Until 1975 children living in Pencaitland in East Lothian went to the old village school which had been built in the early nineteenth century.  (Extra)  The building, which is now a private house, was the original school and is renamed Belfry Cottage after the bell tower housing the school bell on its gable end.  A striking statue above the porch is of a boy reading a book and apparently was gifted by a former pupil who became a stonemason to commemorate the headmaster in 1850.  The plaque beneath states "Given by John McEwan to Robert Fosco, teacher, W H Son Cave Tom Trevelyan”

The following description written by John Archer who was headmaster at Pencaitland School from 1962-79, reminds me of my days as a young child in a similar rural school when the classroom was lit by an open coal fire and the toilets were outside.  It was very different from the very large modern High School to which I went for my secondary education.

Whereas the old school [now Belfry Cottage] was visually attractive and possessed considerable charm, it was far from satisfactory as an environment for both staff and pupils. The heating system was unreliable – with no janitor in attendance, the head teacher had to leave his class to stoke the boiler in the middle of the day. Toilets were situated in the playground subjecting children to the elements. With the replacement of the old insanitary toilets by new mobile units, equipped with wash-hand basins with hot and cold water, great improvements were made.
The old dining hall, which had at one time been a woodwork room, was damp and dingy and was replaced by a mobile unit, which was light, bright and airy. Meals were prepared at Ormiston school and brought in containers, which certainly did not add to their appeal.
With the increase in the school roll, a mobile classroom was then erected in the playground, making a total of four mobile units in a rapidly shrinking playground.
During the 1960s it was apparent that the old school was reaching the end of its days as a school and a replacement was built in 1975.