Birkwood Castle

Birkwood Castle is a former manor house near Lesmahagow, SW Scotland. This video shows its current status and outlines its history.

Music: Echoes in the Darkness by Leigh Robinson from Pixabay.

Narration:
Birkwood Castle was owned by the Mackirdy family and built in the late 18th century as a north facing Georgian Villa, which is now part of the rear wing. It was expanded around 1856 extending to the south from the east wall and curving round west; and then again in 1890 building on the large west wing designed by James Thomson of Glasgow and extending southwards from the west in Gothic style.
The original villa is currently covered in scaffolding and the renovation of the property is an on/off issue as I will cover later.
In 1920 Lanarkshire County Council purchased it and opened a ‘certified Institution for Mental Defectives in 1923. This cared for boys and girls with learning difficulties and dealt exclusively with children.
It was gradually expanded with the use of outbuildings but the reorganisation of mental health care in the 1990’s resulted in eventual closure around 2005.
Since the closure there have been a number of attempts to reutilise the property: there was approval to convert to a hotel in 2009 but the developer went into liquidation and in 2016 planning permission was given for a larger expansion which did result in some initial work.
The property is reputed to be haunted and in 2014 the castle featured in a TV series called Haunted Planet.
Most of the roof is in a bad state although there are some areas that look reasonably sound.
The original villa can be seen in the centre of the property.
The 1856 expansion was built to the east and the south and the structure remains relatively intact.
The 1890 expansion, to the west of the property, suffered a total collapse in 2015 but can be seen in this arial view from the internet.
Entry to the property is dangerous as there is little flooring left, an idea of the state of the property can be seen through the main entrance.
A look through the window reveals the dereliction is widespread.
Work did start on clearing the other buildings on the site and this was completed by January 2015 .
In 2016 planning permission was again given for a 56 bedroom room hotel as part of an £80m development of the castle and grounds with holiday chalets and permanent homes . Birkwood Estates had teamed up with US hotel chain the Wyndham Group and they had gained permission for early release of 50 houses to fund the required repairs .
The first part of the restoration was to make watertight and work started in November 2016 . It appears part of the renovation was started as can be seen from the extensive scaffolding and relatively new roof beams.
A concept design was completed in 2017 by OCCA . The planned opening was 2019 but again, the owners went into administration and the castle was put up for sale in 2018 .
As stated earlier, also in 2015 part of one of the house walls collapsed, in fact most of the 1890 expansion, it was reportedly like an explosion. This has been attributed to paranormal activity as the house is reputed to be haunted . In 2013 a group of paranormal experts from Glasgow filmed there and claimed it to be one of the most active locations they had filmed.
In 2018 it was recommended that the castle be demolished with the exception of the bell tower and front entrance which were considered structurally sound. Partial demolition was not approved until January 2020 .
There does appear to have been some progress in cleaning the building around some windows compared with reports from 2019 .
In 2023 there were still security measures in place but currently the fencing is in disarray with access readily achievable and no obvious security although the signage is still there.