Chirk Tour

New techniques were needed to build an aqueduct 220 metres/710 feet long and 21 metres/70 feet above the river. Ten hollow stone arches carry iron plates to form the bed of the canal. The sides of the trough were originally made waterproof with high-fired brick and mortar and faced with stone but iron side plates were installed in 1869.

Painters came here to capture what was considered to be a romantic feature. In 1799 before the aqueduct was completed, the artist Richard Colt Hoare painted the scene and wrote that he ‘stopped to take a view of the noble aqueduct that is forming across the valley’. The painting also shows the engineers’ house, Telford Lodge, now known as Min y waen, in the distance. Samuel Lacey captured the scene looking towards Chirk in 1820 and Henry Gastineau painted the scene from another angle in 1834 showing the elegant aqueduct crossing the River Ceiriog, a few years before the railway viaduct was built.

The aqueduct marks the boundary between England and Wales which follows the old river course, seen as a low depression.

The canal could have been dug in a cutting, but Richard Myddelton of Chirk Castle refused to allow the canal to break his access to the town of Chirk, even though he was a keen supporter of the project.

‘Cut and cover’ was the preferred method of construction. The ground was opened in different lengths so the brickwork could be made perfect, and then the arch was secured with loose stones and excavated spoil. The brickwork was sealed with clay to keep the tunnel dry.

In 1822 the cantilevered towpath was reconstructed, supported by brick arches which allows the water to flow underneath to reduce the drag on the boats. It also incorporated an iron handrail, the railing curving into the ground so it did not snag the towrope.

Just in front of the tunnel is a diamond-shaped canal basin, where boats can wait if necessary, to enter the tunnel. The basin was the end of the canal from Frankton Locks to Chirk Aqueduct when it was opened in 1801.

Wharfage facilities were provided here, with a pulley arrangement to help haul goods up to the road above the canal. A weighbridge and canal worker’s hut were situated by the basin in the 1800s.

Chirk Castle was built in 1295 as part of King Edward I’s campaign to control Wales, strategically located at the entrance to Ceiriog Valley. The only medieval part of the castle left is the main entrance frontage that contains Adam’s Tower where you can see the guardroom with the dungeon beneath it.

Sir Thomas Myddelton I was a successful businessman and was one of the first investors in the East India Company who traded in cotton, silk, sugar, spices, tea and other supplies.

The castle was extensively restored by Sir Thomas Myddelton II in the mid-1600s after significant damage in the English Civil War.

From 1911 the castle was leased to Thomas Scott-Ellis, 8th Lord Howard of Walden, a soldier and artist, poet and playwright, Olympic sportsman, medievalist and pioneer. Amongst the famous guests who signed the visitors’ book were King George V and Queen Mary, the writers Rudyard Kipling and George Bernard Shaw and the artist Augustus John who found his host sitting in an armchair dressed in full armour!

The National Trust purchased the castle in 1978 and the Myddelton family continued to live in a private apartment until 2004 when they moved to a house on the castle estate.

Hand Terrace was built in the 1820s, a row of seven properties similar to almshouses with window openings bricked up to avoid the window tax.

Charlotte was also responsible for building Chirk Boys’ School and Chirk Girls’ School which provided education for the poorer families in accordance with the teaching of the Anglican Church.

The Boys’ School, next to the Hand Hotel, could originally accommodate 100 boys but was extended in 1857 to accommodate 123 pupils. Small payments were made by some parents towards the schoolmaster’s salary. It later became the headquarters of the Royal British Legion and was given to them in 1964 by the Myddelton family.

The Girls’ School, built in 1843, was designed by Augustus Pugin in a Gothic style and cost £450. It was extended in 1874 and again in 1905 when it was used for adult education classes including evening classes in mining. The school became a furniture warehouse in 1970.

The church was extended with an additional nave in 1519. Although it was altered and repaired several times it retains much of its medieval character with fine carved roofs. There are also some outstanding monuments, including some to the Myddeltons. In the past rivalry between the Myddelton family of Chirk Castle and the Trevor family of nearby Brynkinalt Hall led to a dispute and a court case about where the two families could sit in the church in the 1620s!

A curfew bell was rung in the evening from Norman times until the 1800s. The bell was probably housed in an external free-standing bell before the tower was built in 1475. Records show that there were three bells in the tower in 1650 but by 1814 there were six bells which were recast and refitted that year.

The ringers were sometimes paid with ale, as was recorded in the 1688 churchwarden’s accounts, and payments of this kind lasted until about 1820. Ringing the ’broth bell’ at the end of the service told those left at home to get ready to serve the dinner! Enthusiastic bell ringers still carry on the tradition of summoning the faithful to church and to mark local and national celebrations.