Robert Smail's Printing Works

About the museum

Robert Smail moved from Jedburgh to Innerleithen in 1857 and set up as a shoemaker and bookseller. With a new railway and a busy textile trade in the town, he saw a chance to grow, and in March 1866 he bought the High Street premises where the printing works still stands, paying £500 for them. The firm did jobbing work for local people and traders, such as stationery, business cards, advertisements and letterheads.

Smail's son Robert Cowan Smail was senior partner by about 1900. The business then also acted as an agent for shipping lines and produced a local newspaper. His own son Cowan Smail began work there in 1926, took over after 1950, and added the most modern machine, a 1953 Original Heidelberg platen press. Cowan Smail kept to hand-set type until he retired in 1986, long after most printers had switched to faster methods.

The National Trust for Scotland bought the works in 1986 and has kept it running as a genuine printer. The presses include an 1860s Columbian hand press, a 1920s treadle-powered Arab press and two Falcon presses from about 1904 to 1908. Shelves of type line the walls, and 52 large guardbooks record almost everything the firm printed. Visits are by guided tour only, and they include a hands-on session in the caseroom.

Highlights

• Guided tour of one of the oldest working commercial letterpress printers in the UK
• Try your hand as an apprentice compositor in the caseroom
• Working presses, including a Columbian press of the 1860s and a 1953 Heidelberg
• Robert Smail's office, scarcely altered since 1866
• Smail's Stationer's Shop selling cards and prints made on the original equipment

Permanent exhibition

• Guided tour of the working printing works – A tour through the office, caseroom and machine room shows how newspapers, tickets, posters and letterheads were printed before the digital age, with presses running.

Operated by

National Trust for Scotland

Admission & discounts

Admission is free for members of the National Trust for Scotland. Tours must be booked in advance online, and places are limited.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: not available
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

All areas except the caseroom on the first floor, which is reached only by stairs, can be used by wheelchair users. Because of the historic buildings there is no fully accessible visitor toilet. A large-print version of the guidebook is available. Dogs other than assistance dogs are not allowed.

Kids & families

• Hands-on stations
• Stroller-friendly
• Baby changing facilities: not available

The tour includes a hands-on task in the caseroom. Pushchairs and prams can be left in the courtyard, and all areas except the first-floor caseroom are accessible for buggies. There is no baby changing room.

Getting there & parking

The works is on the High Street (A72) in Innerleithen. Coming from the west via Peebles, it is on the right-hand side just before the crossing of Leithen Road and Leithen Crescent. A bike rack for five bikes is in the private courtyard. An electric vehicle charging point is at 3 Hall Street, about 500 metres away.

Amenities & dining

• Café: not available
• Museum shop
• Wi-Fi

There is a gift shop selling letterpress stationery printed on site and Scottish handmade goods. There is no café, no baby changing and no water-bottle filling station. Wi-Fi is listed among the facilities on the property page, with no further detail.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit