Chirk CastleCastell y Waun
Local highlightA drum-towered border fortress near Wrexham, lived in without a break since 1310, with clipped-yew gardens behind it
Open to visitorsa National Trust place — check opening times and admission before you go
Edward I ringed conquered Wales with castles, and Chirk is one of them: begun in 1295 for the Marcher lord Roger Mortimer and finished by 1310. Where most of that ring is now ruins, Chirk was never abandoned. People have lived in it continuously since 1310, which is why it reads as a country house from some angles and a fortress from others — squat drum towers and a thick curtain wall outside, panelled rooms and long galleries within.
The Myddelton family bought it in 1595 and stayed for four centuries, only leaving in 2004, so much of what you walk through reflects their long tenancy rather than the medieval garrison. The wrought-iron entrance gates, black and gilded and worked with the family’s coat of arms, were made in the early eighteenth century by the Davies brothers of nearby Bersham, ironworkers well known in their day.
Behind the castle the formal garden runs to clipped yews, hedges and lawns, with parkland and long views over the border country beyond. The National Trust took it on in 1981, and it is a paid attraction with set opening hours. Offa’s Dyke Path runs right past, and to the north the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct carries the Llangollen Canal high over the Dee valley.
