Chirk () is a town and

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Wrexham County Borough Wrexham County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough, with city status in the United Kingdom, city status, in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It borders the English ceremonial counties of Cheshire and Shropshire to ...

, Wales, south of

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

, between it and

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the England–Wales border, Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5, A483 road, A483 and A495 road, A495 ro ...

. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 4,468. Historically in the traditional county of

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

, and later

Clwyd Clwyd ( , ) is a preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English cerem ...

, it has been part of Wrexham County Borough since a local government reorganisation in 1996. The

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

with the English county of

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

is immediately south of the town, on the other side of the River Ceiriog. The town is served by Chirk railway station and the A5/

A483 The A483, officially described as the Swansea to Manchester Trunk Road, although now ending in Chester, is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs from Swansea in Wales to Chester in England via Llandovery, Llandrindod Wells, Oswestry and W ...

roads.

Etymology

The name of the town in English, Chirk, derives from the name of the River Ceiriog, which itself may mean "the favoured one". The Welsh place name, ', is literally "The Moor".

History and heritage

Chirk Castle Chirk Castle () is a Grade I listed castle located in Chirk, Wrexham County Borough, Wales, from Chirk railway station, now owned and run by the National Trust. History The castle was built in 1295 by Roger Mortimer de Chirk, uncle of Roge ...

, a

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

property, is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

castle. Two families are associated with the town and its castle: the Trevor family of Brynkinallt and the Myddelton family. The Hughes of Gwerclas, a family descended from the ancient kings of Powys Fadog, also lived in the area for many years. Other aspects of the town include a section of

Offa's Dyke Offa's Dyke () is a large linear Earthworks (Archaeology), earthwork that roughly follows the England–Wales border, border between England and Wales. The structure is named after Offa of Mercia, Offa, the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon king of Mer ...

and the Chirk Aqueduct, part of a larger

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

including Pontcysyllte aqueduct, on the

Llangollen Canal The Llangollen Canal () is a navigable canals of the United Kingdom, 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, S ...

, built in 1801 by

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well ...

. The Glyn Valley Tramway terminated on the canal near the mainline railway station. The parish church of St Mary's is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The church building was begun during the 11th century by the Normans, although it is believed that an older ''llan'', dedicated to St Tysilio, had pre-existed on the site. The existing church was dedicated to 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 is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

community from the 17th to the 20th century. The two largest collieries were Black Park (one of the oldest in the north of Wales) and Brynkinallt (). These coal mines have now closed. Chirk was a coaching stop on the old

mail coach A mail coach is a stagecoach that is used to deliver mail. In Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia, they were built to a General Post Office-approved design operated by an independent contractor to carry long-distance mail for the Post Office. ...

route along the A5 from London to

Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...

. The

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

to Ruabon railway had been extended south to

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

by 1848, with stations at Llangollen Road (Whitehurst Halt, near Pentre) and Chirk; the Castle owners insisted that the railway not be visible to them and that the station be well outside the town lest it should encourage the populace to travel. 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 The Shropshire Union Canal, sometimes nicknamed the "Shroppie", is a navigable canal in England. It is the modern name for a part of the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company network. In the leisure age, two of the branches of that netwo ...

runs through Chirk. The canal crosses the Ceiriog Valley (from England into Wales) along Thomas Telford's aqueduct. The aqueduct runs alongside the railway viaduct before the canal enters the Chirk Tunnel.

Modern day

Agriculture continues to be of some importance, as does tourism. The

's Chirk Castle has prominence, as does the World Heritage Site of the Llangollen Canal, and the local scenery of the Ceiriog Valley and

Berwyn Mountains The Berwyn range ( Welsh: ''Y Berwyn'' or ''Mynydd y Berwyn'') is an isolated and sparsely populated area of moorland in the northeast of Wales, roughly bounded by Llangollen in the northeast, Corwen in the northwest, Bala in the southwest, ...

. Manufacturing now plays a prominent position within the local industries, with major international firms such as Kronospan and Mondelez UK maintaining sites in the town. Religion no longer has a prominent position, but there are four churches: St Mary's (

Church in Wales The Church in Wales () is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held b ...

), Chirk Methodist Church, Sacred Heart (Roman Catholic) and the Community Church. Chirk is served by two local primary schools: Ysgol Y Waun and Pentre Church in Wales Controlled School. Ysgol Y Waun is the main primary school. It was formed in 2012, by the merger of Chirk Infants and Ceiriog Junior. Ysgol Y Waun is a nursery, infant and junior school of mixed gender and lessons are taught through the medium of English. The school has about 335 pupils, with an increasing number of pupils on free school meals: 19.7% in 2014, which is above the Local Authority average but below the Wales average. Pentre School is a nursery, infant and junior school of mixed gender. There are approximately 86 pupils on roll who are all taught through the medium of English. Welsh is taught as a compulsory part of the school curriculum as a second language. The school is in a relatively affluent area, with only 15.9% of the school population eligible for free school meals, which is substantially below the Local Authority and Wales averages. Most pupils in the community attend Ysgol Dinas Brân, Llangollen, for their secondary education. Ysgol Dinas Brân is a relatively large, bilingual secondary school catering for pupils from ages 11 – 19 (including Sixth Form). Other secondary schools in the area include Ysgol Rhiwabon, St Martin's School (Shropshire) and St Joseph's in Wrexham. The area is served by independent schools, such as Moreton Hall and Ellesmere College in neighbouring Shropshire. Although Chirk is a predominantly English-speaking area, some parents choose to educate their children through the medium of Welsh. The nearest Welsh-medium primary schools are in Glyn Ceiriog and Cefn Mawr. Pupils can then transfer to either Ysgol Dinas Brân, Llangollen or Ysgol Morgan Llwyd, Wrexham for Welsh-medium secondary education. 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 Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

