London markets | Books | Sewing gear | Art Supplies | Reenactment resources
Here's a list of favourites intended for SCA travellers and locals, that we've found over the years.
This is not an exhaustive list - if you find a gem, please tell us!
London has a long history of local markets, often with specialties like clothing, leather goods, or food.
TimeOut London provides a comprehensive list of London shopping, including London's best markets.
They also publish excellent specialist guidebooks for every imaginable interest - food, drink, art, shopping, kids, clubs, etc.
Look for the weekly magazines in the corner shops, and the specialist guides in WH Smith or Waterstone bookshops.
All the museums and galleries have their own gift shops, which include books and exhibit catalogues. You'll find those on your own!
Here's a couple of other areas to go hunting.
Charing Cross Road Bookstores
Charing Cross Road Tube: Leicester Square (just up the road from the National Portrait Gallery and National Gallery)
Large collection of secondhand and new bookshops. Don't expect to be able to find that long lusted-after out-of-print book, but you seldom walk away without one good purchase. Google map with list of shops
Of especial interest...
W & G Foyle Ltd
119,Charing Cross Rd, WC2H 0EB Tel: 020 7437 5660
Foyles is supposedly one of the best sellers of new books in the world. Five stories to get lost in.Murder One
76-78 Charing Cross Rd, WC2H 0NE Tel: 020 7734 3483
Very large collection of crime/murder/mystery, science fiction, fantasy, horror and romance. New hardbacks and paperbacks. Good murder mystery bargain table.
British Museum area bookstores
Great Russell St area
Tube: Holborn, Tottenham Court Road, Russell Square, Goodge Street
The area around the British Museum is also chock-full of bookstores - antique, specialist, orientalia, cartoon. Fabulous.
Webwright recommends: London Review Bookshop, Bury Place, W1CA
As you can tell, we like shopping for fabric!
WEST: Shepherd's Bush Market, W12
Tube: Goldhawk Road
This market area has several fabric stores that stock wool, linen and silk at reasonable prices.
Look for Asian shops along Goldhawk Road, and then have a browse through the pedestrian market.
Webwright's favourite: Classic Textiles on Goldhawk Road, opposite the Tube station. "Never fail to find what I want here!"
Oddly, fabric shops do not necessarily stock sewing supplies (thread, needles, accessories) - just fabric. You have to go elsewhere for haberdashery.
NORTH: Walthamstow Market, High Street, E17
Tube: Blackhorse or Walthamstow Central
The daily market can yield some wonderful £1-2/m finds for fabric and notions from both the stalls and the shops.
Ideal for browsers who enjoy the thrill of the hunt as much as taking home the results. Closed Sundays.
CENTRAL: Berwick Street, Soho, W1F
Tube: Picadilly Circus, Leicester Square
Material shops galore. Goes from reasonable prices to outrageous, with corresponding materials. A HUGE range of silks.
SOUTH: Electric Avenue, Brixton SW9
Tube: Brixton
Electric Avenue and the Electric Arcade are popular outdoor markets adjascent to Brixton Station in South London.
Another excellent place to rummage and enjoy the search.
EAST: Curtain Factory Outlet, N12
Tube: West Finchley
"We manage to offer from 500,000 metres in stock these fabrics
at a maximum price of £6.99 per metre + VAT."
Website includes online shopping.
EAST: Green Street, E13
Tube: Upton Park
HG Nerissa says: "Look for a fabric store on Green street directly across the road from Upton Park tube station. If you mention you're making a medieval dress and you need metres and metres of nice natural-fibre fabric, he can be very helpful. It's very hit and miss whether he'll have something for you, but its worth going in...
"As you come out of Upton Park tube, turn left (not crossing the
road) and about 5 mintues walk along, at the busy roundabout, there's
a
curtain/fabric store. It has a selection of upholstery fabrics which is
great if you're looking for damasks or brocaded fabrics."
Sewing Gear - Haberdashery and notions
Central London.
Tube: Oxford Circus
"Everything you could possibly need for crafts, tailoring and home sewing."
Stocks bridal fabrics, hat forms, and specialty tailoring supplies, and does scissor sharpening.
Just off Oxford Street.
"V V Rouleaux is the leading passementerie brand in Europe, offering the broadest and most creative ranges of ribbons, trimmings, tassels, tie-backs, flowers, display and Christmas decorations, as well as interior and fashion accessories."
Shops in Sloane Square, and Marlebone
Tube: (unsurprisingly) Sloane Square, Marlebone
Fibre, yarn and embroidery
NORTH: The Handweaver's Studio
This excellent shop for textile artists is London's prime source of wool, linen and silk yarns and threads. A visit is a must for any handstitcher, embroiderer, weaver, or spinner. Nice selection of books and tools. Closed Sundays and Mondays.
The studio is close to Walthamstow Market, so a joint visit is recommended!
Supplies for calligraphers and illuminators
Tube: Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus
Downtown resource in Soho, walking distance from the major art galleries. Get inspired, and go stock up!
Cowling & Wilcox has several branches around the city.
Tube: Holborn, Tottenham Court Road, Russell Square, Goodge Street
"Artists' colourmen" since the 19th century.
Source of real gold leaf and minerals to grind your own pigments. A marvellous treat for keen artists.
Near the British Museum on Great Russell St.
Tube: Covent Garden, Holborn
"Our flagship store in Covent Garden is regarded as a major outlet
of its kind, offering unparalleled choice from the leading suppliers of
the world."
Green & Stone of Chelsea 'Dealers in art materials and drawing supplies since 1927'
Tube: South Kensington, or Sloane Square
A wonderful art shop in a very fashionable shopping area. Wear comfy shoes for the leisurely walk down King's Road.
The reenactment community in the UK provides an excellent resource for folks hoping to set up, or improve, their SCA kit. Several folks in Thamesreach play in more than one organisation.
The semi-annual reenactment markets (spring and autumn) are bonanzas for hard-to-find ready-made clothes, and for accessories like shoes, hats, cutlery and pottery, jewelry, armour, archery equipment.
You can walk in naked (ok, not quite, but entirely kit-free), and walk out fully equipped to play in the SCA.
These markets are ideal if you're trying to refine your SCA look to a particular period: Roman, Saxon, Norman, 14th century, War of the Roses, and Tudor are always popular in the UK.
Two organisations run the markets in 'friendly competition':
The Original Re-enactors Market
International Living History Fair
Our Living History is a great resource for finding out more about reenactment in the UK - the site runs active forums and has links to many groups.
