welcome to

CHIRK

Chirk is a flourishing town with a vibrant high street that borders Shropshire to its south and dates back to the eleventh-century. ‘Chirk’ derives from the English for the River Ceiriog, thought to mean ‘the favoured one,’ while the Welsh ‘Y Waun’ is literally ‘The Moor’.

Chirk Aqueduct is a 70 foot (21 m) high and 710 foot (220 m) long navigable aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal across the Ceiriog Valley, on the England-Wales border, and designed as a forerunner to the larger aqueduct located in the Trevor Basin. Chirk Viaduct runs alongside Chirk Aqueduct, serving railway services from Shrewsbury and Chester, which opened in 1848. Chirk’s former coal mining industries are now part of the town’s rich industrial and social heritage. Another of Chirk’s most prominent and much-celebrated sites is the mediaeval Chirk Castle, operated by the National Trust, and connected to the Myddelton family, but there is much much more besides to be uncovered in Chirk, as our programme of activities and community film highlight. 

Chirk is home to the Chirk Tunnel (or The Darkie), a 421 metre long canal tunnel that passes under the former Ruabon to Barmouth Railway, built in 1801, and is one of the earliest canal tunnels with a towpath throughout. Other sites include the Oak at the Gate of the Dead, Brynkinalt Country Park, St. Mary’s Chirk, the A5 Historic Route, The Old Milk Bar, Chirk Swift & HouseMartins, Chirk Fisheries, Chirk AAA football team and Gledrid Bridge. Chirk is home to thriving and award-winning community café Caffi Wylfa and to Chirk Parish Hall, a venue which will play host to an exhibition of local artists and research and collection presentations by local historian Graham Greasley on 23rd November. XPLORE’s incredible interactive Aqueduct model will be present and is sure to be a big hit with children. We have been working to showcase work by Chirk-based artist Tina Rogers through our project and another multi-talented Chirk-based artist and community figure, Jim Heath, will be doing a drop-in making and craft workshop in the Parish Hall. Outside we will be launching Keith’s art trail in the form of an alternative map of Chirk that he has created and will be permanently mounted as a sign in Chirk. 

Community Stories and Projects