'Oldest chemist' shop goes up for sale

A shop, described as one of the oldest in England, has been put up for sale.

Ye Oldest Chymist Shoppe in England, in Knaresborough’s Market Place, has been helping customers since the early 18th Century.

The Grade II listed property is thought to have opened as an apothecary and pharmacy in 1720.

It is now a gift shop and tea room and is being sold with a guide price of about £124,950.

Carol Barden has owned the business for over 20 years and said she hoped any buyer would keep it "as it is".

“Everything original is still here, it’s just been fronted.

“The original drawers, the original cupboards, everything is actually still here, which is lovely. I don’t want to change anything about it, I really don’t."

She said she was selling so she could have a quieter pace of life and enjoy semi-retirement.

“I will come in and have a look round," she said.

"I’ll be sorry not to see the regular customers and doing the ordering, hiring and firing, I’ll miss all of that."

The upstairs of the shop now sells tea and cake and Duncan, who runs the counter, said he hoped it could continue.

"It’s a meeting place for lots of locals and it’s got a good local clientele," he said.

The business is described as “one of the finest trading positions in the town” in its listing by Ernest Wilson.

Although the shop's name boasts it is the oldest chemist in England, the shop ceased operating as a pharmacy in 1998.

The oldest one still trading in England today is Reavley's, in Burford, Oxfordshire, which has been open since 1734.

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