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'Chirk' () is a town in north-east Wales between Wrexham and Oswestry.
Chirk has been part of the County Borough of Wrexham since local government reorganisation in 1996. Prior to which it was administered as part of the county Clwyd and is part of the traditional county of Denbighshire.
The border with Shropshire, England is only a mile east of the town.

Contents

History and heritage

Modern day

Sources

External links

History and heritage

Chirk Castle, a National Trust property, is a medieval castle. Two families are associated with the town and its castle, the Trevor family of Brynkinallt and the Myddletons.
Attractions in the town include Chirk Castle, a section of Offa's Dyke and the Chirk Aqueduct on the Llangollen Canal, built in 1801 by Thomas Telford. The Glyn Valley Tramway operated from here.
Chirk was formerly a mining area with coal being worked there since the 17th century. The largest of these collieries were Black Park (one of the oldest in the north of Wales) and Brynkinallt (). All mining ceased in the area during the 1960s.
Chirk was a coaching stop on the old mail route along the A5 from London to Holyhead.
The Chester to Ruabon railway had been extended south to Shrewsbury by 1848 with stations at Llangollen Road (at Whitehurst) and Chirk. South of the town a viaduct was constructed by Thomas Telford to take the line over the Ceiriog Valley.

Modern day

The Ceiriog Memorial Institute, in the Ceiriog valley, just west of Chirk, is home to a unique collection of Welsh cultural memorabilia and was founded in the early 1900s to support the Welsh language and culture for future generations.
Today Chirk's industry is mainly timber production (Kronospan), chocolate manufacture (Cadburys).
A notable resident is the famous Mike Jones, 1989 to present.
A former notable resident was Billy Meredith who played for Manchester United from 1906 to 1921.

Sources

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

External links

★ Chirk Town Council website

★ BBC Wales - Chirk website

★ St Mary's Church, Chirk

★ Wrexham & Shropshire Railway