Birkfield, Boghall Road, Carluke

Birkfield is a mid-to-late 18th century cottage, with later additions and alterations. Originally a single storey, it is arranged with three bays on one side and two bays on the other. The original thatched roof is now covered with corrugated asbestos sheeting, which is supported by a raised brick eaves course. The front and north-east gable are harled with concrete margins, while the rear and south-west gable are whitewashed rubble with diagonally droved ashlar dressings. Modern, flat-roofed additions, also harled, extend from the south-west gable and at the rear. Windows are predominantly T-shaped with top-hopper glazing. There are two harled and corniced end stacks, and one ridge stack positioned to the right of centre, featuring stack stones and decorative cans.

The north-west elevation, facing the road, has three bays on the left with a central door. Windows are positioned on either side of the door, and there is a window in the outer bay, alongside an adjoining wing. A blocked doorway has been replaced by a window on the right-hand side. The rear elevation features a projecting, harled addition in the centre, flanked by windows; a wooden lintel appears to be secondary on the left-hand side. The north-east gable has a small attic window located off-centre in the gablehead.

It is believed Birkfield may have begun as a three-bay cottage and workshop, possibly explained by the off-centre stack, or it could have been a pair of terraced cottages. It may have been linked to a nearby lime quarry, which was disused by 1864. Birkfield is a rare surviving example of a thatched building in Clydesdale, a heritage mirrored by other listed structures such as Douglashall, a thatched building at Duinsyre Road, Newbigging, and 35 Chapel Street, Carluke. It was upgraded from Category C(S) to B on 4 February 1998.