Melinkie Cottage, Helen Place, North Queensferry

Melinkie Cottage is a mid-18th century, single-story, four-bay rectangular traditional cottage situated on Helen Place, North Queensferry. The exterior is harled with stone cills.

The west-facing principal elevation features a central two-leaf timber boarded door, flanked by two windows close to the eaves on the right side (the window to the immediate right has been enlarged and recessed). A window is also close to the eaves on the far left. A later 20th century lean-to extension is present on the south side, with a top-hung modern window. The north elevation is a plain gable, while the east elevation contains a central window close to the eaves and a smaller window to the left. A later lean-to extension and a modern door are situated on the south side. The south elevation was not visible in 2002.

The interior of the cottage was not inspected in 2002. Most windows are timber sash and case, with four panes, and replacements are timber doors. The roof is pitched and slate-covered, with raised ashlar coped skews, shouldered and coped gablehead stacks, and clay cans.

Melinkie Cottage was used as the village school from 1769 to 1827. Renovations in 1999 uncovered that the site was formerly part of St James's Bay. Ordnance Survey maps from 1856 and historical publications by Rev W Stephen (1921) and E P Dennison and R Coleman (2000) provide further details.