Birkwood Castle, also known as Birkwood House, is a castellated Gothic Revival country house situated in the Greenholm village area of Lesmahagow, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Built originally as a small Georgian manor, it was greatly expanded by the McKirdy family in the mid-1800s and later 1800s to create the better known 'Birkwood Castle'. In 1923 the building and its policy grounds were purchased by a department of the local authority for use as a hospital. Following closure of the institution, attempts have been made to redevelop the building. The house, now in ruin, is on the Buildings at Risk Register, and is the subject of numerous, recent ghostlore associations.
Origins and construction history The first house called Birkwood on the present site is a Georgian villa traditionally believed to have been built in the late 18th century, and this element now forms the northern wing of the later extended house. However, later accounts from the house's proprietors and its architect, written in the year 1890, make clear reference to the first house on-site dating to 1810 instead.Hamilton Herald & Lanarkshire Weekly News, 18 July 1890, p. 06
The name Birkwood already applied historically to farming divisions of a large older estate, broadly comprehending an upper (High) and lower (Nether) Birkwood - apparently named after their associated birch woodlands along the Nethan Water in these climes.Taylor, S., 2009, 'Place-names of Lesmahagow', Journal of Scottish Name Studies 3, 65–106.British Library, Roy Military Map of Scotland (Lowlands), c. 1747-1752 This estate formed a pendicle of the wider estate of Blackwood.Greenshields, J.B., Annals of Lesmahagow (Edinburgh: Caledonian Press, 1864) p. 108 The lower portion of the Birkwood estate was the earlier seat of the estate, with a mansion and an older still 'Castlehill' that marked a previous fortification site. This estate was long held by the Weirs of Birkwood.Greenshields, J.B., Annals of Lesmahagow (Edinburgh: Caledonian Press, 1864) p. 108 Eventually, the lower portion was sold to a James Tod Esquire, whereas Upper Birkwood came into the hands of the McKirdy family. The Upper portion centred on the property of Old Birkwood and its attendant Birkwood Mains, which stood west of the present policies.Greenshields, J.B., Annals of Lesmahagow (Edinburgh: Caledonian Press, 1864) p. 108Ordnance Survey, 1st Edition 25 inch-to-mile: Lanarkshire XXXI.12, published 1897 The older Roy Military Map, of mid-18th century date, also identifies a small property called Birkwood on the eastern bank of the Nethan Water, approximately east of the present Birkwood policies.British Library, Roy Military Map of Scotland (Lowlands), c. 1747-1752
The present Birkwood mansion was built on or near the site of the earlier habitation of Mirthirgill (various spellings), whose name translates as the 'murder gill'; a gill being a term for a small stream that flows through a steep sided ravine.British Library, Roy Military Map of Scotland (Lowlands), c. 1747-1752Taylor, S., 2009, 'Place-names of Lesmahagow', Journal of Scottish Name Studies 3, 65–106. The gill in question appears to be the now unnamed burn which flows past the western side of the mansion. The lands of the Birkwood policies anciently comprised church lands attached to Lesmahagow Priory. The property came into the possession of the McKirdy/Mackirdy family around the late-1700s.The Scotsman, 31 August 1920, p. 04
In connection with the Georgian house, it is recorded that on 22 February 1813, strong winds ripped off a lead platform which measured 11 x 42 feet, and weighed some 2,500 lbs. It perhaps formed a part of the roofing and was carried 130 feet away from the house. Several window panes were also broken by the winds.Caledonian Mercury, 05 April 1813, p. 03
Birkwood was greatly expanded in a castellated form of the Gothic Revival style in the period 1856-1859; incorporating some 'tenemental' and Tudor Revival elements linked to that style.Hamilton Advertiser, 11 September 1920, p. 04 This extension was designed by John Baird I, also known as John Baird primus.LPHA Archive Ref: McLeish, R., The Birkwood House Story, compiled 2000-2016Hamilton Herald & Lanarkshire Weekly News, 18 July 1890, p. 06
Explicit newspaper coverage and visible datestones corroborate 1856 as the year of the original extension's commencement and 1857 as the year of its apparent completion, and this would seem to imply that more recent sources stating 1858 could be mistaken.Glasgow Saturday Post, 12 September 1857 The same may be said for sources such as McLeish's essay, which asserts 1856 as the date of completion - possibly reckoned on the datestone marked 1856 which, in fact, nods to the year of commencement.LPHA Archive Ref: McLeish, R., The Birkwood House Story, compiled 2000-2016 However, and somewhat paradoxically, a grand event was held in April 1859 to mark 'the completion of Birkwood House'. This event consisted of a sumptuous dinner for upwards of one hundred people, laid out in the house's lower corridor. Various festivities also took place at the event, including group singing of chosen songs, a ballroom dance that lasted into the early hours, and tables loaded with every delicacy that could be obtained, to the extent they groaned beneath their load.The Glasgow Daily Herald, 05 April 1859, p. 02
The conflicting dates offered for the house's construction may be reconcilable if Birkwood represented a closely phased two-stage extension, with structural completion dates in 1857 and 1858, and fitting and décor finalisation in 1859. Indeed, an event in September 1857 noted that the new mansion house of Birkwood had been thrown open for a visit by the Lesmahagow Band of Hope.The Glasgow Chronicle, 16 September 1857, p. 03 Then, in August 1858, 800 people embarked on a procession which took in the 'magnificant mansion of Birkwood', all the while being watched from its balcony by the proprietors Mr and Mrs McKirdy.North British Daily Mail, 07 August 1858, p. 02
