Birkenbush Cottage, Main Street, Carlops

Birkenbush Cottage is part of a row of six single-storey, three-bay weavers’ cottages dating to circa 1785. The row is located on Main Street, Carlops, and three cottages have gabled timber porches. The cottages are built of harled rubble with freestone dressings. Some window openings have been enlarged. A canted bay addition, labelled ‘Birkenbush’, extends from the far left. Various rendered brick, stone, and timber single-storey additions and dormers have been added to the rear, predominantly in the late 20th century.

The cottages feature timber sash and case windows with a variety of 19th-century traditional glazing patterns. They are roofed with grey slate, and have ridge stacks with clay cans, along with cast-iron rainwater goods.

Internally, the cottages generally retain their original ground-floor layout, with a kitchen and former workroom flanking a through-passage that opens directly off the front door. The ground floor rooms would originally have contained box beds and wide lintelled sandstone fireplaces projecting on rounded corbels in the kitchen, though none of these features remain. Some partition walls are made of solid timber frames with rubble infill.

The cottages were constructed in 1784 to house cotton-weavers, established by Robert Brown, the laird of Newhall, on either side of the main Edinburgh to Biggar road. Following the decline of the textile industry in the late 19th century, the village became a health resort and remains popular with visitors. The linear arrangement of the cottages contributes significantly to the village's traditional character.

The row of six cottages, along with other properties in Carlops including Row of 3 Cottages (Ashley, The Biggin, Weavers), Carlops Church, Carlops, Pentland and Elphinstone, Carlops, Allan Ramsay Hotel, and Row of 4 Cottages (Springbank, Carberry, Langskaill, Jess), form a larger group of buildings recognised for their group value.