Courtyard Outbuildings at Birkhill House

Birkhill House is a former laird's house of mid-18th century origin, substantially enlarged in the 19th century, and set within approximately nine acres of grounds near Earlston in the Scottish Borders. 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 records survive continuously until 1689, when Birkenside passed to the Shillinglaw family. The property is first marked 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. A sale of the entire estate was advertised in the Kelso Chronicle in January 1849, which may have prompted the significant 19th century additions and alterations, though an arched opening in the boundary wall is inscribed with the date 1826, which may indicate an earlier phase of development.

The house itself comprises a mid-18th century (and possibly earlier) five-bay, two-storey, rectangular-plan section facing south, with an earlier to mid-19th century lower two-storey four-bay wing added to the rear. The building is rendered with stone margins. The main entrance has a corniced stone doorpiece, believed to be a later modification replacing an earlier entrance porch shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1857, published 1862). 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 southern part of the house. There are dressed sandstone gable and ridge chimney stacks.

The principal (south) elevation evidences two distinct build phases. The earliest portion is the two-storey three-bay section to the left, with a central doorway and smaller 12-pane windows, likely dating to the 18th century. The two-bay section to the right has matching ground floor windows (one now converted to a door), but its first floor windows are taller and not aligned with those of the earlier section. It is likely that this two-bay portion was originally built as a single-storey wing contemporaneously with the earliest part of the house, and subsequently raised to two storeys, possibly at the same time the lower north wing was added. The large distance between the tops of the first floor windows and the eaves is unusual — 18th century three-bay houses more typically have first floor windows abutting the eaves — and may indicate a building of higher status. The walls to the principal southern part of the house are notably thick, and the small window openings set within them are further evidence of an early date. The east gable has earlier 20th century window openings. A variety of 20th century additions have been made to the rear of the house. The corniced stone doorpiece is in a different stone from the window and door margins, confirming it as a later modification.

The interior was inspected in 2018. The entrance hallway has a flagstone floor and a shallow curved stone stair. The cast iron balustrade has 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 through 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 to the south. 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 inserted in place of a former window opening; the original exterior stone window surround is still visible within the roof space, representing a survival of an 18th century attic window in the former east gable, now absorbed into the mid-19th century roof space. The 19th century wing contains a large first floor room with a combed ceiling. This part of the house has simple stone fire surrounds with timber mantel shelves and round-arched cast iron inserts.

To the east of the house are three ranges of single-storey, rectangular-plan outbuildings arranged around a triangular courtyard. They are built in random rubble and have been raised in height at some point — the stonework of the north range shows it was raised by approximately one foot early in its history. Some openings have been enlarged and have brick surrounds, and former openings have been infilled; these changes appear to date to the earlier 20th century and are not considered to significantly detract from the interest or authenticity of the outbuildings. 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 and has a single door leading onto the garden side; the small rubble stonework of this range suggests an early date, and it was likely built as the gardeners' outbuildings.

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. Breaking the eaves is a gabled dormer window with hung slate on 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 form an arched entrance gateway dated 1826, with flanking arched pedestrian entrances.

The house sits at the highest point of its grounds, with the south elevation commanding views over the former parkland, which falls away steeply to both the south and west. The first edition Ordnance Survey map shows that the house originally had a sloping south-facing walled garden attached to the south range of outbuildings, immediately east of the house; remnants of this survive in the planting, plan form and paths, though the wall itself is no longer extant. The sunken lawn immediately in front of the house is still evident. The same map shows that the original approach was from an entrance in the southwest corner of the property, with a drive curving around the south and east boundaries, evidenced today by a broad band of trees bordering the south of the parkland. The footprint of the property has not changed significantly from that shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map. The immediate setting of the house is largely unchanged from at least the mid-19th century and possibly earlier.

The 'Borders and Berwick: An Illustrated Architectural Guide' describes Birkhill House as 18th century, extended eastwards around 1850.

The detached timber stable buildings to the north of the courtyard outbuildings are excluded from the listing.