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Blairgowrie, 5, 7 Reform Street, Print Works

Printing Works (19th Century)

Site Name Blairgowrie, 5, 7 Reform Street, Print Works

Classification Printing Works (19th Century)

Alternative Name(s) Blairgowrie Print Co.

Canmore ID 256343

Site Number NO14NE 196

NGR NO 17778 45145

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/256343

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Copyright and database right 2024.

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Administrative Areas

  • Council Perth And Kinross
  • Parish Blairgowrie
  • Former Region Tayside
  • Former District Perth And Kinross
  • Former County Perthshire

Site Management (24 October 2022)

Purpose-built printing works erected in 1880. It is a single storey and attic, rectangular-plan building housing fixed printing and type-setting machinery dating from around 1893 to around 1960. The building is located near the centre of Blairgowrie and the gable end faces the street. It is constructed of rendered brick, lined as ashlar with stone cills. The window and door openings are rounded headed to the gable-ended street elevation.

The windows are 2-paned upper sashes over plate glass to the ground floor and plate glass glazing elsewhere in timber sash and case. The pitched roof is covered in grey slates and has long, continuous roof-lighting to both east and west roof pitches. There is a gablehead brick chimneystack with octagonal clay cans to the street elevation.

The interior was seen in 2016. The building is entered from the street elevation by two doorways, one in the centre leading to the offices, located to the front (north) of the plan, the other to the left leading directly into the full height, top lit printshop floor which occupies most of the centre of the ground floor and is flanked by galleried offices and paper storage to either end of the building. The earliest printing machine dates to around 1893 (Wharfedale of Otley, England). Other printing machines date to the 20th century and include the Heidelberg Automatic Platen and the Demi printers. Other printing equipment and typesetting materials are in situ (see below). There is a paper store and a boiler room (including a type foundry) to the rear (south) of the plan. (Historic Environment Scotland)

Activities

Field Visit (June 2015)

The printing business started in 1855 and moved to this purpose built building in Reform Street in 1880. It produced a local newspaper, 'The Blairie' of Blairgowrie Advertiser until 1978. The business was bought (by a compositor who worked there) in 1980 and the business ran until 2005.

The building is a single-storey, top lit building with galleries at each end and arched windows onto Reform Street.

The machinery inside, and the reason why the building is listed, includes the following:

Handset type cases.

One Proof press (hand operated).

Two Intertype hot metal typesetting machines (American made, 1920/1951).

Heidelberg Automatic Platen Printing Machine (Beevers and Son, Edinburgh, 1950).

Demy printing machine (Furnical and Co. , 1927) - flatbed, hand fed, cylinder printer replaced by a Miehle printer.

Wharfedale printing machine (John Kelley and Co. , Otley) - also known as a 'Large Demy'. Last used 2001.

Newspaper folder (TH Pullman and Son, Glasgow, 1934) - handfed. Last used 1978.

Arab original printing machine (date not known) - small, handfed printer for small item printing such as tickets. Originally treadle operated now electrified.

Vertical Miehle printing machine (American made, 1960) - for upto A3 size paper.

Manual guillotine with 30 inch blade.

Information from owner Mr H Scott.

Visited by RCAHMS (MMD), June 2015.

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