Chirk
Encyclopedia
Chirk is a small town and local government community
, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales
. It has a population of over 4,000.
It is situated between Wrexham
and Oswestry
and has been part of the County Borough since local government reorganisation in 1996. The border with the English
county of Shropshire
is immediately south of the town, on the other side of the River Ceiriog
.
The town is served by Chirk railway station
.
, a National Trust
property, is a medieval castle
. Two families are associated with the town and its castle, the Trevor
family of Brynkinallt and the Myddletons.
Attractions in the town apart from Chirk Castle include a section of Offa's Dyke
and the Chirk Aqueduct
on the Llangollen Canal
, built in 1801 by Thomas Telford
. The Glyn Valley Tramway
operated from here.
The Parish Church of St Mary's is a Grade I listed building. The current church building was begun during the 11th Century by the Normans, although it is believed that an older llan, dedicated to St Tysilio, had existed on the site. Indeed, the current church was known by the dedication of St Tysilio until the late 15th or early 16th century, after which it was re-dedicated to St Mary. Today, the church is a member of the Open Church Network and participates in the Sacred Space Project.
Chirk was formerly a coal mining
community with coal being worked since the 17th century. The largest of these collieries were Black Park (one of the oldest in the north of Wales) and Brynkinallt . After the closure of these mines, an open-cast coal mine opened in the late 1980s. This coal mine has now also closed.
Chirk was a coaching stop on the old Mail coach
route along the A5 from London
to Holyhead
.
The Chester
to Ruabon
railway had been extended south to Shrewsbury
by 1848 with stations at Llangollen Road (at Whitehurst) and Chirk. South of the town a railway viaduct was constructed by Henry Robertson
to take the line over the Ceiriog Valley
.
The Llangollen branch of the Shropshire Union Canal runs through Chirk. The canal crosses the Ceiriog Valley (from England into Wales) along Thomas Telford's aqueduct. Telford's aqueduct runs alongside the Robertson' viaduct before the canal enters the Chirk Tunnel.
The Ceiriog Memorial Institute, in the Ceiriog valley
, just west of Chirk, is home to a collection of Welsh cultural memorabilia and was founded in the early 1900s to support the Welsh language
, culture and heritage for future generations.
The town's industries are the manufacture of wood-based panels at Kronospan
and chocolate
manufacture at Cadbury
.
Community (Wales)
A community is a division of land in Wales that forms the lowest-tier of local government in Wales. Welsh communities are analogous to civil parishes in England....
, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It has a population of over 4,000.
It is situated between Wrexham
Wrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
and Oswestry
Oswestry
Oswestry is a town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483, and A495 roads....
and has been part of the County Borough since local government reorganisation in 1996. The border with the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
is immediately south of the town, on the other side of the River Ceiriog
River Ceiriog
The River Ceiriog is a river in north east Wales. It is a tributary of the River Dee. It rises on the south east slopes of Moel Fferna in the Berwyn Mountains, and flows through the Ceiriog Valley in Wrexham County Borough. It flows below Chirk Castle and the town of Chirk, where the Chirk...
.
The town is served by Chirk railway station
Chirk railway station
Chirk railway station serves the town of Chirk in the county borough of Wrexham, Wales. Chirk station is on the Shrewsbury to Chester Line, which is part of the former Great Western Railway mainline route from London Paddington to Birkenhead Woodside....
.
History and heritage
Chirk CastleChirk Castle
Chirk Castle is a castle located at Chirk, Wrexham, Wales.The castle was built in 1295 by Roger Mortimer de Chirk, uncle of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March as part of King Edward I's chain of fortresses across the north of Wales. It guards the entrance to the Ceiriog Valley...
, a National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
property, is a medieval castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
. Two families are associated with the town and its castle, the Trevor
Baron Trevor
Baron Trevor is a title that has been created three times. It was created first in 1662 in the Peerage of Ireland along with the viscountcy of Dungannon...
family of Brynkinallt and the Myddletons.
Attractions in the town apart from Chirk Castle include a section of Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke is a massive linear earthwork, roughly followed by some of the current border between England and Wales. In places, it is up to wide and high. In the 8th century it formed some kind of delineation between the Anglian kingdom of Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Powys...
and the Chirk Aqueduct
Chirk Aqueduct
Chirk Aqueduct is a high and long navigable aqueduct that carries what is now the Llangollen Canal across the Ceiriog Valley near Chirk, on the England-Wales border....
on the Llangollen Canal
Llangollen Canal
The Llangollen Canal is a navigable canal crossing the border between England and Wales. The waterway links Llangollen in Denbighshire, north Wales, with Hurleston in south Cheshire, via the town of Ellesmere, Shropshire....
