trip in a future article–stay tuned!
I should note that because we lived in the UK in the past, we are able to drive on the left side of the road without fear. We rented a car at the airport and used it to all five destinations.
All along the way I managed to squeeze in plenty of shopping and managed to fill that empty suitcase up to its 50 lb capacity.
I’ve produced four YouTube videos covering each of the types of vintage venues that we shopped as we traveled around England. [Type “England” into the search bar.]
How to Find Place to Buy Vintage & Antiques
Before I travel anywhere, whether here in the States or in Europe, I to to Google maps and in the “Search Google Maps” search bar I type in various words and phrases like:
- Thrift stores near _______ (the town or city)
- Flea markets near _______
- Antique shops near ________
- Etc.
And for the UK I’d type:
- Car boot sales near _______
- Charity shops near _______
- Markets near _______
- Etc.
In fact, I use this method to find all kinds of things I’m looking for: wineries, waterfalls, lakes, art galleries, etc. I open a Google Doc and take down all the relevant info that I learn duriing my search.
When you subscribe to my weekly newsletter, you’ll get access to my Member Library. In it you’ll find an example of just such a document (under Business Resources) that contains a list all the shops I visited while vacationing in Ogonquit, Maine.
1. Antique Shops
Whether in the UK or the US, I generally think of shopping at antique stores as more of a “visit to the museum” since their prices don’t tend to leave any room for me to make a good profit (4-10x COGS).
But sometimes I’m surprised by one or two booths that have prices low enough to allow a dealer to make some money. I found this to be true in a few of the antique shops I visited in England. (Though not the first one, LOL.)
Catch the video where I share all my antique shop purchases HERE.
Cotswolds: Winchcombe.
We stayed in Winchombe for three nights in one of the beautiful Sudley castle “cottages”. The buildings date to the 1400’s and they took our breath away! Our cottage (really a 2-story townhouse) contained both new and old features like original stone walls, reproduction wall papers, and a fully modern bath.
We walked the quaint downtown multiple times, shopping at charity shops, drinking coffee, and eating lunch. We found this field of sheep looking over the village right across the street from our cottage.
We stepped into Prichard Antiques and enjoyed its contents., but it definitely fell into the “museum” category for me.
Cotswolds: Stow-on-Wold
We wandered Stow-on-Wold, a quintessential Cotswolds town with dear English friends, Chris and Becca. We had a lovely lunch and spent some time shoppping for vintage (of course!)
Tara’s Antiques lured us in and I purchased a stunning autograph book (seen above). Dating to the 1930’s, it’s filled with paintings that accompany pithy comments left by the owner’s friends. Available in my Etsy Shop (as of 2/26)
The rest of the items were picked up at a Blue Cross charity shop in town:
- Small hand mirror
- Ironstone dish
- Yellowware pie funnel
- Stoneware inkwell
- Glass jar
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Cotswolds (Evesham): Twyford Antiques & Chase Chase Antiques
On day four of our English adventure, we drove north from Winchcombe toward the Midlands region of the UK and stopped in Evesham for lunch and a bit of shopping. We marveled at the many charity shops (which I’ll cover later) and enjoyed perusing two antique shops.
I always have to stop and admire any Tudor style architecture that I see along the way.
Twyford Antique Centre is a bit tricky to find. It’s located down an alley with poor signage, but we found it well worth the effort. I shopped its two floors for a good couple of hours and walked out with some treasures.
Above you see my favorite booth where I located most of my purchases.
Here’s a close-up of the bottles in that booth and on the right you see my loot. The largest white ironstone pot in the back (on the right) has already sold for $34 on Etsy.
The brass piece in the back holds a fireside brush. The Dundee marmalade jar is available in my Etsy shop (as of 2/26). And the two smaller ironstone pots will be added soon.
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This small shop had some nice offerings, but almost nothing was priced and it was so packed with merchandise, it was hard to walk around. When I found some French postcards I liked, I couldn’t locate anyone to get a price(!). Ultimately I did and the price was right.
Midlands: Derwentside Antiques
Back in 2009, we lived in the Midlands area of the UK, Derby to be exact. One of our favorite nearby towns to visit was Ashbourne, so that was our second base of operations.
We spent most of our time visiting with friends but did some shopping at Derwentside Antique Centre in Belper on our way out of town.
The shop has four floors with 50 sellers and it offers free on-site parking, which is a big deal in the UK! The first booth we shopped had this cool collection of grainsack pillows.
Me checking out a French bowl and pitcher made out of white enamelware. This mall had so many wonderful vintage and antiques!
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Like this large collection of French sewing notions–to die for, right?!!
