Chirk offers clear focal points for planning a trip: the medieval history of its castle and settlement, striking canal structures, and trails with specific details on distance or difficulty. First, consider whether you are most interested in castle details, engineering works, or a particular route.

Castle and Local History

Chirk Castle has overlooked the Welsh borderlands since 1295. Work on the castle probably began in the last decade of the 13th century. The Adam Tower features medieval garderobes, arrow slits and two-storey dungeons. The Cromwell Hall displays weapons and armour from the 17th-century English Civil War.

The accessible garden trail at Chirk Castle passes clipped yew trees, the Rose Garden and the historic Hawk House. It is suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs. Chirk’s conservation area includes the original medieval settlement around the Church of St Mary and Church Street. Written records of the church at Chirk begin with the Norman occupation; the earliest surviving reference appears in the Pipe Rolls of 1163.

Landscape and Structures

The Chirk Castle estate lies within the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The castle parkland is considered an outstanding landscape feature and was partly designed by William Emes. The section of Offa’s Dyke near Chirk Castle is about 1,400 metres long and runs north-north-east through the Ceiriog Valley.

The Chirk Aqueduct was built from 1796 to 1801 by William Jessop and Thomas Telford for the Ellesmere Canal. When it opened in 1801, it was the highest navigable aqueduct in the world. Its water channel sits in a cast-iron trough concealed within the masonry; the aqueduct is part of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal World Heritage Site. The Chirk Tunnel is 460 yards long and is among the first British canal tunnels to include an integrated towpath. Chirk Viaduct also reflects the area’s railway history: completed in 1848, it carries the line from Ruabon to Chester over the River Ceiriog.

Choose Trails by Length and Character

The trails around Chirk Castle vary both in length and in their described features. The Battle of Crogen circular walk covers 3 miles from Chirk Castle, includes a short section of the Offa’s Dyke Path and passes the site of the Battle of Crogen. The moderate Old Golf Walk is 1.2 miles long and offers a view of the castle along the way. The Chirk Castle Woodland Walk, by contrast, is described as an easy circular route through woodland and open fields around Chirk Castle.

The Chirk and River Ceiriog Circular Walk is 6.5 miles long, starts near the station and links Chirk with Chirk Castle, the Offa’s Dyke National Trail and the River Ceiriog. Chirk Circular 2 offers a different perspective on the canal and tunnel: the circular route follows the Llangollen Canal towpath into the Chirk Tunnel.

Other measured circular walks offer specific points of comparison for distance and elevation gain:

• Atop the Aqueduct starts at the town car park in Chirk, is about 1¾ miles long and has an elevation gain of 100 feet.
• Lady Margaret’s Walk is about 2 miles long and has an elevation gain of 40 feet.
• Riverside, Forge and Hilltop is about 5¼ miles long and has an elevation gain of 470 feet.
• A Taste of the Ceiriog Valley is about 3 miles long and has an elevation gain of 100 feet.

Plan Your Journey

Chirk Station is on the railway line between Shrewsbury and Chester. Arriva bus route 2/A from Wrexham to Oswestry stops in the town of Chirk near the station; check travel information before setting off. From Chirk Station, the best access to the Chirk Aqueduct towpath is a 25-minute walk. These details offer guidance for getting there and accessing the canal trail, but do not replace checking the right connections for your travel date.

Discover more destinations: Bradley, Penycae, Trevor, Rossett, Llanarmon Dyffryn-Ceiriog, Wrexham, Glyn Ceiriog, Bangor-on-Dee.

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