The cottages were called Dandy Row when the first ones were built in 1824, and named after the dandy looms operated by the handloom weavers who lived and worked in them. They appear to have been built in three groups, with a covered ginnel (passageway) under number 34 for access between the top two groups. When all the random stone buildings were complete, a space was left opposite a small coal pit in the field across Roman Road on Shaw Fold Farm. In the 1870's, the space was filled with 4 Victorian houses, leaving an open ginnel between the houses and the lower row of cottages.