Entering Treadwell's bookshop is a step back in time: the building itself was constructed in 1710, and is listed. The interior is almost entirely original, right down to the archway sculpted with dancing fauns. The original hardwood floors are scattered with persian rugs and mismatched antique bookcases line the original plaster walls. Pride of place is given to the legendary “Browsers’ Sofa” on which many a customer has spent a blissful hour.

Treadwell's specialises in cultural history and esoteric belief. This means you are surrounded by works of British cultural history, Celtic regions, Europe, the Near East, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas. You will find a heady mixture of genres: poetry anthologies; fortune-telling guides; classic novels; grimoires, art books, folklore studies; occult texts; etiquette manuals; literary essays; almanacs; paranormal study journals; travel writing; philosophical works; old ethnography, and esoteric biographies.

And it’s not just books! Several large class display cases house esoteric paraphernalia: silver chalices, tarot cards, pentacles, old engravings, carved wall-plaques, ceremonial daggers (including witches' athames), wooden wands, antique candle-sticks, ethnic jewellery. The walls are adorned with magical paintings for sale, and baskets tempt you with loose incenses, hand-made soaps, Most of the items are unique, or locally crafted. Our magical soaps and baths are made by a pair of London hedgewitches; our candles are made by by a friendly magical woman in her kitchen at home in the Surrey countryside; our Greek charms are made by a folkloric artists émigré from the Greek islands to South London.

By the front door is the notice board. Notice boards in occult shops have always intrigued people, and the Treadwells board is no different: You can find everything there - the times of the next public druid ceremony, registration forms for academic conferences on the history of magic; invitations to a Goddess poetry reading; programmes from the local pagan pub moots.

When you walk through the door in the afternoon, or early evening, you are likely to meet Christina, Treadwell’s founder and presiding spirit. Sometimes she is behind the till, other times pottering around the shop floor. She advises on book choices, helps you find what you are looking for, and hosts the events in the evenings. Christina has been voraciously interested in comparative religion, spirituality, magic, history, pagan mysticism and world religious since childhood. The daughter of a United Nations geologist, she grew up in West Africa, Burma, and Chile, only moving to the West at the age of fifteen - a transition she refers to as a severe culture shock. In her early 20s, though, she says she discovered she was heartened to discover European’s own native religious traditions, and has been a pagan ever since. These days she occasionally appears on documentary television programmes and very occasionally is to be found at academic conferences giving a paper. Most of the time, happily, she is ‘at home’ in the shop. She’s often found talking with a customer about Wicca, folk magic, Gerald Gardner and friends, the Order of the Golden Dawn, or early modern grimoires.

Ah, and the languages you will hear at Treadwell's! French, Spanish, Polish, Czech, Japanese – and more. Overseas visitors come to us, having been recommended by a friend or having found us on Google before their trip. If you are one of these, please know you are warmly invited to introduce yourselves when you arrive. Please do say hello! We like to know who you are, so you can be made welcome.

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