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Robert Smail's Printing Works
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Office
The office at Smail’s is piled high with invoices, ledgers, old newspapers and various other items pertaining to the running of this thriving Borders business. The St. Ronan’s Standard and Effective Advertiser (printed on the premises from 1893â€"1916) offers amongst its front page ads the best place to buy your ‘high class artificial teeth’ and a ‘vacuum clothes washer’. See the records of the passages booked by local folk to the new worlds from Robert Cowan Smail’s shipping agency, and peruse examples of the printing work from 1877 until the present day.
Paper Store
See a reconstruction of one of the original undershot waterwheels, which powered the works until 1930. Also we have an example of a pen ruling machine and some original lithography stones.
Caseroom
A visit to the Caseroom will give you the chance to learn something of a way of printing which lasted over 500 years. The Caseroom is filled with rack upon rack of founders’ type and has a Columbian eagle press for proofing. There is a unique opportunity to try your hand at typesetting and to get your name in print!
Machine Room
The machine room contains several printing presses, the designs of which span over a hundred years. The Arab Clamshell Platen, Wharfedale Reliance and Original Heidelberg are still used today and are demonstrated during this section of the tour.
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- Printworks plays its part in Industrious Innerleithen event
Robert Smail’s Printworks continues its celebration of 500 Years of Printing in Scotland on a special day to mark Innerleithen’s industrial heritage. The National Trust for Scotland property is holding Victorian themed and print related events on Saturday 26 April. more>
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- Living History days - we beg to inform you.......
Robert Smail’s Printing Works, Innerleithen is celebrating the 500 years of printing in Scotland by staging Victorian living history tours. For the first time visitors to this unique National Trust for Scotland property can literally step back in time and meet employees of R. Smail & Sons from 1896. Customers to R. Smail’s would never go beyond placing their orders in the office, but by applying to take up an apprenticeship here, visitors will be able to view ‘the works’ as it would have been.
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