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Report - - Birkwood House, Lesmahagow - August 2012 | Asylums and Hospitals | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Birkwood House, Lesmahagow - August 2012

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BenCooper

Mr Boombastic
28DL Full Member
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!

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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.

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

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

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An absolutely gorgeous boiler by Wilson of Glasgow:

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Up the second spiral stair:

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To the roof:

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And finally what it looks like from outside:

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

BellasGG

28DL Member
28DL Member
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

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
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.
 
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