Courtyard Outbuildings at Birkhill House

Birkhill House is a former laird's house of mid-18th century and 19th century construction, possibly containing earlier fabric, set within substantial grounds of approximately nine acres near Earlston. The estate's history can be traced back to the 12th century, when the lands of "Birchensyde" and "Legerdeswode" were granted to Walter Stewart by Malcolm IV in 1160. Ownership is fully recorded from that period until 1689, when Birkenside passed to the Shillinglaw family. The property first appears on Armstrong's Map of 1771 as "Birkhillside", and the Old Statistical Account of 1795 records Major Shillinglaw of Birkhillside as the only hereditary proprietor in Legerwood Parish. The Borders and Berwick: An Illustrated Architectural Guide describes Birkhill House as 18th century, extended eastwards around 1850. An advertisement in the Kelso Chronicle of 12 January 1849 offered the entire Birkhillside estate for sale, which may have been the catalyst for subsequent additions and alterations. The first Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1857, published 1862) shows the house almost in its current form, including the north wing, outbuildings, Birkhill Cottage, and boundary wall.

The house itself comprises a mid- and possibly earlier 18th century five-bay, two-storey, rectangular-plan section facing south, with an earlier to mid-19th century lower two-storey four-bay wing adjoining the rear, resulting in an unusual V-plan layout. The principal south elevation is rendered with stone margins. The earliest part of the south front is the two-storey three-bay section to the left, with a central doorway and smaller 12-pane windows. The two-bay section to the right has the same-size ground floor windows — one of which has since been converted to a door — but taller first floor windows that are not aligned with those of the three-bay section. It is likely that this two-bay section was originally built as a single-storey wing and subsequently raised to two storeys, probably at the same time the lower north wing was added. The walls of the earlier south part are notably thick, and the small window openings set within them are indicative of an early build date. The large distance between the tops of the first floor windows and the eaves is unusual: three-bay 18th century houses more typically have first floor windows abutting the eaves, and the greater eaves height at Birkhill may indicate a building of higher status.

The main entrance has a corniced stone doorpiece, which appears to be in a different stone to the window and door margins and is likely a later modification replacing an earlier entrance porch shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map. The windows are predominantly timber sash and case frames with a 12-pane glazing pattern. The roofs are pitched and finished in a mixture of graded and non-graded slate, with stone skews and shaped skewputts to the earlier south part of the house. There are dressed sandstone gable and ridge chimney stacks. A variety of 20th century additions have been made to the rear of the house, and the east gable has earlier 20th century window openings.

The interior was inspected in 2018. The entrance hallway has a flagstone floor and a shallow curved stone stair with a cast iron balustrade of alternate foliate detailing and a mahogany handrail. The principal ground floor room has decorative panelling around the main windows and a wide arched opening leading to the earlier 20th century addition at the rear. Most windows have decorative architraves and panelled timber shutters, and there is a mixture of six- and four-panel timber doors throughout. The first floor landing is large and has a window overlooking the lawn. A later timber stair leads to the second floor, with turned timber balusters. In the east part of the attic, a metal safe door has been installed in place of a window opening — this was formerly an exterior window in the east gable, and the original stone window surround remains visible within the roof space. The 19th century north wing contains a large first floor room with a combed ceiling, simple stone fire surrounds with timber mantel shelves, and round-arched cast iron inserts.

The courtyard outbuildings lie to the east of the house and comprise three ranges of single-storey, rectangular-plan buildings arranged around a triangular courtyard, constructed in random rubble. The stonework of the north range shows it was raised by approximately a foot in height early in its history. Some openings have been enlarged and given brick surrounds, and former openings have been infilled; these changes appear to date to the earlier 20th century and do not significantly detract from the outbuildings' interest or authenticity. Some of the outbuildings were used as stables and retain timber and iron stall dividers and cast iron feeding troughs. The roofs are slated. The southern range of outbuildings is attached to the north wall of the former enclosed walled garden, with a single door giving access from the garden side; this range was likely built as the gardeners' outbuildings, and the small rubble stonework suggests an early date.

Birkhill Cottage is a small two-storey building at the east end of the northern range of outbuildings. It is built in random rubble with a slate roof. The east elevation has an irregular window pattern with four-pane timber windows, and breaking the eaves is a gabled dormer window with hung slate to its sides. There are later lean-to additions at the rear. Internally, the cottage has later four-panel timber doors and a vertically boarded timber staircase.

A long rubble boundary wall with a rounded cope extends approximately 300 metres along the eastern boundary of the site, integral with the outbuildings and Birkhill Cottage. To the southeast of the house the wall rises and curves to an arched entrance gateway dated 1826, flanked by arched pedestrian entrances. This date of 1826 may indicate the build date of the later additions to the property, although further development may also have followed the 1849 sale.

The immediate setting of the house retains much of its mid-19th century character and possibly reflects an even earlier arrangement. The house occupies the highest point of its grounds, with the south elevation commanding a view over the former parkland, which falls away steeply to both south and west. The first edition Ordnance Survey map shows a sloping south-facing walled garden attached to the south range of outbuildings immediately east of the house; remnants survive in the planting, plan form, and paths, though the wall itself is no longer extant. A sunken lawn immediately in front of the house is still evident. The same map shows a former entrance in the southwest corner of the property, with an approach drive curving around the south and east boundaries, evidenced today by a broad band of trees bordering the south of the parkland.

The detached timber stable buildings to the north of the courtyard outbuildings are excluded from the listing under Section 1(4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997, as they are later additions not considered to be of special interest in listing terms.