, culture and heritage for future generations. In the 2011 census, a total of 3,652 residents (81.7%) have no skills in the

Sport

Chirk is home to Chirk AAA F.C., a football team founded in 1876, playing in the Cymru North (the second tier of Welsh football). Chirk AAA FC have a plaque in honour of Billy Meredith, born in the town, and with which Meredith started his career between 1890-92. Meredith returned briefly in 1894 before signing for Manchester City. A second plaque to Meredith is situated in Chirk's Millennium Gardens at the Station Avenue entrance to the park and cricket club. It was unveiled on 26 July 2002 by Meredith's daughter Winifrede. Chirk Golf Club was founded in 1991 and closed in September 2012.

Media

The town receives better television signals from the Wrekin TV transmitter which broadcasts BBC West Midlands and

ITV Central ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee in the English Midlands. It was created following ...

BBC Cymru Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

and

ITV Cymru Wales ITV Cymru Wales is the ITV franchise for Wales. The new separate licence began on 1 January 2014, replacing the long-serving dual franchise region ITV Wales & West serving Wales and the West of England, which had previously used the branding " ...

are also received from the local relay station at the Moel-y-Parc transmitter situated near Cefn Mawr. Radio stations that broadcast to the town are: *

BBC Radio Wales BBC Radio Wales is a Wales, Welsh national radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the Welsh opt-out service of BBC Radio 4. As of August 2022, the stat ...

on 91.1 FM * BBC Radio Cymru on 104.3 FM * Heart North and Mid Wales on 88.0 FM * Capital North West & Wales on 103.4 FM * Calon FM, a community based station which broadcast from

on 105 FM. The town is served by the local newspaper, ''The Border Counties Advertizer''.

Notable people

* Sir Edward Trevor (ca.1580–1642), founder of the fortunes of the Trevor dynasty * Sir Thomas Myddelton, 1st Baronet (1624–1663), MP for Flint Boroughs *

Sir Thomas Myddelton, 2nd Baronet Sir Thomas Myddelton, 2nd Baronet (ca. 1651 – 5 February 1684) was a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons between 1679 and 1681. Myddelton was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Myddelton, 1st Baronet and hi ...

(ca.1651–1684), MP for

* Sir Richard Myddelton, 3rd Baronet (1655–1716), of

, MP for

* Robert Roberts (1680–1741), cleric and writer. * Frederick West (1767–1852), MP for Denbigh Boroughs * Robert Myddelton Biddulph (1805–1872), MP for Denbigh Boroughs *

Joseph Fletcher Joseph Francis Fletcher (April 10, 1905 – October 28, 1991) was an American professor who founded the theory of situational ethics in the 1960s. A pioneer in the field of bioethics. Fletcher was a leading academic proponent of the potential b ...

(1813–1852), barrister and statistician * Edwin Hill-Trevor, 1st Baron Trevor (1819–1894), MP for

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

(estate at Brynkinalt) * R. S. Thomas (1913–2000), a Welsh poet and Anglican priest * Ian Hamilton (born 1946), a Canadian mystery writer, former journalist and civil servant * Peter Edwards, (born 1955), painter, he won the 1994 BP Portrait Award. Billy meredith city

Sport

* Di Jones (1867–1902), footballer with 342 club caps and 14 for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

* Hugh Morris (1872–1897), footballer with 59 club caps and 3 for

* Billy Meredith (1874–1958), footballer with 680 club caps and 48 for

* Lot Jones (1882–1941), footballer with over 300 club caps and 20 for

* Harry Millership (1889-1959), footballer with 124 club caps and 6 for

* Stan Davies (1898–1972), footballer with over 220 club caps and 18 for

* John Hulme (born 1950), cricketer, left-handed batsman * Paul Jones (born 1967), footballer with 583 club caps and 50 for

* Neil Thomas (born 1968), retired World Champion artistic gymnast * Mike Jones (born 1987), footballer with over 450 club caps

References

* G. G. Lerry, "Collieries of Denbighshire", 1968

External links

*
BBC Wales – Chirk website

The Glyn Valley Tramway Trust in Chirk

St Mary's Church, Chirk

Wrexham & Shropshire Railway

Video and narration on the Glyn Valley Tramway

Chirk Railway Station. YouTube video with narration.
{{Use British English, date=December 2024 Towns in Wrexham County Borough Communities in Wrexham County Borough Towns of the Welsh Marches

Etymology

History and heritage

Modern day

Sport

Media

Notable people

Sport

See also

References

External links