Aysgarth: Ex-youth hostel filled with 120,000 books put on sale

Richard Axe is selling the hostel, neighbouring cottage and book collection library for £1.5m

A former youth hostel filled with more than 120,000 books has been put up for sale.

The 30-room property in Aysgarth, North Yorkshire, is home to bookseller Richard Axe, 73, who has spent 18 years amassing the mammoth collection.

However, due to "various health issues" he said he was looking for a buyer to take on both the building and books.

On the market for £1.5m, Mr Axe said it was "regrettably too much" for him to manage.

The building has an adjoining cottage attached

He told BBC Look North: "I would love to stay here, but it's just too much and I can't manage such an enormous stock and such an enormous building.

"When I bought this place and had it restored to a state such that it could accommodate these books, I then employed somebody for a year to do almost nothing but building shelves, and this is why there are over a mile of shelves."

The library in Aysgarth is filled with 120,000 books

Brian Lake, who founded Jarndyce Antiquarian Booksellers, described Mr Axe's collection as "unique".

He said: "I can't think of anywhere else in the country which has that quantity of books - it's something that couldn't be repeated."

The property includes the hostel, which dates back to 1878, and a two-bedroom cottage where Mr Axe has lived since 2006, and a large garden overlooking the historic St Andrew's Church.

The famous Aysgarth Falls are also located nearby, along with the River Ure and the market town of Leyburn is seven miles to the east.

Mr Axe said his library did not attract a lot of visits from members of the public but was visited by a number of specialist international booksellers, with one recent buyer leaving with a bag of historic letters that were then sold on to the British Library.