1 Nightingale Street

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

The original development comprised seven terraces 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. To the north were three longer rows 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 higher-grade employees. Seven of the original terraces survive, five of which are listed (though much altered since listing in 1975); the rear two in Canal Row are unlisted. The northern terraces have been demolished, though one detached house, Llwynyreos, survives.

The house is constructed of square rubble stone with a close-eaved slate roof and stone end stacks. It is two storeys tall and double-fronted, with two small-paned sash windows on each floor and a centre door, probably with an overlight. Stone voussoirs decorate the openings and stone sills run beneath the windows. The rear wall is also of rubble stone and originally contained one small door and pantry window on one side below, and one small upper window.

Though small, these houses were relatively generous for their period, being double-fronted rather than the single-window-and-door type seen in earlier terraces. However, they were narrow structures with roof spans of four to five metres and no rear outshuts, as they had roads or access paths both front and back. The interior plan was arranged around a centre passageway and rear staircase. The facades were slightly offset to accommodate larger kitchen chimneys, with the offset side alternated between pairs to create a mirrored effect. Gardens accessed from front or rear could be reached via a footpath running down the terrace line. Houses backing onto gardens (numbers 70-81 Nightingale Street) have generally been extended to the rear; others retain their original depth.

This end-terrace house has been altered with twentieth-century windows and stuccoed thin surrounds to the windows, and concrete roof tiles. The rear wall to Nightingale Street has a low door and tiny window to the left, with an upper window to the right.