Peter Scott's Shoes – Woodhall Spa, England - Atlas Obscura

Peter Scott's Shoes

Woodhall Spa, England

This tiny shoe shop claims to be the smallest store of its kind in Britain. 

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This shop in the historic spa town of Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, England, boasts what is said to be the smallest shoe shop in the country.

Constructed into the last—and narrowest—unit of a tapering block of shops on The Broadway earned it the nickname, “The Woodhall Wedge.” The shoe shop is only three feet (just under one meter) wide at its narrowest point. This group of shops was once associated with the railway station that once stood near the rear section of the buildings, but was discontinued around 1970. 

Peter Scott’s Shoes has been operating out of the venue since 1999. However, the shop has lived many lives including a stint as a bike shop, an electrical retailer, and a jeweler. 

Whether it really is the smallest shoe shop is hard to prove, particularly since the shop also makes use of the windows of the adjacent travel business. The shop does, however, provide a novel photo opportunity. 

The town is also a popular place to visit, although its historic spa baths closed when the water supply well collapsed in the 1980s. Now, visitors to the town come for the Kinema in the Woods, the United Kingdom’s only back-projection cinema, and for the town’s association with the RAF’s historic 617 squadron. 

Know Before You Go

Not far from the shop is the Cottage Museum based in a Victorian "kit built " single-story house constructed of corrugated iron. As well as being a tourist information center, the building houses a photographic archive of Woodhall Spa from the Victorian era to the 1960s. These were largely taken by John Wield, the man who erected the building in 1887.

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January 24, 2020

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