Market Square
Your eyes examined properly, then frames chosen slowly
Two optometrists, forty-five minutes for every examination, and a wall of frames small enough that we can tell you where each one came from.
The awkward part, said out loud
The person testing your eyes also sells you the glasses
That is true here as it is everywhere, and it is worth knowing how we handle it. Nobody in this shop works on commission, and the optometrist who examines you does not know what you spend afterwards. Your prescription is written out and handed to you at the end of the examination, and you are free to take it anywhere; about one person in ten does, and we say so without a sigh. If you do buy here, we will happily tell you that the frame you have picked up is more than you need to spend.
Ruth Fielding, dispensing optician
What is different here
Three things we will not shorten
Forty-five minutes
Long enough to test the eye, look at the back of it, and talk about what we found.
No commission
Nobody here is paid more for selling you a thicker lens or a costlier frame.
Frames we chose
Around two hundred frames, picked one at a time from eight makers, not a catalogue drop.
What we do
The two halves of the shop
The examination room is at the back and the dispensing table is at the front. They are run as if they belonged to different businesses.
Eye examination
Forty-five minutes with an optometrist, retinal photography included, and a written prescription you keep.
00
Children's examination
Shorter, done in a way that works for a child who cannot yet read a chart.
00
Frames and lenses
An hour at the table if you want it, with lenses ground by Halstead & Vine in the next county.
From 00
Repairs and adjustments
Straightening, new nose pads, new screws and new arms, whoever sold you the glasses.
Free, or at cost
Who is here
Three people, and that is all of us
Esther Fielding
Optometrist
Qualified in 2004. Opened the shop in 2011. Takes the longer appointments and anything that needs a second look.
Tomas Ivarsson
Optometrist
Qualified in 2016. Sees most of the children, and holds the contact lens clinic on Wednesdays.
Ruth Fielding
Dispensing optician
Twenty-six years at a dispensing table. Chooses the frames, fits them, and does the repairs.
A first visit
How the morning goes
You tell us what you have noticed
Ten minutes of questions before any equipment comes out: headaches, driving at night, the print in a menu, anything in the family.
The examination
Forty-five minutes in the room at the back, ending with a prescription written out and explained.
A pause, if you want one
Plenty of people take the prescription and go for a coffee. Nothing expires; the prescription is good for two years.
The frames
When you are ready, Ruth takes twenty of the two hundred frames off the wall and you narrow it down together.
Collection, and afterwards
Ten to fourteen days, then a fitting. Come back as often as you like to have them straightened.
Hours
When the shop is open
- Tuesday to Friday
- 09:00 - 17:30
- Saturday
- 09:00 - 13:00
- Sunday and Monday
- Closed
- Contact lens clinic
- Wednesdays
- Market daysTuesday and Saturday mornings are the busiest. Book a Thursday if you would rather have quiet.
- Something urgentWe hold one appointment each afternoon for a sudden change in sight. Telephone rather than write.
Examinations are booked; the dispensing table never is. Walk in for a repair or an adjustment at any time we are open.
Due an examination?
Most people should come every two years, some every year, and we will tell you which you are.