This is an amazing second-hand bookshop, which takes its name from the wonderful 15th-century…read morebuilding in which it is housed. They have an enormous stock, specialising in children's books (although they still have thousands of books on other subjects). The owners are friendly, helpful and very knowledgeable, and also handle enquiries over the web.

I can't help but take reference with Lois' complaint regarding the condition of the books within…read morethe Fifteenth Century Bookshop; while I do agree, I feel it is necessary to point out that not many 50 year old books can be found in perfect condition. I personally love this shop, I'm not a hugely avid reader, but this shop has so much character and purpose, that I much prefer it to the uniform Waterstones that sits in every UK High Street. As already mentioned, the shop specialises in older books, normally of a rare breed. If you are a reading enthusiast, or book collector, this shop will be your haven.

Si's sounds is the type of independent record shop that you can get to feeling really at home in…read more It has a great balance between loud exciting music and friendly personal service that gets you into the right mind frame to enjoy all that they have to offer. The whole place is a perfect little package of general home entertainment stocking games, music and comics all wrapped up with colourful and punky graphics. Si (the proprietor) is, in person, just as fantastic as the caricature of himself on the business card. With his red hair and portly stature he put me in mind of NOFX's Fat Mike, however where, were he Fat Mike, there would be a dry and cynical outlook on the world there is a friendly and sociable demeanour. The stock here is great too; the last time I visited they had a wall devoted to Bowie vinyls and a great section of modern rock. It is all I bit in the rock direction though as the name and graphics suggest, this is not the kind of place one might pick up a copy of say the Planets Sweet.

This record shop is an old-school independent music shop, owned and staffed by Si, whose visage…read moregraces the A board at the top of the road. From the look of him, and the majority of the stock, Si is a bit of an old-school rocker. I'd say the shop was about 60% vinyl and 40% CDs, which are not organised in any discernible fashion, except perhaps what he lumps in together; one label read 'Radiohead, Doves, Snow Patrol, etc.' I'm fairly sure I know some people who would be rather cross at the idea that Radiohead were somehow similar to Snow Patrol, but there you go. This is obviously a shop run by an enthusiast, for other enthusiasts, who like to spend a long time browsing. Although from what I know from watching High Fidelty, I thought all musos were OCD about how they organise their music collections. The CDs are fairly cheap, many were £4, which is good for an independent music shop. I think it would be a good place to come if you wanted to have a long chat about metal from the 1980s, or the merits of vinyl.

These poor guys lost 50% of their stock and suffered horrendous water damage in the floods of 2000…read morebut have successfully pulled things back on track with the help of an excellent online ordering service backing up the friendly and cozy shop. They specialise in military history books from before and after the two World wars. I've bought a couple of things from here and they really are interesting and educational at the same time. In my opinion, its a lot better going to a proper bookshop than lurking around on Amazon.

My word, if ever there was a bookshop for boys this was it. Tanks, planes, race cars, steam engines…read moreand several volumes by Jeremy Clarkson, ha haaaaah wonderful if they sold airfix kits and cap guns they would be well away. As it says on the front these folks are military history specialists, but that's not all they cover here, while you may be hard pushed to find a section on trash paperback romance novels there are a few reference sections that ladies might find interesting. God knows I don't want to draw stereotypes, but the selection of girls that would find what the Lewes Book Centre has to offer interesting is definitely going to be smaller than that of the boys. The folks that work here seem a little odd but in my experience that's par for the course for anyone who has a little too much to do with military history. Come, spend a few hours browsing, leave with a manual for a Sherman tank and wonder why you don't know more about heavy artillery.

This is the rival antiquarian bookshop in Lewes- the rival outfit to Bow Window Bookshop- and to be…read morehonest, it's a little disappointing. It always has fabulous window displays full of refernce books- large size hardback vintage reference books with fantastic colour images. And they often have great children's books in the window. When you actually walk in though it seems very small and out of reach, literally, in glass fronted bookcases. I suppose I always like looking of for novels, and as the windows do suggest, they specialise in reference books here. The prices seem quite high as well- but then I don't know much about vintage nature books, geography books or anthropology books.

I have to say I disagree with Emma's assessment of A & Y Cumming as I think it is just as good as…read moreBow Window Books, but in a different way. A & Y Cumming, unlike the pristine and tasteful shopfront and interior design of Bow Window, is a little more ramshackle (not much but a little more) and the books on display are of a more weird and wonderful mix. There was an old penguin copy of Conrad's seafaring novel Suspense, as well as an old leather bound copy of the darlky named The Lust of Hate, by Guy Boothby, as well as a large selection of other leather bound reference books. Very interesting I must say.