, built in 1801 by Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.-Early career:...
. The Glyn Valley Tramway
Glyn Valley Tramway
The Glyn Valley Tramway was a narrow gauge railway that connected Chirk with Glyn Ceiriog in Denbighshire , Wales. The gauge of the line was...
operated from here.
The Parish Church of St Mary's is a Grade I listed building. The current church building was begun during the 11th Century by the Normans, although it is believed that an older llan, dedicated to St Tysilio, had existed on the site. Indeed, the current church was known by the dedication of St Tysilio until the late 15th or early 16th century, after which it was re-dedicated to St Mary. Today, the church is a member of the Open Church Network and participates in the Sacred Space Project.
Chirk was formerly a coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
community with coal being worked since the 17th century. The largest of these collieries were Black Park (one of the oldest in the north of Wales) and Brynkinallt . After the closure of these mines, an open-cast coal mine opened in the late 1980s. This coal mine has now also closed.
Chirk was a coaching stop on the old Mail coach
Mail coach
In Great Britain, the mail coach or post coach was a horse-drawn carriage that carried mail deliveries, from 1784. In Ireland, the first mail coach began service from Dublin in 1789. The coach was drawn by four horses and had seating for four passengers inside. Further passengers were later allowed...
route along the A5 from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Holyhead
Holyhead
Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....
.
The Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
to Ruabon
Ruabon
Ruabon is a village and community in the county borough of Wrexham in Wales.More than 80% of the population of 2,400 were born in Wales with 13.6% speaking Welsh....
railway had been extended south to Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
by 1848 with stations at Llangollen Road (at Whitehurst) and Chirk. South of the town a railway viaduct was constructed by Henry Robertson
Henry Robertson
Henry Robertson was a Scottish industrialist and Liberal Party politician.-Career:Robertson came to Wales to pursue his industrial interests...
to take the line over the Ceiriog Valley
Ceiriog Valley
The Ceiriog Valley or Dyffryn Ceiriog is the valley of the River Ceiriog in north-east Wales. It is also the name of a ward of the County Borough of Wrexham Until 1974 the valley was part of the traditional county of Denbighshire; then it became part of the short-lived county of Clwyd, which was...
.
The Llangollen branch of the Shropshire Union Canal runs through Chirk. The canal crosses the Ceiriog Valley (from England into Wales) along Thomas Telford's aqueduct. Telford's aqueduct runs alongside the Robertson' viaduct before the canal enters the Chirk Tunnel.
Modern day
Ceiriog Valley
The Ceiriog Valley or Dyffryn Ceiriog is the valley of the River Ceiriog in north-east Wales. It is also the name of a ward of the County Borough of Wrexham Until 1974 the valley was part of the traditional county of Denbighshire; then it became part of the short-lived county of Clwyd, which was...
, just west of Chirk, is home to a collection of Welsh cultural memorabilia and was founded in the early 1900s to support the Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
, culture and heritage for future generations.
The town's industries are the manufacture of wood-based panels at Kronospan
Kronospan
Kronospan is an international company that manufactures and distributes wood-based panels which are used in many everyday products such as flooring, furniture and timber-framed houses....
and chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
manufacture at Cadbury
Cadbury
-Businesses:*Cadbury Adams, the company's North American subsidiary*Cadbury Ireland, the company's Irish subsidiary*Cadbury UK, the company's UK subsidiary*Cadbury India, the company's Indian subsidiary*Cadbury New Zealand, the company's New Zealand subsidiary...
.
Notable people
- See :Category:People from Chirk
- FootballerFootball (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
Mike JonesMike Jones (footballer)Michael David "Mike" Jones is an English professional footballer currently playing as a right or centre midfielder currently playing for Bury....
, 1989 to present, is a resident. - Billy MeredithBilly MeredithWilliam Henry "Billy" Meredith was a Welsh footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each domestic trophy in the English football league and also gained 48 caps for Wales, for whom he...
who played for Manchester CityManchester City F.C.Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
and Manchester UnitedManchester United F.C.Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
between 1894 and 1924 and earned 48 caps for WalesWales national football teamThe Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
was a former resident. - Welsh international goalkeeper, Paul JonesPaul Jones (footballer)Paul Steven Jones is a retired Welsh international football goalkeeper. During his playing career, he played for several clubs, including Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stockport County and Southampton.-Career history:...
was born in the town. - World Champion athlete Neil ThomasNeil Thomas (gymnast)Neil Roderick Thomas MBE is an English artistic gymnast who experienced most of his success in the floor exercises. An inspiration to many young British gymnasts, he was former world silver medalist and Commonwealth Games Champion and one of the most successful British gymnasts to date...
was born in Chirk on April 6 1968