PGW(C)63(WRE)

Chirk Castle  

I  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Wrexham  

Glyntraian  

326633  

338567  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Landscape park; terraced garden; informal garden  

Early eighteenth century; 1760s-70s; late nineteenth century to c. 1920  

Chirk Castle is situated on elevated ground to the north of the Ceiriog valley, west of Chirk village. It is registered for its outstanding landscape park, partly designed by William Emes, and its terraced and informal garden which includes remains from the medieval period onwards, all set in a fine elevated position. Outstanding features within the layout include the early eighteenth-century entrance gates and screen by Robert and John Davies, Grade I Listed (LB 1315), the early eighteenth-century statue of Hercules by van Nost, Grade II Listed (LB 20237), and late nineteenth-century yew hedging and topiary in the garden. There is further group value with Grade I Listed Chirk Castle (LB 598) and with numerous Grade II Listed structures and ornaments around the estate. In addition, a section of Offa’s Dyke, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, crosses the park (SAM DE135). The castle dates from the end of the thirteenth century and by 1391-92 a park with a timber fence containing 100 acres of woodland was recorded. By 1675 the park had been extended by Sir Thomas Myddelton to hold 500 deer. By 1742 there was a grand baroque layout of formal gardens with axes extending into the park as avenues, the park itself bounded with paling. It contained a lake and, near the Ceiriog river, a 'Cold Bath' building. This layout was mostly swept away in the 1760s and 70s when an ambitious scheme of landscaping was undertaken by William Emes for Richard Myddelton. Some earlier features survive though the present configuration of woodland and pasture in the park was created at this time; some of the woodlands were already established before landscaping. The castle lies in the centre of its medium-sized landscape park which consists of rolling grassland dotted with deciduous trees, the ground rising to a ridge in the west, and dropping steeply to the river Ceiriog in the south. It is a roughly oval shape, bounded on the south by the Glyn Ceiriog to Chirk road, and elsewhere by woodland and farmland. The great earthen bank of Offa's Dyke cuts across the park from north-east to south-west, passing just to the west of the castle being interrupted by the larger of two ornamental lakes which lie to its north. There are two main entrances, both on the east side. The present main entrance is west of Chirk village, through the ornamental wrought-iron gates and gatescreen of 1712-19 by Robert and John Davies of Bersham. On the north side is the Grade II Listed Llwyn-y-cil Lodge. The drive veers south to join the old public road, converted into a carriage drive in 1767, which runs north-westwards along the wooded edge of the valley before swinging round northwards to enter the castle from the north. In the south-east corner of the park is a ruined, disused, entrance, from which the former drive, flanked by oaks, runs westwards to the present drive to the Grade II Listed Deerpark Lodge (LB 20272). The lodge stands at the eastern end of the Old Deer Park, situated above the Ceiriog valley to the south-east of the castle. It is now an area of scrub, bracken and light woodland, with a Grade II Listed wall along its east side (LB 20273). The second main entrance, now the service access, is at New Hall on the north-eastern boundary. It is flanked by curving stone walls and two Grade II Listed classical pavilions of 1770 by Joseph Turner (LBs 622 & 20227), the previous location for the Davies gates. The drive winds uphill through grassland dotted with trees, past the lake, to the north side of the castle. Another former entrance lies on the south side of the park, at Castle Mill, marked by a ruined entrance. A track from here leads up the slope to the west side of the castle and may date from the 1760s. Within the park there are several mixed woodland areas: the slopes of the Ceiriog valley to the south; Mynattyn Wood, Deershed Wood, Baddy's Wood and The Belt in the eastern part of the park; and coniferous Gwyningar Wood, Mars Wood, Warren Wood and Top Plantation on the west side. In the north, the two lakes have woodland around them. Open areas of the park are dotted with isolated deciduous trees and clumps, mainly of oak. Very little of the planting is earlier than the 1760s, but from that era some oaks and beeches survive, though most of the oak planting dates from 1800-40. The oaks lining the west end of the south drive were planted in 1953 to commemorate the Coronation. The garden lies to the east of the castle, entered through wrought-iron gates made of redundant parts of the Davies gatescreen. It has a complex history and elements remain from a number of periods. There was a formal garden here in the seventeenth century but the planting dates mostly from the late nineteenth century onwards, into the 1920s. The garden forms three main component parts: the formal terraces, the informal area, and the woodland. Immediately in front of the castle the garden is formal, the sloping ground carved into a series of terraces laid out to lawns, with a wide gravel path running southwards from the entrance and with steps between the terraces. To the east is a series of three smaller terraces, with a tennis court on the lowest. A feature of the formal area is the sculpted yew hedging around its edges, and the yew topiary flanking the path. The informal part of the garden is to the east of the southern end of the terraces, on a gentle slope leading to a terrace that bounds the garden on the east. This is laid out as a long lawn flanked by a mixed border and rockery slope on the north and on the south by a large shrubbery with fine specimens. Within it is a Grade II Listed statue (LB 20242) next to a lily pond. On the lawn is a Grade II Listed sundial (LB 20246) and, within the rockery, the Grade II Listed Hawk House (LB 20243). To the north is an area of woodland, Pleasure Ground Wood, on ground rising to a small summit, and divided by a straight ride flanked by rows of limes on the main axis of the castle. Within the ride is the statue of Hercules and near its southern edge a Grade II Listed medieval font (LB 20245). Further north is a Grade II Listed gazebo (LB 20244). The woodland and terraces are bounded by a Grade II Listed ha-ha (LB 20247) which follows a line from the terraces to the north curving around grassland north of the castle. The south side of the garden is bounded by a Grade II Listed revetment wall at the top of the steep slope on the edge of the Ceiriog valley. Setting - Chirk Castle, with its park and gardens, is located on elevated ground in a rural area on the north side of the Ceiriog valley. Significant views - From the north front of the castle and from the terrace at the east end of the garden there are magnificent views over the park, with rolling grassland dotted with deciduous trees and punctuated by woodland and the large lake. There are also fine views of the castle and grounds from the north-east approach at New Hall, and from the north-west at Tyn-y-groes. Source: Cadw 1995: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Clwyd, 38-42 (ref: PGW(C)63(WRE)).