'A pile of bodies at the end of the attic' stories from an antique junque

"There were people camping in the shop, windows were getting broken, it wasn't in a good state at all," Mr Page said.

"The shop was going to be demolished and the bricks were going to be taken to Newcastle, anyway long story short, I made an enquiry about the property when we were visiting town one day.

"There was something I really loved about the old building and I was glad to take it on."

Mr Page remembers the day he started the daunting job of cleaning through the shop and adjoining house and sorting through all the rubbish that had been left.

When he stumbled up into the attic late one afternoon, as the light was fading, he made what he called a "gruesome discovery."

"I was in there late cleaning out all the papers, the attic was just full of piles of papers. Well, I hadn't been in there long and when my eyes adjusted to the light, I noticed this pile of bodies and detached body parts at the end of the attic.

"Well, you know I investigated it a little further and it was the shop mannequins that had been stored up there, rather gruesomely I thought," Mr Page said.

Mr Page still has the mannequins and, as the shop is now on the real estate market in a 'walk in, walk out' arrangement, a lot of things will get sold, but the mannequins won't.

"They're quite interesting, they're quite good, they date back to the 1920s."

The property is listed by One Agency properties as an "historic and outstanding opportunity to secure an unbelievable New England real estate holding."

The property consists of the original ERRATT's department store, and the original home dating back to the 1880s. There are two additional vacant residential lots adjoining the home and two large allotments with solid sheds.

"Rarely is a property of such landmark proportions and interest offered," states the listing.

"Share your entrepreneurial flair and dreams to create a major CBD feature."

Amongst the many thousands of bric-a-brac/knickknack items, vintage memorabilia, antique furniture and children's dolls are many thousands of books, some that appear barely read, others that seem centuries old.

"I have a few more books out the back actually, if there is anything in particular you were after," Mr Page said.

Out the back, in a well maintained and sizable shed is what Mr Page estimates to be a collection of 20,000 books ready for marketing.

Browsing through the books can seem slightly overwhelming, there are many to choose from and shelves you literally need a ladder to browse to the top.

"I have gradually accumulated them all over the years," Mr Page said.

"I simply ran out of room in the main shop and brought them all out here."

The fiction books are for the best part, meticulously and alphabetically ordered. There are many instantly recognisable classics. The non-fiction collection is just as impressive but not as thoroughly catalogued.

Mr Page has tossed up the idea of having a sale for all of the book items but cannot fathom the idea that many of them will end up being recycled or thrown away.

"A few years ago, I had an old little leaflet on the credit unions of New South Wales. While it wasn't in the best condition and seemed almost like rubbish, somebody was in here one day and found it.

"As it turns out it was the son of the person who wrote it, and he was incredibly pleased to receive it," he said.

"I enjoyed that sale because most people would probably send it to the tip, but in fact it was a keepsake of our history, he was pleased to get it back, and that happens more often than you would think."