Midsteeple Quarter: The heart of social history on Dumfries High Street

For centuries, Midsteeple Quarter has been at the centre of civic life and social history in Dumfries town centre.

The iconic building in the heart of the High Street from which our area takes its name is, for many, the sight which symbolises the town - with the image used around the world.

Its foundation stone was laid in 1705 after the burgh was granted a share of Scottish customs and foreign duties. And so a townhouse with a tall steeple was built at the back of the historic Market Cross.

It has been used for many purposes over the years - from a prison to a clerk’s chamber. Now in the ownership of Dumfries and Galloway Council, the building is now home to the Midsteeple Quarter Box Office, as well as being the base for Midsteeple Quarter Community Benefit Society’s staff team.

The Plainstanes in front of the building - officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in 2010 - are a focal point for many events, including the annual Guid Nychburris celebrations.

But Midsteeple Quarter’s place at the heart of life in Dumfries is much wider than just the landmark building itself.

Our proud printing past

The buildings which surround the Midsteeple - a number of which are now owned by Midsteeple Quarter Community Benefit Society - hold important places in the town’s history.

In fact, some have played an historic part in telling the story of the town itself.

Dumfries has proud traditions - and an illustrious past - in printing and in newspapers.

Midsteeple Quarter was once home to the rival Dumfries & Galloway Standard and Dumfries Courier newspapers, which had its printing presses in neighbouring buildings and whose journalists busily gathered stories of life in the town and the surrounding region. Both newspapers are still in existence, though its teams operate from elsewhere. The Courier (previously the Herald & Courier) was in 111 High Street (now Flourish and The Loft). The printing presses occupied the space which is now The Loft.

The building at 117 High Street - which we now call The Press - was home to the renowned Dumfries printers Robert Dinwiddies and Co. The former print sheds which were at the heart of the building’s use for so long are striking features of the site today - and a terrific backdrop for events, ranging from music gigs and photoshoots to markets.

Watch the story of the printing industry in Midsteeple Quarter

Imprints in time

The story of Midsteeple Quarter’s printing past was told through the highly successful Imprints In Time exhibition, staged in The Press.

As part of an ongoing project to tell the story of Midsteeple Quarter, artist and filmmaker John Wallace documented areas of the site off limits to the public and delving into the history of printing in the town, including through print examples and 16mm footage of the High Street in the 1940s and 1950s loaned by Robert Dinwiddie's grandson and namesake, Dr Robert Dinwiddie.

He worked with Mac Creedon and John Ronnie from town-based printing company Solway Print - both of whom served their apprenticeships at Dinwiddies - to record how printing used to be done, showcasing machines and methods of the past.

Dumfriesshire-based John Wallace said: “It’s not so long ago that, if you needed more than a carbon copy of a document, or an image, or an invoice pad, or a jotter, or a business card, or any kind of stationary, then there was no home printing, or online orders. You had to go to the printers.

“There were news presses at the Standard and Courier, machines being run and repaired, a workforce that did all that coming and going, all kinds of deliveries, customers - it was all going on in these few closes off the High Street.”

The Dumfries & Galloway Standard’s historic connection to the area is recognised by the naming of Standard Close, which runs alongside our Phase One construction site at 135-139 High Street.