Are You 'Early' or 'Late'?
'Later' house type, single fronted and built of stone with brick surrounds to doors and windows.
The majority of terraced houses built in the South Wales Valleys were built because of the vast amounts of iron and coal found in the area and the need to house thousands upon thousands of people to work in the ironworks and in the coalmines.
Typical iron towns, such as Merthyr or Aberdare, originally developed as clusters around several ironworks and as the clusters grew the gaps between them were infilled and towns were formed. These ‘early’ house types generally date from before 1860 and were built in an unplanned and sporadic manner.
'Early' type house, with typical early type sash windows.
The ‘later’ house types were built as linear terraces from the early 1870s up to the turn of the twentieth century. More often than not the later terraces follow the contours of the land but occasionally were built across the contours with either sloping or stepped ridges. The later terraces were subject to new planning by-laws that stipulated minimum standards for street widths, drainage and water supply.
It was these by-laws that were largely responsible for the gridiron layouts that distinguish them from the earlier iron towns. You can find out whether you live in an ‘early’ or ‘late’ house by checking out the history of your locality at your local library.
