Chirk Aqueduct is a high and long

navigable aqueduct Navigable aqueducts (sometimes called water bridges) are bridge structures that carry navigable waterway canals over other rivers, valleys, railways or roads. They are primarily distinguished by their size, carrying a larger cross-section of wa ...

that carries what is now the

Llangollen Canal The Llangollen Canal ( cy, Camlas Llangollen) 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, Shropshi ...

across the

Ceiriog Valley The Ceiriog Valley ( cy, Dyffryn Ceiriog) is the valley of the River Ceiriog in north-east Wales. Its Welsh name, "Dyffryn Ceiriog", is the name of an electoral ward of Wrexham County Borough. The ward is the largest ward of the county borough ...

near

Chirk Chirk ( cy, Y Waun) is a town and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, south of Wrexham, between it and Oswestry. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 4,468. Historically in the traditional county of Denbighshire, and later Clwy ...

, on the

England-Wales border England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Engl ...

, spanning the two countries.

History

The aqueduct was designed by civil engineer

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (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 Scotla ...

for the

Ellesmere Canal The Ellesmere Canal was a waterway in England and Wales that was planned to carry boat traffic between the rivers Mersey and Severn. The proposal would create a link between the Port of Liverpool and the mineral industries in north east Wales an ...

. The resident engineer was M. Davidson who also acted as resident engineer on a number of Telford's other works. The foundation stone was laid on 17 June 1796 and it was completed in 1801. It has a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

trough within which the water is contained. The masonry walls hide the cast iron interior. The aqueduct followed Telford's innovative

Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct The Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct, near Longdon-on-Tern in Shropshire, was one of the first two canal aqueducts to be built from cast iron. History The cast iron canal aqueduct was re-engineered by Thomas Telford after the first construction desig ...

on the

Shrewsbury Canal The Shrewsbury Canal (or Shrewsbury and Newport Canal) was a canal in Shropshire, England. Authorised in 1793, the main line from Trench to Shrewsbury was fully open by 1797, but it remained isolated from the rest of the canal network until 183 ...

, and was a forerunner of the

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (; cy, Traphont Ddŵr Pontcysyllte) is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee in the Vale of Llangollen in northeast Wales. The 18-arched stone and cast iron structure is for use ...

, also on the Llangollen Canal. The aqueduct was briefly the tallest navigable one ever built, and it now is Grade II*

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

in both England and Wales. It forms part of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

Description

The aqueduct consists of ten arches, each with a span of . The water level is above the ground and above the River Ceiriog. The stone work is yellow sandstone.

William Hazledine William Hazledine (1763 – 26 October 1840) was an English ironmaster. Establishing large foundries, he was a pioneer in casting structural ironwork, most notably for canal aqueducts and early suspension bridges. Many of these projects were c ...

provided the ironwork for the aqueduct. Originally built with iron plates only at the base of the trough, iron side plates were added to the aqueduct in 1870 to alleviate leakage. The

Chirk Tunnel Chirk Tunnel is a canal tunnel near Chirk, Wales. It lies on the Llangollen Canal, immediately northwards of the Chirk Aqueduct. It is long and has a complete towpath inside. The tunnel is designed for a single standard narrowboat, so passin ...

starts at the north end of the Chirk Aqueduct, allowing the canal to continue on towards Llangollen.

Chirk Railway Viaduct , image = Chirk Viaduct.jpg , size = , caption = Chirk Viaduct from Chirk Aqueduct , coordinates = , mapwidth = , location = Chirk, Wrexham, Wales and Chirk Bank, Shropshire, England , nearest_city = Wrexham , current_use = Railway via ...

was built later alongside the aqueduct. It is slightly higher than the aqueduct.

References

External links

Chirk Aqueduct at chirk.com360 Degree Panoramic View at BBC Shropshire
(Java Applet Required) {{Wrexham Bridges in Wrexham County Borough Buildings and structures in Shropshire Navigable aqueducts in Wales Bridges by Thomas Telford Bridges completed in 1801 Llangollen Canal Ellesmere Canal Grade II* listed buildings in Shropshire Grade II* listed buildings in Wrexham County Borough Grade II* listed bridges in Wales Cast iron aqueducts Chirk

History

Description

See also

References

External links