9 Nightingale Street

9 Nightingale Street is a house in a terraced row at Abercanaid, built between 1852 and 1861, possibly by the Plymouth Iron Company to house workers at the Abercanaid Pit and Pentrebach Forge.

The house is part of an important early group of industrial workers' housing that originally comprised seven terraces arranged in four rows facing east between the river and canal, plus three longer rows to the north known as The Squares, a terrace of larger houses, and two detached houses for senior employees. Seven terraces survive; five are listed, though substantially altered since listing in 1975. The rear two terraces in Canal Row are unlisted. The northern rows have been demolished, except for one detached house, Llwynyreos.

Originally, the houses were double-fronted, which was relatively generous for the period, in contrast to earlier single-window and single-door types (an example from Rhydycar now stands at St Fagans Museum). The houses were narrow, with roof spans of 4 to 5 metres and no rear outshuts, as they had access routes both front and back. The original plan form was arranged around a centre passageway with a rear staircase. The facades were slightly offset to accommodate larger kitchen chimneys, with the offset alternated to create mirrored pairs.

As originally built, the houses were constructed of square rubble stone with close-eaved slate roofs and stone end stacks. Both storeys had small-paned sash windows (two per floor), a centre door probably with an overlight, and stone voussoirs to all openings with stone sills. The rear walls were also of rubble stone, originally featuring one small door and pantry window below on one side and one small upper window.

Houses backing onto gardens (numbered 70 to 81 Nightingale Street) have generally been extended to the rear; others retain their original depth. Similar houses further south in Nightingale Street appear to be of later date and are also substantially altered, though they contribute to the character of the Abercanaid settlement.

No. 9 has been rendered and painted and has a large twentieth-century ground floor addition that masks the centre and right sections of the facade. The windows are now uPVC. The rear wall to Nightingale Street has a low door (now a window) to the left and a blocked upper window to the left.

The building has not been inspected.