Joseph Parry's Cottage facts for kids
Joseph Parry's Cottage is a special old house in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. People also call it 4 Chapel Row. It was built a long time ago, in the early 1800s, for people who worked with iron. This cottage is famous because a well-known Welsh composer, Joseph Parry (1841–1903), was born here. Today, you can visit it as a museum!
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Where is Joseph Parry's Cottage?
The cottage is in Merthyr Tydfil, near the River Taff. It's part of a group of houses called Chapel Row. These houses are connected to the old Cyfarthfa Ironworks. The ironworks was a huge factory where many people worked in the 1800s.
Lots of people moved to Merthyr Tydfil to find jobs at the ironworks. So, the Chapel Row cottages were built in the 1820s. They were made for the many workers, especially those who worked for the Crawshay family, who owned the ironworks. These cottages were built for skilled workers. They even had big outdoor spaces for future changes.
What Does the Cottage Look Like?
Number 4 Chapel Row is a great example of a skilled ironworker's home. Its design matches how houses were built back then. It's a typical two-story house in a row of houses. It has a roof made of slate and small windows. The corners of the house have pale stone blocks.
Many of the building materials came from nearby areas. In the valleys above, near the Brecon Beacons, you could find natural resources. These included limestone, ironstone, and sandstone. These local materials were used to build the cottages. The Crawshay family then rented them to their workers.
What Can You See Inside?
Many parts of the cottage inside have been fixed up. They now look like a typical 19th-century Victorian home. The inside also shows what life was like for ironworkers.
The Living Room
The first thing you see is the living room. This room was the heart of a Victorian home. People didn't just relax here. They also cooked, washed clothes, and ironed in this room.
The living room has a stove with a bread oven. This stove was used for cooking and heating the cottage. It also heated the iron for ironing clothes. You can also see a dining table and basic kitchen tools. There's a kettle and cutlery. A traditional longcase clock stands in the middle of the room. It was a common decoration back then.
The Bedroom
Also on the ground floor is the bedroom where Joseph Parry was born. This room has also been restored. It has an old-fashioned wooden cradle. There is also a linen chest.
Outdoor Features
Outside, in the garden, there was an outdoor toilet. This was common at the time. However, it often helped diseases spread in the area. Today, the cottage's features are still well-kept.
Joseph Parry's Cottage Today
The cottage on Chapel Row is now a museum. It mainly tells the story of Joseph Parry's life. But it also shows what living conditions were like in Merthyr Tydfil in the 1800s. Many of the old features of the cottage have been restored. They are now on display for visitors.
The cottages on Chapel Row were saved from being knocked down in the early 1970s. They were fixed up between 1976 and 1977. The first floor of the cottage now celebrates Joseph Parry's career. You can see many of his photos and documents. There's also an organ and copies of his music. The first floor also shares more about Merthyr Tydfil's industrial past.
Joseph Parry's home was recently updated with money from a local company. It reopened to the public on what would have been his 175th birthday. The home is now part of the Cyfarthfa Heritage Area.
