Robert Smail’s Printing Works

Planning your visit

Alert information

Please note that access to the printing works is by guided tours (90 mins) only. Please also note that spaces are limited and pre-booking is advised.

Getting here

Robert Smail’s Printing Works is on High Street (A72) in Innerleithen.

Address Robert Smail’s Printing Works High Street Innerleithen Scottish Borders EH44 6HA

Borders Buses 62/X62 from Edinburgh/Galashiels stop in the town.

If you are coming from the west (via Peebles), we are on the right-hand side of the street, just before the crossing of Leithen Road/Leithen Crescent.

Contact information

Telephone: 01896 830206

Email address: smails@nts.org.uk

Get directions

Provided by Google Maps

Opening times

Printing works Access to the printing works is by guided tours (90 mins) only. Please note that spaces are limited. Pre-booking via our Events tab is advised.: 1 Apr–30 Apr; Mon, Thu, Fri & Sat; 11.00, 13.30 & 15.15 (guided tours only) 1 May–31 May; Mon,11.00, 13.30 & 15.15 (guided tours only) 1 Jun–30 Jun; Mon, 11.00, 13.30 & 15.15 (guided tours only) Current period 1 Jul–31 Jul; Mon, 11.00, 13.30 & 15.15 (guided tours only) 1 Aug–31 Aug; Mon, Thu, Fri & Sat; 11.00, 13.30 & 15.15 (guided tours only) 1 Sep–30 Sep; Mon, 11.00, 13.30 & 15.15 (guided tours only) 1 Oct–31 Oct; Mon, Thu, Fri & Sat, 11.00, 13.30 & 15.15 (guided tours only)
Gift shop: Current period 1 Mar–31 Oct; Mon, Thu, Fri & Sat; 10.30–17.00 1 Nov–30 Nov, closed 1 Dec–21 Dec, Sat–Sun, 10.30–17.00 22 Dec–31 Dec, closed

Entry prices

Printing Works

Adult: £11.00
Family: £31.50
One adult family: £21.00
Concession: £8.50
Child (under 5s free): £6.50
Young Scot: £1.00

Book tickets

Members go free

At all Trust places, admission is free for members.

Join us today

Planning your visit

Please note that access to the printing works is by guided tours only and booked via Eventbrite.

One-day workshops in 2025

We will be running new one-day workshops in 2025, in addition to our very popular letterpress printing ones. Check our web page, or our Facebook and Instagram pages, for more details in due course.

Green credentials

At Robert Smail’s we are guided by the principles of Refuse, Re-use, Re-purpose and Recycle, and
we are constantly looking at how we may improve.

In the shop, we focus on handmade, Scottish and green stock. Our printed greetings cards, posters and stationery use biodegradable packaging.
In the printing works, we use vegetable oil-based inks and FSC-approved & sustainably made
papers. We never use plastic laminates or coatings.
Our Arab, Columbian and proofing-presses, and print finishing machines such as riveting and round-cornering, are hand-operated and use no electricity.
We re-purpose printed waste, offcuts and scrap paper as Rubbish Pads, recycled handmade paper, signs and postcards. Paper packet wrappers are always retained and re-used to package printed jobs, and we can re-use most of our cardboard boxes.
We try to live as we preach – staff live locally and walk or cycle to work (weather permitting).
The mill lade that flows through the property now supports wildlife such as trout, eels, caddis
fly, herons and kingfishers. We are careful not to pollute this biodiverse habitat in any way and
we keep it free of litter and debris from upstream.

Dogs (except assistance dogs) are not permitted at Smail’s.

For more information about planning your visit, please see our frequently asked questions.

Facilities & access

Unfortunately, our Caseroom is not suitable for wheelchair users as it can only be accessed by a set of stairs.

Due to the restrictions of our historic buildings and the industrial heritage nature of the site, we regret we have do not have a fully accessible visitor toilet, baby changing facilities, a café or water-bottle filling stations. Our staff will be happy to advise where you can find these – please just ask!

We have an ongoing programme of accessible content development. We have created a detailed Accessibility Guide for Robert Smail’s Printing Works to assist with your visit.

We’d love you to visit the Euan’s Guide website to review the accessibility of Trust places and tell us (and others) what’s good and where we need to do better.

3G/4G coverage

We have a bike rack for 5 bikes in our private courtyard – please ask our staff for directions.
You are welcome to leave children’s pushchairs and prams here too.

With the exception of the Caseroom on the first floor, all areas of Smail’s are accessible for buggies.

There is a ChargePlace Scotland charging station for electric vehicles at:

3 Hall Street
Innerleithen
EH44 6QT
(by the side of No1 Peebles Road Cafe)

It is about 500m from Robert Smail’s Printing Works.

Visits to Robert Smail’s Printing Works include a guided tour in three sections as well as a hands-on element. In the Office you’ll find out about the generations of the Smail family and see some of our fantastic archive. In the Caseroom you’ll be put to work by the compositor – can you pass the first year of your apprenticeship?! And in the Machine Room you’ll see some of our original presses in action.

A large-print version of the guidebook is available.

There is limited on-street parking in front of the printing works and there is a Pay & Display car park (not NTS) at the other side of the village.

We have recycling and general waste bins on the visitor route.

Smail’s has a fantastic gift shop, selling an exclusive range of letterpress stationery produced on the premises, alongside quality and quirky items from across Scotland.
Our shop has turned back the clock to when it was the Stationers for Robert Smail’s Printing Works. You’ll find a wonderful range of beautiful and useful items hand-made by artisans. We focus on the local, sustainable, meaningful and unusual.
We are continually adding to our range, so please check our Facebook and Instagram pages for the latest arrivals.

With the exception of the Caseroom on the first floor, all areas of Smail’s are accessible for wheelchair users.

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