Mabel & Co stationery, Sudbourne Park, near Orford

James and Katie Jenkins left their careers, and armed with an 1860 letterpress and an unerring eye for detail, launched a Suffolk-based stationery business founded on traditional techniques and sustainability

The tiny hexagonal building just outside the walled garden at Sudbourne Park, near Orford, has long been an object of curiosity. A dilapidated gardener’s office and seed store for this former grand country estate, it was a sorry sight with its broken windows, missing tiles and rotten floorboards. However, it gained new life when James and Katie Jenkins transformed it into their Mabel & Co stationery shop.

Everything here is beautifully curated. A traditional old cash till sits in a corner while the dark wood panelled walls, glass cloches and vintage letter trays hold a stunning display of products - cards, notebooks, stationery, telegrams, seed packets and pencils all inspired by early 20th century British design.

James and Katie left their careers to follow their passion. (Image: James Jenkins) The familiarity of the typefaces - used by the London Underground, in official government publications and seen in old British Rail and NHS signage - makes them easily recognisable and reminds us of a time when there was more a sense of shared ownership in the public sphere.

All the items here are created by James and Katie at Sudbourne using the letterpress process, which dates back to German inventor and craftsman Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-fifteenth century and dominated printing until the mid-twentieth century. Mabel & Co designs are created digitally, then reproduced on any one of their three 19th century presses using recycled and ethically sourced paper, card and ink.

‘We can make pretty much anything that we can think about,’ says James. ‘So we don't have to outsource anything. It means we can do smaller quantities, we can be really particular in terms of quality, and it also gives us a lot of flexibility. We don't have to fit in with other people's machines or processes. All this is quite unusual.’ Though, he concedes, ‘you can’t produce things quickly when you’re using a press from 1860.’

Step inside the beautiful shop. (Image: James Jenkins) It was never their intention to run a letterpress design studio. James and Katie had taken a 2,000-mile trip from Suffolk to Scotland to rescue a Harris Tweed weaving loom a few years ago and were running an event for people to come and see it. They’d created simple but stylish invitations and information cards on a tabletop printing press and were astonished at the interest these generated.

‘Local shopkeepers asked if we would make cards for them,’ says James. Orders followed from individuals, small businesses, museums and galleries, and it was clear that the couple needed a bigger press.

They acquired and restored a number of 19th century printing presses, guillotines, paper cutting and bookbinding machines and they started expanding their range of letterpress cards, notebooks and stationery in their distinctive classic and timeless design.

Items are printed on a vintage letterpress. (Image: James Jenkins) Then Covid hit. Holed up in Thorpeness, they enquired after the old village shop near their home. It had been earmarked for redevelopment, but the landlord agreed for James and Katie, and Mabel the dog, to take it over temporarily. Here, the couple installed one of their presses and, when restrictions allowed, people could come and buy, as well as watch the couple printing.

‘Craft and small makers are knowledgeable,’ says James. ‘I know where the paper and the ink have come from. I know that you can recycle the cards and things we make. You can come and speak to us and ask questions to fill in the unknown. Small is beautiful.’

And sustainability is at the core of what they do, he says. Mabel & Co uses as much 100% recycled and British-made paper and card as possible, alongside linseed oil ink. All the products are free of plastic and recyclable. The presses are powered by hand and feet and the whole process is certainly a spectacle for the casual visitor.

Demand for their printed products has soared. (Image: James Jenkins) For James and Katie, the business also signalled a lifestyle change. They had both been working in education but had been seeking an occupation that might celebrate traditional, heritage crafts, adapted for our modern sensibility.

‘I’d become fascinated by the environmental and social impact of textiles and fabrics and the degradation it causes,’ says James. ‘I started to wonder what a craft-based response would look like.’ This was what he now wanted to apply to the print business.

Mabel & Co was attracting increasing attention, even featuring on a television holiday programme. With redevelopment of the Thorpeness site looming, James and Katie decided to return to their original studio at the Old Forge and Seed Store, Sudbourne Park, and relaunch their shop in more permanent premises.

This former grand country estate, just outside Orford, dates from the 17th century. The offices, stables and old walled garden that remain have all been converted into living accommodation, and some of the outbuildings are home to printmakers and ceramicists as well as Mabel & Co.

All items are beautifully curated. (Image: James Jenkins) There are currently three elements to their business – private commissions for individual clients, small businesses and museums; the products they sell on their website and in the shop; and courses in printing, bookbinding and photography.

‘People can come and make their own headed notepaper and correspondence cards,’ says James. ‘They can learn about bookbinding techniques through making a portfolio for photographs or, by using traditional Japanese techniques, we can show them how to make book cloth.’ James is also about to sign off a project encouraging amateur photographers to capture images of the Suffolk coastline for an exhibition and pamphlet.

‘For us, the business isn’t about creating a product to a price or designing something for a market. We make what we like, in a way that we like to do it, using quality materials. Then we put the finished product out there and hope others like it too.’

For details of courses and the Letterpress stationery products, see mabeland.co or visit the Old Forge and Seed Store, Sudbourne Park