Stone with a story

Every slice we sell began as seabed. Around 150 million years ago, the stretch of coastline we now call Dorset lay beneath a warm, shallow sea, quietly laying down the limestone and clay beds that would one day become England’s Jurassic Coast — a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the only place on Earth where 185 million years of geological history sit exposed in a single walkable shoreline.

Ink & Stone exists to put a piece of that story on your wall. We take genuine Dorset stone — responsibly sourced from licensed quarries and beds along the coast — slice it, hand-finish it, and UV-print your artwork directly onto the stone face. The print is bonded into the surface, not stuck on top. The result is an object that is half photograph, half fossil: your image, carried by stone that predates just about everything.

Where the stone comes from

We work with a small number of Dorset suppliers, and every slice is traceable to its bed. Kimmeridge Clay foreshore slabs, Blue Lias from around Charmouth, Portland and Purbeck limestone — each has its own colour, grain, and temperament, and each slice in the catalogue names its origin. Many carry visible fossil traces: ammonite impressions, shell beds, ripple marks left by a sea that vanished before the dinosaurs did.

No two slices are alike, which is why we photograph and list every one individually. What you see in the catalogue is the exact stone that arrives at your door — dimensions, weight, fossil notes and all.

How a slice is made

1. Selection. We choose slabs for structural soundness, character, and a face that will take a print beautifully.
2. Cutting.Each slab is diamond-sawn into slices, typically 20–25 mm deep — thick enough to feel like stone, not tile.
3. Finishing. Faces are hand-polished or left naturally cleaved, depending on what suits the stone. Edges stay honest — you can read the strata.
4. Printing. Your image is UV-cured directly into the prepared face. The ink is guaranteed for life against fading, chipping, and delamination.
5. Provenance. Every finished slice is numbered and shipped with a provenance card recording its bed, cut year, and origin.

Who we are

We’re a small independent workshop on the Dorset coast — a maker-led business, not a factory. Every order is cut, printed, checked, and packed by the same few hands. If you write to us at [email protected], a person who has actually held your stone will write back.

Ready to find your slice? Browse the catalogue, or read up on how we deliver something this heavy.