Keypoints• Primary parapharyngeal space tumours are exceedingly rare.• We present a series of 114 parapharyngeal space tumours, the second largest in the literature.• The most frequent benign tumours were pleomorphic adenoma (34) and paraganglioma (33); the commonest malignancies were of salivary gland origin (12).• The 5‐ and 10‐year survival for benign tumours was 100%.• The 5‐ and 10‐year survival for malignancies was 93% and 57% respectively.• The importance of long‐term follow‐up is evidently crucial.