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We also saw amazing French cutting boards and visited every single room, including the one the right, with so many beautiful antiques.
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North Yorkshire: Skipton Antiques & Collectors Centre and Three farthings
I loved the Skipton Antiques & Collectors Centre in North Yorkshire! I shopped its five levels and bought numerous pieces of brass (not my usual go-to) and several other antiques. Catch an Instagram video of the interior of Skipton Antiques HERE.
The owner of the little shop on the right, also in the town of Skipton, explained that he was going out of business.
The only issue: nothing was priced! I do not enjoy having to ask for prices on items I’m interested in. That said, I did pick up a tiny white ironstone pudding mold (a repro) for £3 that is adorable.
Bath: Bartlett Street Antique Centre
We traipsed through the very walkable city of Bath, stopping in at every charity shop and Bartlett Antique Centre as well. It definitely falls into the “museum” category for me, but oh my, such wanderful antiques to enjoy.
I did find one dealer in the basement who had a container of jewelry priced at £5 each. I found the four lovely pieces above–all sterling silver:
- Large pendant (stone unknown)
- Bangle bracelet
- Jade ring
- Grouse-foot brooch with silver ring and cap (available as of 2/26).
I also picked up the antique postcard (seen at the top of the photo) of Big Ben, Parliment, and Westminster bridge for £1.
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Some of the goodies inside a case at the Bartlett Antique Centre: gold-framed cameos, micro-mosaic pendant, handpainted porcelain brooch, and a book-shaped piece of marble.
2. Charity Shops
Most charity shops in England resemble cute little boutiques, unlike our often massive thrift stores that would never be described as “cute”. Every English town seems to have at least one.
These small storefronts usually contain a mix of clothing and small homegoods in a clean and tidy setting. OxFam operates a multitude of shops that sell books almost exclusively.
I shopped probably about 50 of them during our trip, but neglected to photograph them all. However, the charity shop YouTube video covers every item I bought at these shops.
Cotswolds: Winchcombe Charity Shops
Winchcombe contains a couple of charity shops that we had a chance to pop into.
I found the pretty loving spoon (right photo) at Longfield’s charity shop for £ 1.50. They fund hospice care in Gloucestershire.
Cotswolds: Evesham Charity Shops
Evesham is a walkable, good-sized town filled with charity shops! We hit at least seven while there and made numerouse purchases.
Items included:
- Silver plated flower frog (cost £3, sold for $24 on Etsy, 2/26)
- French ceramic dish (cost £3)
- Small repousse hand mirror (cost £4)
Midlands: Chesterfield Charity Shops
Our focus in Chesterfield was its amazing market, but on the way out of town, I popped into this Oxfam charity shop that sold books (almost exclusively). The prices were generally quite fair and sometimes cheap!
I picked up this Dickens collection entitle Christmas Books; it sold on Etsy for $54 (2/26).
3. Car Boot Sales
A car boot sale is England’s version of a garage sale married to a flea market. Anyone interested in selling their goods, whether “regular” people or vintage sellers, gathers together in a single location and sets up a booth (or area) with their stuff.
Instead of driving all over creation, buyers get to head to the one spot and shop to their heart’s content. Typically you can find merchandise priced quite low. Findcarboot.co.uk can help locate carboots around England.
Get a look at every item I purchased at car boot sales HERE.
Coltswolds: Winchcombe Car Boot Sale
Upon arriving in Winchombe from Heathrow, we unpacked at our Airbnb and then headed north to visit dear friends, Chris and Becca. On the way, we passed a sign for a car boot sale in Winchombe to be held the next day–a Saturday.
We had plans to meet up with our friends again on that Saturday but arose early to hit the car boot sale, our very first chance to do some vintage shopping!
Alas, we only had £7 to our name and that limited what we could buy–it was very painful, LOL. With the exception of the early brass pitcher (£3), the other pieces cost 50p to £1:
- Mini French dictionary
- Leather billfold
- Wooden whisk broom
- Red plastic whisk broom
- Wild Flowers (book)
- Julius Caeser
- Torquay mottoware pot
- Brass pitcher
- Stoneware jug
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Midlands: Ripley
Ripley is conveniently located about a half an hour north of Ashbourne (our base of operations). The car boot sale is open Saturdays from 7am-2pm with a £1 entry fee. This was my first time ever attending the sale!
Ripley car boot sale is a good-sized event, and we walked away with so many great deals. We gave our £1 at the entry point and had access to 50 or more sellers.
