'Mini Harrods' village store Thompson's run by the same family for 200 years goes on sale with rare covenant to ensure it stays a shop Thompson's in Osmotherley, North Yorks, began trading in 1786 Sixth generation owner Grace Thompson took over in 1943 until she retired nine years ago In 1880, Edward D. Thompson started selling newspapers and by 1935, the store was described as 'a veritable mini Harrods' General store set to fetch £200,000 at auction A village shop which has been run by the same family for more than 200 years is for sale for the first time - with strict measures that it is preserved under a rare covenant. King George III was on the throne when Thompson's began trading in 1786 and since then it has been passed down the family until it reached sixth generation Grace Thompson in 1943. She was forced to retire nine years ago but, concerned that the landmark building might be converted into a house or a cafe, she has won the backing of local town chiefs to place a condition on the sale meaning that the new owner has to run it as a shop. For sale: King George III was on the throne when Thompson's began trading in 1786 and since then it has been passed down the family until it reached sixth generation Grace Thompson in 1943. She is the child pictured behind the bicycle in this photo from the 1930s Grace Thompson retired in 2004 and has now ensured that a condition on the sale means the new owner has to run Thompson's as a shop. She is pictured (left) with her mother in the 1960s in the store Her actions have ensured that this remarkable piece of architectural and social history will be preserved. And villagers are hoping that whoever buys it, at an auction guide of £200,000, will keep the vintage shop front and signage along with the period cabinets and delivery bicycle. The family's ancestor, Edward Thompson, started retailing from the front room of his home in Osmotherley, North Yorkshire, but the entrepreneurial Georgian soon built his small enterprise into a general store and each successive generation has added to it. In 1880, Edward D. Thompson started selling newspapers and by 1935, the store was described as 'a veritable mini Harrods'. Thompson's, in Osmotherley, North Yorkshire, is set to fetch £200,000 at auction Villagers are hoping that whoever buys it will keep the vintage shop front and signage along with the period cabinets and delivery bicycle Miss Thompson was 16 and left grammar school to help run the business after her father died and, along with her mother and her uncle, she worked from dawn until dusk A newspaper article from that era reveals that all the proprietors were born in the same room of the property and even records snatches of conversation from the counter. 'A pound of rice for my mummy,' said a little girl; 'an ounce of cut plug [tobacco],' said the farmer. 'I should like to see some boys' shorts and have you got anything to cure the flu?' says the housewife. Back then, the shop billed itself as a grocer, general drapers, tea dealers and provisions merchant plus wholesale and retail tobacconists, newsagents and fancy dealers. It also sold medicines, ironmongery, postcards and was a post office for a time. Miss Thompson was 16 and left grammar school to help run the business after her father died and, along with her mother and her uncle, she worked from dawn until dusk. Goods in sacks and tea chests were collected from the railway station by horse and cart. Her uncle died in 1961 and her mother in 1982, leaving Miss Thompson, now 85, to run the shop alone until she retired in 2004 after a fall. Her friend Pat Duggan said: 'The shop was her whole life and she kept it going as long as she could. 'It was difficult as she and her mother couldn't drive, which meant they couldn't go to the wholesalers like other shopkeepers. She was still delivering the newspapers in the village herself until she was 75 and everyone loved her. 'The only thing she wouldn't do was sell caps for toy guns to girls. She didn't think that was right. 'She is very proud of her family and rightly so - Thompson's is famous, even in America and Australia.' Estate agent Robin Jessop is selling the property at auction on May 15, along with the family's two-bedroom cottage next door, which has a guide price for £100,000. He says: 'It was Miss Thompson's wish that it should remain a village shop and the parish council and the York North Moors National Park have both supported the restrictive covenant. It is an iconic property with a tremendous position and a lot of history. It must be the oldest grocery store in North Yorkshire and perhaps beyond. In the 19th century, the shop billed itself as a grocer, general drapers, tea dealers and provisions merchant plus wholesale and retail tobacconists, newsagents and fancy dealers The shop is in need of renovation but has 2,000 sq ft of space, including living quarters with four bedrooms, outbuildings and a 0.6 acre grass paddock. The contents of Thompson's were sold at auction in January. There were old tins, medicine bottles, postcards and advertising displays spanning over two centuries. The most exciting lot was a set of large, domed tin tea caddies with painted oriental scenes which were valued at over £1,000. The sale also included a two-and-a-half foot tall HP sauce bottle made from tin from about 1910. 'She is very frail now,' said Ms Duggan, 'but I do hope Grace gets the pleasure of seeing Thompson's re-open as a shop.'