Gwasg Gee Printing Works, Denbigh, Denbighshire

History

The Gwasg Gee printing works was established at these premises c1830 by Thomas Gee senior of Denbigh. He had purchased the business c1814 from Thomas Jones who had set up the first independent Welsh press in Ruthin in 1808. Following his apprenticeship and work experience in London, Thomas Gee junior joined his father here in 1838 and subsequently took over the business on his father's death in 1845. Thomas Gee junior (1815-1898) emerges as one of the most important political and religious figures in Victorian Denbighshire and was of seminal importance for the promotion and dissemination of the Welsh language. Through his twice-weekly newspaper 'Y Faner', Gee exercised great influence on the political and social life of north Wales. A great reforming Liberal, Gee supported the anti-Tithe faction during the 'Tithe Wars' of 1886-91, encouraging opposition to the Tithes in his editorials and speeches; he even named his horse 'Degwm' (Tithe). In addition to his work as journalist, publisher and printer, Gee was a Calvinistic-Methodist minister (ordained in 1847) and frequently preached at Capel Mawr at the end of the street. At his funeral, in 1898, over 2,000 mourners attended the service at Capel Mawr and it is recorded that the funeral procession down Vale Street extended for over a mile.

Of the many works produced at Gwasg Gee, perhaps the most significant (certainly the most ambitious) was the publication of 'Y Gwyddoniadur', a ten-volume Welsh encyclopaedia; begun in 1854, it was completed in 1878 at a cost of £20,000.

The complex is of several periods between c1830 and c1860, with the main, road-facing ranges probably already extant by the time Gee took over the works in 1845; at its height, in the third-quarter C19, the works employed up to sixty people. The company remains in business at the time of writing.

Exterior

Large printing works complex of irregular quadrangular plan. Predominantly of 3 and 2 storeys, the buildings are constructed of limestone rubble and brick, the principal, street-facing ranges whitened; slate roofs. The primary section faces the street on the L and consists of a 3-storey range with rubble ground and first floors and brick second floor, the latter an addition of the mid or third-quarter C19. All openings have segmental heads, those to the ground and first floors with dressed stone voussoirs; projecting stone sills throughout. The range consists of an asymmetrical 4-bay main section with a further bay to the L, angled to follow the street line. The latter bay has an entrance with boarded door and pegged frame, with a 4-pane fixed window to its L. Above this are small 2-part 8-pane windows, that to the first floor unglazed and that to a mezzanine floor above with replaced, plain-glazed left-hand section. The upper floor has a large C20-pane fixed window. The main, right-hand section of this block has 4 large early C20 6-pane windows to the ground and first floors, with tilting 3-pane upper sections. The second floor has 4 multi-pane windows, as before, of which that to the far R retains its original 20-pane glazing, and the remainder each has a small casement insertion.

Adjoining this range flush to the R is a contemporary 2-storey, 4-bay block with a later (probably third-quarter C19) 3-bay addition to the R. Large depressed entrance arch to the L, giving tunnel access to the rear courtyard; stone voussoirs with projecting stone key. The entrance arch retains its original (restored) vertically-boarded gates; spiked top rail. Windows with 6-pane glazing to both floors, as before; the additional 3-bay section has a marginally shallower roof-pitch with 2 large skylights to the front.

A segmental brick arch with keystone leads to the courtyard. On the L are the first-floor offices, including that of Thomas Gee, which are accessed via a flight of stone steps, partly covered by a slated canopy. Modern door to the R with modern glazing to the principal office window above. A boarded and framed entrance to the R of the entrance arch, on the rear wall of the main range, has a small wooden canted oriel above it; plain sashes and slated roof. Flanking this are large multi-pane cambered windows. Adjoining the office range to the SW, and built into a rise with stepped access to an upper terrace beyond, is the Lino Room. This is a small, single-storey rectangular block of rubble and slate with brick quoins and surrounds. This has a boarded door to the gabled front with cambered head and large flanking windows; similar heads and 20-pane fixed glazing. Large Modern steel-framed windows to the higher R side.

Immediately to the W of this, and closing the quadrangular complex on the SW side, is a large 2-storey block presently containing the Upper- and Lower Comp Rooms. This is a mid or third-quarter C19 brick range with a large entrance off-centre to the L, with one and two flanking windows to the L and R respectively; C20 boarded doors with 4-pane overlight. The windows have 2 and 3-pane vertical plain glazing; all openings have cambered heads. The upper floor has 3 large, cambered, multi-pane windows. Adjoining this range at right-angles to the R is the rubble-built bindery block. This has a further cambered entrance to the ground floor, and modern windows to the R and to the first floor. Extruded in the angle between this and the Comp Room block is a C20 corrugated iron lean to. The range adjoins at right-angles the front, street-facing section (housing the Poster Room), thereby completing the quadrangle. Extruded in the angle between the two ranges is a modern single-storey WC block.

Interior

The offices have been modernised, though Thomas Gee's office has remained more or less intact. The Upper Comp Room, in the large brick block, has a 3-bay roof with bolted collar trusses. Further collar trusses and old pine floor boarding to the Poster Room and Bindery, though the ceilings are mostly boxed and plastered and some of the original spaces have been subdivided with modern partitioning; some slate and stone flagging to the ground floors. The Lower Comp Room has 4 early and mid C20 Heidelberg presses, and there ae a further 3 Lino-type Heidelberg presses in the Lino Room.

Reasons for Listing

Listed Grade II* for its special architectural interest as an extensive second-quarter and mid C19 printing works representing an unusual, and largely intact minor industrial building type, and for its special historical interest as the oldest independent press in Wales, owned and developed by Thomas Gee of Denbigh, famous Victorian publisher, political commentator and minister.

External Links

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