Red LionBooks

Peter and Sarah Donaldson opened Red Lion Books in 1978 in the old stables of the Red Lion Hotel and moved it up the High Street in 1986, where it has outlasted every rival: the local press counts it as the last standing of the six independent bookshops Colchester once kept. The trade keeps confirming the survivor's quality rather than just its stamina — East of England Independent Bookshop of the Year in 2021 and again in 2025 — and Peter has served as a trustee of the Essex Book Festival since 2011, which is what happens when a bookseller becomes infrastructure. Britain's oldest recorded town buys its books here; both parties have earned each other.