This is a very Lewes Shop, luxurious and rich paint, beautiful, intellectual and interesting…read morecollectors items, and well laid out and tidy. If your looking for a second hand place that is like the 15th century bookshop, ramshackle and ridiculously quaint, this is not the type of place. This is for serious collectors who have nice clean houses with a few choice things (maybe?), not for mad old bag ladies, which you could imagine cram into the 15th century bookstore in droves. I saw some beautiful leatherbound classics, as well as some interesting art books. There was a book here that was going for £600. Now come on!

This is the most classic of bookshops- as the name suggests it has beautiful bow windows- an…read moreelegant dark red frontage, wooden floors, wooden floor to ceiling bookshelves and row after row of leather bound, cloth bound, dust-covered classic books, first editions and rare books. It has a hushed and reverent feel to it when you first walk in, but quickly as you scan through the books you realise that there are all kinds of books here- all second-hand and prime condition- but not all out of reach. You can't go in and find any number of books for a few pounds but you can buy a great hardback first edition of an Anita Loos, Paul Auster, Ian McEwan or an art book for between £10 and £20. Or...you could spend several hundred (even thousands) on a rare and/or old book.

Cafe has gone. Far too much space for children's stuffed toys. chard…read morecharge 25p for a paper bag to hold some expensive greetings cards. Now only worth visiting to choose books to order on amazon

I went in here looking for a nice new dinosaur book for my grandsons and while looking I noticed…read morethat they served drinks and grandmas getting a bit old so I needed a nice drink and a rest. I sat down and drank my drink and took of my back brace being careful that I didn't flash everyone my nipples. As I was sitting here I kept getting weird glares so I got up and limped to go find my grandsons some new books.I found the perfect one and as I reached up my back snapped and I couldn't move I had to take my t-shirt off because I needed my back brace back on. As I was trying to get my back brace back I got kicked out because I was walking around the shop half naked. End of the story is I didn't get my back brace or t-shirt back and I didn't get my poor grandsons books.

This stationers- they have more stationery than books in this branch- is quite a nice break from…read moreall the hand crafted, limited edition statiobery in the rest of Lewes. This place sells your more mundane pens, notebooks, calendars, cards, and sometimes that it what you want-some straightforwardness. It's also cheaper than other Lewes sources so if you want to save a little check this place out.

It's a bit of a wordy shop name isn't it. I think the 'Recorded Music Specialists' could maybe be…read moresurplus to requirement to be honest, but again, you have to look at the market here, and Lewesian's are probably quite responsive to that kinda thing... So now we have established that basically it's just a posh name for a music shop, and that thats fine, lets move on. In terms of choice of music, it's pretty far ranging especially for its size, but it also means that the depth of its range isn't too huge, so you won't find everything you want. The best thing though is that all the music is ordered into a nice and easy to find arrangement, and the shop assistants are there and look eager and willing to help out, which gives it some big bonus points. I like the little narrow hallway that divides the shop, and they've made an effort, decorating it with Radiohead and other music posters, so that's cool. Worth a look, and also worth a buy, because your helping an independent shop!

Octave (Recorded Music Specialist) looks distinctly promising from the outside. Aha, I bethought…read moreme, inside here I shall discover treasures. Alas. It was not to be. Despite looking like a little independent record shop with all the charisma in the world this place is like going on a blind date with Kristin Scott Thomas only to find that Jordan turns up. Inside is a dull, tired parade of Destiny's Child, Mariah Carey and to top off the festival of bland, the ultimate champion of the mediocre, Jamie Cullum himself. As it's an independent, it can't afford to be cheap either. It was so promising! I can't find any reason why there shouldn't have been something in there I'd have been interested in listening to. Yet somehow, there wasn't. Perhaps it's something to do with the grim poster on the wall advertising a book charting the decline of the independent record shop since the recession. Maybe they've attempted to sell out to save their skin. I don't know. All I can say is that nothing struck a chord with me here in the slightest. It would be an excellent place to come for the soundtrack to your new elevator, or the ideal compilation album for a soulless coffee chain. Otherwise, I'd give it a miss.

A beautiful family run bookshop. Lots of old books that you…read morewont find anywhere else. Its nicely laid out for you to spend most of your morning looking through the huge selection

Just an average forbuoys. Just a basic newsagents but too…read morepricey. They have a large selection of magazines and newspapers.They also sell the usual sweets,chocolates,crisps,soft drinks,sandwiches etc. The staff are friendly enough but it can get very busy and hard to step into the door.