1. Castles and Cottages
When you think of Wales, you often may think of castles and cottages. Indeed there are more than 600 castles in Wales, more per square mile than anywhere in the world. Likewise the cottage is seen as an icon of Wales.
Spread throughout the rural parts, cottages have traditionally been made with low walls of rubble stone. If stone was not available, the walls would be made of a mixture of earth, straw and animal manure (known in Wales as ‘clom’) . The structure would be timber based and the roof would be thatched.
2. Industrial Revolution
With the growth of industrialisation and particularly the mining industry, less and less cottages got built and thatch rooves on properties in Wales fell in decline.
Suddenly the arrival of the railways brought slate mined in North Wales to towns throughout the region and Welsh homes had slate on their rooves.
3. Population Growth
Industrialisation also led to large population growth in areas which hitherto had been sparsely settled. Large workforces were needed in minding, metal working and ship building and this led to a need for social housing.
Rows and rows of brick terraced were built in a uniform style within the Victoria and Edwardian housing booms to accommodate the workers. And to this day, many Welsh streets contain these streets of similar looking properties.
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