Report - Birkwood House, Lesmahagow - August 2012

[BenCooper]

It's funny how everyone decided to visit here again I've not been for ages, and it's changed quite a bit - last time the main house was well sealed, lights were on, wards were full of beds, and security caught me after 5 minutes!

Birkwood House started as a Georgian villa built at the end of the 18th Century for the Mackirdy family. The original villa was surrounded on two sides by later larger additions in 1858, and a large front addition by James Thomson in 1890. The house was bought by Lanarkshire Council in 1920 to use as a hospital for children, and it remained a hospital until 2005.

One of the highlights of the house is the two fantastic spiral staircases - this is the first:

Part of the later extension was outwards on the earlier building, leaving internal windows - here used as bookcases.

An absolutely gorgeous boiler by Wilson of Glasgow:

Up the second spiral stair:

To the roof:

And finally what it looks like from outside:

There's loads more in my Flickr set...

 

[BellasGG]

You said that Birkwood was built in the 18th century and that a James Thomson built a section on the house in 1890. Could you tell me where you got that information? I would be very interested in anything that you could point me towards. My Grandmother worked at the home in and around the 1900s. She married a George Thomson from Lesmahagow. Any information you could send would be extremely appreciated. Would anyone know where a history of Birkwood Castle could be obtained?

 

[Feech]

This is so interesting. I went there today and it is a sad shell of what it used to be and due for total
Demolition. Those stairs are unbelievably gorgeous.