76 Nightingale Street

76 Nightingale Street is a house in a terraced row at Abercanaid, part of an important early group of industrial housing built between 1852 and 1861, possibly by the Plymouth Iron Company to house workers at the Abercanaid Pit and Pentrebach Forge.

The original terraces comprised 7 units arranged in 4 rows facing east between the river and canal: one in River Row, two facing and two backing onto Nightingale Street, two in Canal Row, and to the north, three longer rows at right angles to the river and canal known as The Squares, plus a terrace of larger houses backing onto the canal and two detached houses for higher-grade employees. All seven terraces survive, though five are listed and much altered even since listing in 1975. The rear two in Canal Row are unlisted. The northern terraces have been demolished, though one detached house, Llwynyreos, survives.

Although small, these houses were relatively generous for their era, being double-fronted rather than the single-window-and-door type seen in earlier terraces such as those from Rhydycar (now at St Fagans Museum). They were narrow structures with roof-spans of 4 to 5 metres and had no rear outshuts, as roads or access paths ran both front and back. The original plan form was arranged around a centre passageway with rear staircase. The houses were built of square rubble stone with close-eaved slate roofs and stone end chimneys, featuring small-paned sash windows (two per floor) and a centre door probably with overlight. Stone voussoirs framed the openings on both floors, with stone sills throughout. The facades are slightly offset to accommodate larger kitchen chimneys, with the offset alternated to create mirrored pairs. The original rear walls had one small door and pantry window below on one side and one small upper window. Gardens in front or behind were accessed via footpaths running down the terrace line. Houses backing onto gardens (numbers 70 to 81 Nightingale Street) have generally been extended to the rear; others retain their original depth.

No. 76, an end terrace house, has been wholly altered since listing: it is clad in roughcast, re-roofed in concrete tiles, the original centre door has been moved to the left, all windows and the door are uPVC, and the left end chimney is missing. The property was not inspected internally.