The Winterbourne Press
Why have a printing press?
Winterbourne is the ideal location for a working printing press. Printing was central to the Arts and Crafts movement, which inspired the design of Winterbourne House and Garden. The most significant Arts and Crafts presses were the Kelmscott Press and Doves Press. William Morris, the Arts and Crafts designer and founder of the Kelmscott Press, used a Sherwin & Cope similar to the one at Winterbourne. Examples of Kelmscott Press books are held by the Cadbury Research Library, the University of Birmingham’s special collection.
Birmingham and the wider region played a significant role in the development of letterpress printing. The ‘Caslon’ and ‘Baskerville’ typefaces, which are still in use today, are named after the eighteenth-century Birmingham and Midlands entrepreneurs who designed them. John Nettlefold of Winterbourne was a director of the percussion cap and ammunition manufacturer, Kynoch & Co. This company’s in-house printing press, The Kynoch Press, developed into a very significant independent press during the early 1900s, probably with John’s direct encouragement. John was also a director of Henry Hope & Sons, manufacturers of window furniture and other metal components, and it was John’s friend and business associate Donald Hope who pioneered the expansion of the Kynoch Press.
John Nettlefold had dealings with industrial printing throughout his career. For several years he worked for the family firm Nettlefolds Ltd, later part of Guest, Keen, & Nettlefold, which had its own in-house printing shop. The printing room of Guest, Keen, & Nettlefold appears in a photograph taken in the 1940s, which is held in Winterbourne’s archive.
Cope & Sherwin Imperial Iron Press, London, 1837
This flat-bed press, first manufactured in 1828, works on the same principle as Gutenberg’s fifteenth-century wooden press. The type is laid on a horizontal bed, and downward pressure is applied to create an impression on the paper.
Crown Arab Press, Halifax, 1911
The Arab press was patented in 1872 by Josiah Wade. The type is mounted vertically, and the foot-operated treadle presses it against the paper in a ‘clam shell’ motion. The Arab was delivered in parts as a flat pack, and was exported across the globe. Sir Ernest Shackleton took one on his Antarctic expedition in 1907, so that the crew could produce their own magazine.
Thompson ‘Gem’ Proofing Press, Manchester, 1930s
T.C. Thompson & Sons of Manchester made a variety of printing presses. The ‘Gem’ proofing press was designed to pull off proofs prior to setting up a job on a larger machine. The type is mounted horizontally, and the impression is created by a hand-operated roller.
Heidelberg Automatic Platen Press, 1968
This press was donated by the family of Basil Rhodes, who ran a small press in Oldham. It uses air suction to pick up the paper. It is superbly engineered and functions much faster than the hand-operated presses.
