CHIRK, a parish, in the hundred of CHIRK, county of DENBIGH, NORTH WALES, 5 miles (N.) from OSWeS- try, on the road from
London to Holyhead and Dublin, containing 1598 inhabitants. This parish is bounded on the north by the river Dee, and on
the south by the Ceiriog, which unite on its eastern side. It lies at the foot of the Berwyn range of mountains, which
skirt it on the west, and its surface is somewhat uneven, rising from the village to an eminence on which the castle is
situated, on the western side, with the Berwyns beyond, and on the eastern to another elevation, from the brow of which
there is a delightful prospect of the plain of Salop, on the one side, and on the other a nearer view of part of the Vale
of Llangollen, including the celebrated Pont y Cyssyltau aqueduct, which conveys the Ellesmere canal over the valley of
the Dee, with the meanderings of that river between its wood-fringed banks towards the grounds of Wynnstay: this hill
also embraces a complete view of Chirk castle, towering on its elevated site, and the princely grounds that surround it,
which, adorned with noble plantations, and interspersed with clumps of trees tastefully arranged along the side of the
mountain, combine to present, with the picturesque village of the Cevn and the woody scenery of Newbridge and Nant y Bele,
on the right, and the beautiful grounds of Brirnkinalt and the village of Chirk on the left, and various intermediate
objects of picturesque beauty, a home view highly diversified, cheerful, and rich. The village is pleasantly situated on
the northern bank of the river Ceiriog, which, flowing through a small vale of great beauty, here separates the counties
of Denbigh and Salop, and consequently Wales and England: it is exceedingly clean and neat, and contains some highly
respectable houses and several substantial and well-built cottages, having been greatly improved within the last few years
by Mrs. Myddelton Biddulph, who, on coming into possession of the Chirk castle estate, pulled down several dilapidated
buildings, and erected others of modest and uniform appearance for her tenants, on more eligible sites. The Holyhead road,
on both sides of the village, has been widened and altered within the last few years, so as to avoid the inequalities and
windings in its course. Chirk hill, which was previously very abrupt, has been partially levelled, and the road conducted
more circuitously across the vale by means of an embankment. On the north side of the village also its course has been
diverted, and embankments raised and excavations made along its line; but these improvements, though greatly conducive to
the convenience of passengers, have probably lessened the picturesque character of the route. There is a valuable mine of
coal in the parish, which is worked on an extensive scale at Black Park, by Mr. T. E. Ward, who holds it on lease from the
owner of the Chirk castle estate, and employs here about three hundred workmen: the pits are two hundred and fourteen
yards deep, and the annual sale exceeds fifty thousand tons: a rail-road has been formed from them to the Ellesmere
canal, where there is a wharf for loading barges. At the Vron, in this parish, and on the banks of the canal, are
extensive lime-works, belonging to this estate, affording employment to about one hundred per sons. Pont y Blew forge, in
the township of Halton, and on the river Ceiriog, was erected in 1710, for making charcoal iron, and was enlarged in 1795,
when the manufacture of puddled iron was introduced: about twenty tons are now made weekly, and about twenty persons
employed. The Ellesmere canal enters this parish from Shropshire, and is conveyed across the vale of Chirk and the river
Ceirioglby means of an aqueduct two hundred and thirty-two yards long, consisting of ten arches, the piers of which are
sixty-five feet high, and then immediately enters a tunnel, two hundred and twenty yards long. On emerging from this, it
proceeds in its course through the parish, and then enters another tunnel, soon after which it is carried over the vale of
the Dee by the stupendous aqueduct of Pont y Cyssyltau. Fairs are held at the village on February 10th, June 10th, August
12th, and November 12th, for the sale of live stock and pedlery; and a court leet for the manor takes place annually.