The chronicle of the dinner celebration in April 1859 records that the main contractor for the masonry work was a Mr Summers, a builder based in Hamilton. The foreman involved in the execution of this 1850s building work was a Mr Alexander Hamilton.The Glasgow Chronicle, 15 July 1857The Glasgow Daily Herald, 05 April 1859, p. 02 The joinery work in the mansion appears to have been undertaken by a Mr Hamilton of Lanark, whose foreman for the project was a Mr William Gibson. The painter of the rooms was a Mr Bowie of Glasgow, whose foreman was a Mr Walker.The Glasgow Daily Herald, 05 April 1859, p. 02
Reflecting on the construction of the mansion, the Rev. Dr McNaughton said the following at the same dinner event, he:
"alluded to the splendid building which had been erected at great cost; take it in view from every approach to the village, it has a most commanding appearance--its castellated towers appearing above the beautiful old trees, like those we read of in ancient times ..."The Glasgow Daily Herald, 05 April 1859, p. 02
He believed there was nothing to compare it with in the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire.The Glasgow Daily Herald, 05 April 1859, p. 02
A focal point of the mid-1850s extension is its square-block tower surmounted by an octagonal 'bell tower' on its western side. This tower was struck by lightning during a violent thunderstorm which occurred on 12 August 1884. This incident caused 'considerable damage'.Aberdeen Free Press, 13 August 1884, p. 04Evening Gazette, 13 August 1884, p. 04
Later extension The mansion was again extended in a matching style in the early 1890s when the architect James Thomson of Glasgow designed a large west wing. This involved some remodelling of the frontage and entrance area of the mid-1850s work.Ordnance Survey, 1st Edition 25 inch-to-mile map sheet: Lanarkshire XXXI.12 (Lesmahagow), published 1860Ordnance Survey, 2nd Edition 25 inch-to-mile map sheet: Lanarkshire XXXI.12, published 1897 James Thomson was a partner of the late architect behind the first extension.Hamilton Herald & Lanarkshire Weekly News, 18 July 1890, p. 06Glasgow Saturday Post, 12 September 1857 The ceremony for laying the foundation stone for the newer extension took place on Tuesday, 08 July 1890, with the architect, clerk of works, and various contractors all present.Hamilton Herald & Lanarkshire Weekly News, 18 July 1890, p. 06 During this event, Mr James Thomson, the architect responsible, delivered a speech in which he provided a historical sketch of the mansion's development; stating that the oldest part of the house was built in 1810 on the instruction of the late John McKirdy. The late John Gregory McKirdy then instructed John Baird to undertake designs for the extension in 1856. The construction of the latter mostly occupied the years 1856-1857. Mr Thomson also communicated that his own extension, begun then in 1890, was commissioned from him by General McKirdy in 1889.Hamilton Herald & Lanarkshire Weekly News, 18 July 1890, p. 06 This newer extension, once completed, had its own octagonal tower which rose to around 30 feet higher than its similar predecessor.Hamilton Herald & Lanarkshire Weekly News, 18 July 1890, p. 06
Architectural contentions Although the architectural style of the building has been generally classified as Gothic Revival, this idea has been challenged, especially in regard to John Baird primus not being associated with such work, while his main aesthetic interests inspired Jacobethan and Tudor Revival trends instead. It has been recently argued that Birkwood represents an interesting Castellated transition style that occupies a space between late Romantic trends and early Victorian eclectic taste, but where the dominant structure is plainly vernacular and quite tenemental in form.Ladds, C., 'Birkwood Castle - A Questionable Gothic Dream with Tudor and Scottish Vernacular roots', EK&DH Archive journal newsletter, April 2025, pp. 3-4 The interesting fusion of architectural elements has also been put forward as a contributing factor towards the haunting aesthetic of the building:
"... Whatever the case, the reason the building is probably so intriguing if not unsettling, is because it takes an austere Neoclassical borrowing (the tenemental element) and marries it with a High Romantic form of Neo-Gothic. Whether to the trained eye or not, the overall effect is arguably insidious. It is akin to a mask of vanity concealing something much more austere, possibly even threatening. The great scale does the rest. So the sense of 'spookiness' is perhaps a semi-conscious perception of this incongruity. It is haunted by its contradictions."Ladds, C., 'Birkwood Castle - A Questionable Gothic Dream with Tudor and Scottish Vernacular roots', EK&DH Archive journal newsletter, April 2025, p. 4
Sale ventures In 1920 the house was marketed by the Mackirdy family using the agent Messrs Castiglione & Scott. At that time the estate with its mansion and policy grounds, extended to 1,124 acres, 673 of which were classed as agricultural land, grass parks, woodland and policies, and 451 acres as 'grouse moor'.Dundee Courier, 27 July 1920, p. 04 The estate included four farms and various cottages as well.Dundee Courier, 14 September 1920, p. 07 The sale was finalised to take place in Glasgow in late September 1920, with a revised acreage of 1,115 acres. The estate stretched westwards towards Blackhill, inclusive of the Tower of Beacon Woods. It extended south of the St. Brides burn and included the historic dwelling of Monkstable - associated with the sumpter horse and mule accommodation of the medieval monks of Lesmahagow Priory.The Scotsman, 31 August 1920, p. 04 The policies at that time included a walled garden, curling pond, and a tennis court.Dundee Courier, 14 September 1920, p. 07