3 Nightingale Street

A terraced house forming part of the important early group of industrial housing at Abercanaid. Built between 1852 and 1861, possibly by the Plymouth Iron Company to house workers at Abercanaid Pit and Pentrebach Forge, the house is one of seven surviving terraces from an original scheme of considerable ambition. The complete scheme originally comprised seven terraces arranged in four rows facing east between the river and canal—one in River Row, two facing and two backing onto Nightingale Street, and two in Canal Row—with three additional longer rows to the north at right angles to the river and canal, known as The Squares, a terrace of larger houses backing onto the canal, and two detached houses for senior employees. Five of the original seven terraces remain listed, though much altered since listing in 1975. The northern terraces and one detached house have been demolished; only Llwynyreos survives of the detached properties.

Though compact, these houses were relatively generous for their period, being double-fronted rather than the earlier single-window-and-door type seen at Rhydycar (now preserved at St Fagans Museum). They are narrow structures with roof-spans of four to five metres and no rear outshuts, since roads and access paths ran both front and back. The plan is arranged around a centre passageway with rear staircase. Originally constructed of square rubble stone with close-eaved slate roofs and stone end stacks, the houses feature two storeys with double-fronted small-paned sash windows—two per floor—and a central door with probable overlight. Stone voussoirs dress the openings on both floors, with stone sills. The rear walls, also of rubble stone, originally contained one small door and pantry window below to one side and one small upper window.

The facades are slightly offset to accommodate larger kitchen chimneys, with the offset side alternated to create mirrored pairs. Front or rear gardens were accessed via a footpath running along the terrace line. Houses backing onto gardens (numbered 70–81 Nightingale Street) have generally been extended to the rear; others retain their original depth.

No. 3 has been significantly altered, now featuring 20th-century uPVC windows and door with stuccoed thin surrounds, concrete roof tiles in place of slate, and a low door and tiny window to the left on its rear Nightingale Street elevation, with an upper window to the right.