Welcome To The Old Printing Shop Of London

The Old Printing Shop of London was established in 1975 by Michael Fenton, who served a 6-year apprenticeship as a compositor/printer handsetting wood and metal type. Working since then with his wife and two sons, he has been collecting printing equipment from all over Great Britain, including wooden and metal type, illustrative blocks, printing presses and many other items.

Wooden Printing Blocks & Initials

We have around 500 designs of wooden printing blocks & initials. These can be used as decorative stamps and ornaments.

Printers' Type Cases

Printing characters were stored in type cases, trays divided into many compartments to hold the different letters of the alphabet. These have proved extremely popular as wall-mounted display cases to show off small ornaments, and there are a great many more uses too.

Wooden Type and Metal Type

We have been collecting wooden type and metal type in all its many forms - metal alphabet, wooden alphabet - saving complete alphabets in many sizes and faces. You might want just your initials or perhaps the letters which spell out a name. We have for sale both complete alphabets and individual characters and composing sticks in which they can be mounted for attractive display.

Woodletter Collages

Wood Type can not only be used for printing but as ornaments for display and artistic purposes. Some of the carefully restored wood lettering is now available in decorative collages and plaques.

Woodletter Furniture

We also incorporate wooden type in furniture such as wall hangings, coffee tables, mirrors and table lamps. We can create pieces of furniture from wooden type that are highly individual and would grace any home or office.

The Old Printing Shop also creates custom made designs. We can craft personal designs making ideal gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, retirements and Christmas. We have also produced work for companies. If you do need a design for publishing, journalism or advertising, we can do it!

Miscellaneous - Printings Presses, Woodcuts and Bookbinding Tools

Our miscellany includes bookbinding tools and woodcuts. Have a look round and see some of the equipment related to the printing industry.

History Of The Printing Press

The Fenton family has been involved in printing for 30 years, and has collected some interesting equipment over the years. Explore some of the history of the printing press in this section, and see some of the presses and other heavy equipment, like the Albion press illustrated here.

Contact The Old Printing Shop of London

If you see something here that you like, we can probably send it to you wherever you are. If you'd like to see anything at first hand, or just browse, we have stalls at Portobello Road and Covent Garden in London and also Gloucester Green Market in Oxford. Full details, and contact information should there be something specific you'd like to discuss, are available in the contact section.

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