Blackwell's Bookshop & the Norrington Room, 50 Broad Street
From the street, Blackwell's looks like a handsome but modest Victorian shopfront. Walk inside, descend two flights of stairs and you emerge into one of the most extraordinary rooms in England — a vast, cathedral-like basement of books that stretches beneath Trinity College itself.
A Broad Street Institution Since 1879
Blackwell's has occupied 50 Broad Street since it was founded in 1879, gradually expanding to absorb neighbouring buildings. By the 1960s there was nowhere left to grow but downwards, so the Victorian basement was excavated and transformed into the Norrington Room — named after Sir Arthur Norrington, then President of Trinity College.
The result holds the Guinness World Record for the largest single room dedicated to selling books: over 150,000 volumes arranged on two and a half miles of shelving. The room sits directly beneath Trinity College's grounds, which gives it an almost subterranean, secret-passage atmosphere.
How to Explore It Properly
Most visitors browse the ground floor — piled high with Oxford-themed editions, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Inspector Morse — and leave without ever discovering what lies below. The trick is to head straight for the stairs at the back and keep going down until the ceiling opens up into the Norrington Room's full, breathtaking expanse.
The upper floors are worth exploring too: art, music and academic titles fill the higher levels, and there are comfortable seats where you can sit and read before you buy. The staff are specialists — ask them anything.
More Than Just Books
Blackwell's hosts regular author events, signings and literary evenings in the Norrington Room itself, which transforms into an atmospheric venue after hours. Check the events calendar on the Blackwell's website before your visit — a reading in that basement is an experience unlike any other.
The shop is free to enter, dog-friendly and directly opposite the Sheldonian Theatre, making it the natural bookend (literally) to a walk along Broad Street.
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