Weaver's Cottage, Main Street, Carlops

This is a row of three single-storey, three-bay cotton-weavers cottages, dating to approximately 1785, located on Main Street in Carlops. Later additions have been made to the rear of the cottages. The cottages are built with harled rubble walls and freestone dressings, with a variety of rendered brick, stone, and timber single-storey additions and dormers at the rear, largely dating to the 20th century. The cottages have timber porches. Windows are timber-framed with a variety of non-traditional glazing patterns. The roofs are covered in grey slate, with ridge stacks topped by clay cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods are also present.

The interior layouts of the cottages were originally identical, with a kitchen and former workroom flanking a through-passage that opens directly from the front door. The original ground floor rooms would have been fitted with box beds and wide lintelled sandstone fireplaces projecting on rounded corbels in the kitchen, although these features no longer survive.

The village of Carlops was established in 1784 by Robert Brown, the laird of Newhall, who created linear rows of cottages on either side of the main road between Edinburgh and Biggar. Following the decline of the textile industry in the late 19th century, the village became a resort for summer visitors from Edinburgh and is now a destination for visitors and walkers exploring Pentland Hill. The row of cottages retains its original scale and massing and contributes positively to the architectural and historic character of Carlops.

The cottages are part of a larger group of buildings of group value, which includes a row of six cottages (Ferndale, Houlet, Amulree, Finlaggan, Blinkieknowe, Birkenbush), a row of three cottages (Ashley, The Biggin, Weavers), Carlops Church, the Pentland and Elphinstone estate, the Allan Ramsay Hotel, and a row of four cottages (Springbank, Carberry, Langskaill, Jess)—these are listed separately.