The Robert Smail Print Works Innerleithen

The operational letterpress printer in the Scottish Borders town of Innerleithen is known as the Robert Smail Printing Works. This printing press dates back to the Victorian era and has been continually in use up to the present day.

Currently, the National Trust for Scotland owns and manages the printing works. Visitors can take a guided tour to witness the still-working local printers which is just another hidden gem located in the Borders in what was formerly part of Peebleshire.

The history of Robert Smail's Printing Works dates back to 1866 when the company was founded to complete printing jobs for the local community, such as creating stationary, business cards, adverts, and letterheads. Add to that the printing works published a weekly newspaper between 1893 and 1916, and also had the authority to issue printed tickets for steamships headed to the United States.

The Smail family; owners and operators of Robert Smail's Printing Works made little effort to keep up with the rapidly changing printing technologies of the early 20th century which fortunately for us today, left a legacy which is hard to find elsewhere in the UK. With support from the Innerleithen Community Council, the printworks was kept alive by the third-generation owner, Cowan Smail, until he retired. In 1986, the National Trust for Scotland gained ownership of the property which is now a working museum.

Today, visitors can easily find the printworks along Innerleithen’s high street, the brown shopfront and the beautiful stained glass door presenting a historical context into days gone by. From the Front Office, you can go on an hour-long guided tour, wandering through the large office full of stationary, writing slates, pencils, sealing wax and bottles of ink.

The walls are still lined with job invoices, dockets and ledgers, dating back to the print works’ foundation. Out through the back of the building is the paper store, housing an archive of nearly every printed job undertaken over the past century, as well as the old water wheel that would once have powered the print works via the river Leithen.

The Printworks is open Monday to Friday between the hours of -

Finding the Robert Smail Printing Works

The Printing Works is on the High Street, Innerleithen, along the A72 road about 7 miles from Peebles. There is parking either along the high street or down Leithen Road on the right. You can also get the X62 bus from Peebles to Galashiels which takes around 18 minutes.

Photo by Melody Zimmerman, Unsplash