It was a typical mix of true garage sales and vintage vendors. My sweet husband smiled for the camera in the left-hand photo 🙂
Here are three of my purchases, each of which cost £1:
- Silver plated toaster rack
- Bottle of eau de cologne fraiche, Christian Dior perfume (available as of 2/26)
- Butter Pat, Coalport Bone China
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And here are two pieces that have sold already:
- Glass ornament in the shape of Rington’s Tea truck (sold for $18 on Etsy)
- Torquay mottoware cup that reads: “No road is long with good company” (sold for $27 on Etsy)
4. Outdoor Markets
The UK is littered with market towns, that is, towns that continue a centuries old practice of holding open air markets in the town centres. Usually one day per week or bi-monthly the market opens with a mix of new, used, vintage, and food.
I visited several of these small (10-25 stalls) markets while we lived in the UK, including: Uttoxeter, Ashbourne, Lichfield, Stafford, and Leeds.
You can also find some located inside Market Halls, like in the city of Derby. And several cities hold yearly Christmas Markets, like Birmington, which sponsors an amazing European style Christmas Market leading up to the holiday.
What I learned during this trip is that several citys hold antique specific markets, in Bath and London for example, which I’ll discuss below.
See everything I bought at these three markets HERE.
Midlands: Chesterfield Flea Market
Buyers can find one of the oldest and largest markets in Chesterfield, which is about an hour north of Ashbourne. You can find vintage and antiques at the Thursday Flea Market. They hold a “General Market” on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.
When we lived in England, I attended the sale every single Thursday, and you would find me pulling my [overflowing] wheeled cart after hours of shopping!
From the car park, shoppers take a short walk past these amazing timbered Tudor buildings to the market–stunning right?!!
More than 120 stall holders show up every week offering their vintage and antiques for sale.
The skies were gray but the rain held off! In these photos you see the Market Hall, which dates to 1847. The outdoor market has undergone a radical transformation since we lived in the area 15 years ago. The stalls have been rebuilt and topped with brand new awnings. It looks amazing!
If you can think of a vintage category, it’s probably represented somewhere in the market. One stall sold the hundreds of sewing notions you see on the right.
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You may very well run across some oddities as well, like these sculls on the right!
Watch an Instagram video of all the £1 items I purchased from my friend Joe. I got to know him when we lived in the UK and was hoping to see him on this visit, and we did!
Bath
About 2 1/2 hours west of London, Bath is famous for Jane Austen, the show Bridgerton, and the up-and-coming Agathie Christie show. It’s also near Stonehenge, which we wanted to revisit while in the country.
We took the opportunity to walk amongst the stones at Stonehenge during sunset. This powerful and moving experience is not one we’ll soon forget.
The Saturday antique market takes place weekly on Walcot Sttreet in the Cattle Market car park (BA1 5BG) from 8am to 5pm.
We were thrilled to find about 35 booths filled with all sorts of great antiques.
We spent a good couple of hours tooling around the various stalls.
Yes, my sweet husband shops with me. Sometimes he’s the “mule” carrying my many packages. Since I was limited in space to one suitcase, his services were not often required, but his presence was much appreciated.
I picked up several items at the market but this garnet encrusted cocktail ring is a favorite (available as of 2/26).
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London: Bermondsey Antique Market
The final leg of our trip we spent in London, booking an airbnb on the north side of the Thames. I therefore looked for any markets that might be nearby and discovered the Bermondsey Antique Market, which is open every Friday from 6am to 2pm at Bermondsey Square (SE1 3UN).
In the past I’d briefly shopped the famous Portabello Market and hope someday to return.
About 15 vendors set up outside (in beautiful weather) and another 10 or so inside.
It was a nice little show with a variety of both vintage and antiques.
So much antique goodness!
My favorite find was this £3 Hungarian document containing a number of pages with great handwriting and stamps. At first I thought passport but after translating some of the words I discovered it was actually a report card.
Across the Thames lies the iconic Tower of London.
Final Thoughts
I know it looks like we only shopped during our trip, but believe me, we did so much more! Things like visiting with friends, a 5-mile hike, All Creatures Great and Small sites, Stonehenge at sundown, high teas, spa days, pubs, waterfalls, a Westend show, walking tours, a castle tour, genealogical adventures, and a bunch of other stuff. I’ll be writing about it all ASAP.
Meanwhile, I hope you got a taste of all the ways you can successfully shop for antiques in England, all of which are thoroughly enjoyable, and very profitable.
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What a great trip! I really liked the concept of carboot sales and wished they were a thing in the states. Thank you for sharing. I learn so much from you.
P.S. That Stonehenge photo is so wonderful. You should sell prints in your Etsy shop.
🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed the article Marlene 🙂 Car boot sales are the absolute best! And thanks for the compliment about the Stonehenge photo–Mother Nature was very cooperative that day 😉