About one mile and a half to the west of the village is Chirk Castle, proudly situated on an eminence backed by the Berwyn
mountains: it is a venerable quadrangular embattled structure, defended by a low massive tower at each corner, and
another in the centre of the north front, where is the principal entrance, under an arched gateway guarded by a
portcullis, into a square area of considerable dimensions, round which the various apartments are ranged: on the east
side of this area extends a low embattled corridor, leading into the principal apartments, which have been greatly
altered, modernized, and embellished by Mrs. Biddulph, within the last few years, but the old entrance to the hall is by a
flight of steps on the north side of the area: the picture gallery, at the south end of which is the chapel, us one
hundred feet in length, by twenty-two in width, and contains several good portraits and other paintings. The park is
extensive, and is disposed with picturesque effect, the inequalities of its surface, and the declivity of the hill
extending behind it and toward the north, having afforded a favourable scope for the arrangement of the trees and
plantations; and a new road leading to the castle, in a winding direction through it, so as to embrace a view of much
interesting scenery in the valley of the Ceiriog, and avoid a steep hill, has been formed of late, in lieu of that which
formerly led from the village. 'Near New Hall, which is described as an old seat of the Myddeltons, rebuilt many years ago
as a farm-house, and surrounded by a moat, at the entrance into the park from Llangollen and Wrexham, stands a pair of
iron gates of the richest and most delicate and exquisite workmanship, designed and executed by a common blacksmith, which
anciently stood immediately in front of the castle. The summit of the castle embraces a very wide prospect of great beauty
and magnificence, offering to the naked eye, on a clear day, as it is said, an uninterrupted view into seventeen different
counties. The river Ceiriog runs on the west and south sides of the castle, through a deep and picturesque valley,
remarkable in history as the scene of a sanguinary conflict, in 1165, between part of the forces of Henry IL and the
Welsh, under their brave prince, Owain Gwynedd. Henry, with a view to the conquest of Wales, collected an army at
Oswestry, whilst the Welsh prince mustered his forces at Corwen, and, being eager to decide the struggle, the English
monarch hastened to meet the enemy, but was interrupted in this valley by almost impenetrable woods, which he commanded
his men to cut down, in order to secure himself from ambuscade, posting the pikemen and flower of his army to protect
those at work. Whilst thus engaged, the Welsh fell upon the English with the most indignant fury, and a violent and bloody
battle ensued, which ended in the former retiring again to Corwen, and so reduced the strength of Henry, that, harassed by
the activity of Owain, who cut off his supplies, he was compelled to fall back into the English territory, and relinquish
his design. This decisive encounter, in which numbers of brave men were slain on both sides, is called the battle of
Crogen, and the place where it was fought Adwy 'r Beddau, " the pass of the graves." The exact period of the erection of
Chirk Castle is uncertain. John Myddelton, Esq., in a communication to the Society of Antiquaries, in 1729, says,—" That
it was begun 1011, and finished 1013: the repair of one of the wings, in Cromwell's time, cost £28,000. The front is two
hundred and fifty feet long, the court one hundred and sixty-five by one hundred, and five round towers fifty feet in
diameter. Adam's tower, eighty feet high, the wall near the dungeon nine feet deep, and the dungeon as deep as the walls
of the castle are high." But, though the description applies to the present structure, the period is more probably that of
the erection of a prior edifice, called Castell Crogen; since both Bishop Gibson, in his additions to Camden, and Mr.
Pennant, ascribe it to Roger Mortimer, in the reign of Edward I. Mortimer, on the death of Grufydd ab Madoc, lord of Dinas
Bran, on which lordship the territory around Castell Crogen, called Trav y Waftn, was dependent; was appointed by Edward
I. guardian of Llewelyn, one of Grufydd's sons, the other, named Madoc, having been entrusted to John Earl Warren; these
noblemen are stated, after having given orders for putting the youths to death, to have seized upon their possessions,
Mortimer taking the lordships of Chirk and Nanheudwy, and Earl Warren those of Bromfield and Yale. John, the grandson of
Roger, sold the lordship of Chirk to Richard Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel, whose descendants possessed it for three
generations, when it was conveyed by marriage to Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, on whose disgrace and exile, in 1397, it
was forfeited to the crown, and soon after granted to William Beauchamp, lord of Abergavenny, who had married the other
heiress of the Fitz-Alans; his granddaughter, sole heiress of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Worcester, having been married
to Edward Neville, afterwards Lord Abergavenny, in the reign of Henry VI., it became the property of that family. It came
afterwards to the Stanleys, and at length to the crown, and was conferred by Queen Elizabeth on her favourite, Dudley,
Earl of Leicester, at whose death it passed to Lord St. John of Bletso, and was sold by his son, in 1595, to Sir Thomas
Myddelton, Knt., who served the office of lord mayor of London, in 1614, and to whose descendants it has ever since
belonged, having, on the decease of the late Richard Myddelton, Esq., who died unmarried in 1796, been divided among his
three sisters and coheiresses, of whom the present Mrs. Myddelton Biddulph, after a protracted snit in Chancery, succeeded
to that portion on which the castle and village are situated, which are now in the possession of her son, Robert M.
