History

Cottage in one of 2 rows of early industrial workers'' housing complete by 1797, and thus, although altered since, among the earliest surviving in the region. The site is some 400m W of the site of the Cyfarthfa blast furnaces, built 1765. Ty Issa farmhouse is mentioned in a lease of 1794 to Anthony Bacon of the ironworks and it was to this house that the cottages were added. Thomas James was paid £298/9/6d (£298.48) for new houses in Gelli-deg in 1797 but this may refer to the second row Nos 23-28 and Nos 15-21 could be earlier. It is suggested that No 15 is the pre-industrial farmhouse, perhaps mid C18 and that 6 industrial cottages were added in 2 stages. No 15 itself may be a composite of a single room cottage to right to which a larger house 2-storey 3-bay farmhouse was added (but the continuous rear stonework does not support this). The farmhouse was later subdivided into 2, the one-bay upper end with entry from the back becoming one cottage (now part of No 16). To this were added 3 one-room 2-storey cottages, now Nos 16 and 17 (No 17 now including No 18), internally of a single-room each floor, perhaps with a partitioned pantry to the rear, marked by small rear opening. Then a further 3 were added, now Nos 19 and 21, as 21 includes No 20, these had 2 small partitioned spaces at the back and thus 2 small rear windows. None of these houses had the typical catslide roofs over outshuts noted in Welsh industrial workers'' housing of the early C19, though the altered row Nos 23-28 did.
In 1930 it was said that No 15 had once been a public house.

Exterior

No 15 begins on the right with the one-room lower service range, possibly an earlier single room house. Painted rubble stone, with slate close-eaved roof, rendered square right end stack with dripstones possibly indicating thatch and with late C20 plastic windows, one large to left immediately over but not aligned with a square one below and another square one to ground floor centre. Windowless stone end wall. Rear wall of painted rubble stone continuous with main rear wall has door to centre right, large plastic window under eaves and one each side to ground floor the right one close to the probable party wall.
The main part of No 15 (and one bay of current No 16) appears to be a 2-storey 3-bay farmhouse originally with end stacks, the left end one gone. Painted stucco with raised surrounds to openings and slate roof. Windows are late C20 plastic except for 2-pane sash to ground floor left (No 16), door is C20. Rear wall of painted rubble stone with large boulders at base. Three ground floor C20 windows with timber lintels. Upstairs is one broad C20 window under eaves.

Interior

Interior not available for inspection. In 1988 the service range to No 15 was of river boulders, the roof trusses of oak with single pegged purlin of rough hewn wood and another purlin added later presumably when roof was slated.. There was a large fireplace in the right end wall with oven and timber spiral stairs to right. The floor beams had been replaced.
The old farmhouse (of which No 15 is part) had similar walls, oak double-purlin roofs with pegged collar trusses. There was a lobby entry by the right gable next to the large fireplace. The partition now dividing Nos 15 and 16 was of stone only on the ground floor and not tied-in, the stairs were against the partition to the rear. There were oak floor beams at 1.2m intervals.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as part of the oldest industrial workers'' housing surviving in the Merthyr area, which includes a range that predates the nearby Cyfarthfa ironworks.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29489958

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5