More about Stone

The stone we use in our carving kits is limestone.  All limestone is made from the shells of tiny sea animals from millions of years ago.  A wide variety of limestone is quarried in the UK- most is crushed up and used to build roads but the best stone is used for masonry and carving.

Limestone can be quarried in a broad band that stretches from Dorset in south-west England to Yorkshire in north-east England.  Many houses in this zone are built from limestone. 

We supply Bath limestone - this is quarried to the east of Bath in the west of England.  It is a good quality and reliable stone that is soft enough to carve easily but hard enough to last well.  We only supply good quality clean stone that is free of vents and cracks.

Those that try carving Bath limestone often report that it is a lot easier to carve than they thought.  Another common reaction is how relaxing the process of carving can be.

The other very common type of stone in the United Kingdom is sandstone - this is more common in the north of England.  Cornwall and Scotland also have granite - a much harder stone.  We don't yet supply sandstone or granite as these stone are much more difficult to carve, generally being harder than limestone. 

Everything you might want to know about Bath stone and quarrying can be found on  Derek Hawkins's excellent website