Biddulph, Esq. During the civil war of the seventeenth century, Sir Thomas Myddelton, son of the purchaser of the estate,
having espoused the cause of the parliament, orders were issued by Charles I. to Col. Robert Ellyce, to take possession of
the castle, and apply the money and plate found in it to the payment of his regiment, and then deliver it up to Sir Thomas
Hanmer, who was appointed governor. Its owner for some time exerted himself with great zeal for the parliament, but being
disgusted at the events of the war, he revolted, and, in 1659, joined Sir George Booth, in attempting to restore the
ancient constitution. Sir George, however, having been defeated by Gen. Lambert, Sir Thomas was obliged to seek refuge in
his castle, which was besieged by Lambert, to whom, after a defence of two or three days, in which the western side and
three of its towers were demolished, it was surrendered, the conqueror having, as it is said, plundered the estate to the
amount of £80,000: the injury sustained by the castle in this siege was soon after repaired by Sir Thomas Myddelton, in
the course of one year. The lordship of Chirk, otherwise " Chirkland," includes the parishes of Chirk, Llangollen, and
Llansantfraed-Glynn-Ceriog. On the eastern side of the parish is the mansion of BrYnkinalt, the property and residence of
Arthur Viscount Dungannon, to whom it has descended, in the female line, from the Trevors, whose great ancestor, Ednyved
Gam, was a descendant of Tudor Trevor. It was built in 1619, from a design by Inigo Jones, but has been enlarged and
embellished, in the later style of English architecture, by the present noble owner. It occupies a low retired situation
on the western bank of the Ceiriog, and the grounds, though not very extensive, are well adorned with full-grown trees and
thriving plantations, enriched with the meanderings of the river, and disposed with great taste and beauty, so as to form
a charming sequestered retreat. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of St. Asaph, rated
in the king's books at £6. 11. 5-1., endowed with £200 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Bishop of St. Asaph. The
church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a handsome edifice, with a square tower containing a ring of bells: it has recently
been renovated and embellished, in the later style of English architecture, by subscription among the parishioners, and
has received an addition of one hundred and seventy-three sittings, of which one hundred and thirty-three are free, the
Incorporated Society for building and enlarging churches and chapels having granted 4100 for that purpose: it contains
divers marble effigies of the Myddeltons of Chirk castle, mostly ill executed, with the exception of a bust of Sir Thomas
Myddelton, the active parliamentary commander, represented with a peaked beard, long hair, and armed, near which is
another of his lady, of the family of Napier of Luton. Here was interred Dr. Walter Balcanqual, a Scottish divine of some
note, who represented his country at the famous synod of Dort, in 1618, and was successively raised to the deaneries of
Rochester and Durham. Having, in consequence of his loyalty, rendered himself obnoxious to his countrymen, he was, in
1645, obliged to seek an asylum at Chirk castle, where he died on Christmas-day ensuing, and a small mural tablet was
erected to his memory by Sir Thomas Myddelton, at whose request an elegant epitaph was composed for him by Dr. Pearson,
then Bishop of Chester. A school for instructing poor children on the National plan was founded in the village by Mrs.
Myddelton Biddulph, in 1824; the master, in addition to small weekly payments from the scholars, receives the interest of
420 left by Mrs. Mary Bennett, of £20 by an unknown benefactor, and of £5 by Major Chas. Myddelton. In 1698, Mrs.
Catherine Trevor bequeathed an estate in the parish of Llantysillio, and another in the parish of Llanrhaiadr, to the
churchwardens and overseers of " Cherque," the rental of which, amounting to £84 per annum, is annually on St.Thomas' day
distributed among the poor, according to the will of the testatrix. Offa's Dyke, after crossing the river Ceriog, enters
this parish and passes through Chirk Castle park, where it is plainly visible, and soon afterwards crosses the Dee. In a
garden immediately on the right of the entrance into the village from Oswestry, on the verge of the vale, is an artificial
mound of earth, opposite to which, on the other side of the road, there was another, which Mr. Pennant supposes to have
been constructed by the Saxons, at the period of the formation of Offa's Dyke, as exploratory camps, and also to command
the pass through the valley. Black Park is said to have been anciently an enclosed park, noted for its deer, but it has
for ages been disparked, and there are now no vestiges of its appropriation to this purpose, except in the name. This is
one of eleven parishes incorporated by act of parliament, passed in 1791, for the joint maintenance of their poor in the
House of Industry at Oswestry: the average annual expenditure for the support of the poor amounts to £260. 16.