THE seat of Mrs. Myddleton Biddulph, stands in a spacious and noble
demesne, spreading over the sides and summit of a finely situated and
isolated hill. It is an ancient building, uniting the castle with the
mansion, in which strength and solidity have been consulted to the
neglect or prejudice of grace and beauty. Its form is quadrangular,
strengthened by a massive flanking tower at each corner, and a fifth
projects from the principal front, through which a lofty archway passes,
giving admission to a court within. The dimensions of the court yard are
one hundred and sixty-five feet in length by one hundred in breadth,
surrounded on all sides by various apartments, the windows of which, for
the most part, open towards the enclosed area. A handsome arcade, which
formerly occupied the basement on the east side, has been closed up and
converted into habitable rooms. The dungeon said to be as deep towards
Tartarus as the castle walls were reared towards Heaven, is still entire,
still furnished with its dread machinery, and its floor is reached by a
descent of two-and-forty steps. The great entrance of the castle was
originally protected by handsome and lofty iron palisades, having statues
of Hercules and Mars on either side; but the former have been removed,
and set up at the western entrance to the park, and the statues are
probably committed to the dungeon.
The principal apartments are both comfortable and elegant. The picture
gallery, one hundred feet in length by twenty-two in breadth, is adorned
with portraits of illustrious persons, and of different members of the
Myddleton family; amongst them are those of the great Duke of Ormond and
of his son the Earl of Ossory. This was the virtuous stoic who censured
the corrupt age and court in which he moved by exclaiming on the early
decease of his favourite son, “I would not exchange my dead son for any
living one in Europe.” Besides portraits of Sir Thomas Myddleton, and
his daughter the Countess of Warwick, there are some rare landscapes in
the state rooms, painted by Wilson, and coloured on the spot from nature.
They are chiefly views in Chirk-Castle Park, and are very reflections of
the grayish tone of colouring so peculiar to Wales. Here is also a view
of Pystil Rhaidar, in which the cataract appears falling into the _sea_,
while a few _ships_ are seen sailing past it. The cause of this singular
misrepresentation is explained in this way: a foreign artist, not very
familiar with the English language, was engaged to execute a painting of
this noble waterfall; but, when his work was completed, one of the first
persons to whom he exhibited it observed, that a few _sheep_ at the foot
of the fall would give animation to the whole. Willing to accept the
advice, but mistaking the adviser, the artist immediately introduced a
few _ships_ (sheeps) with the natural and necessary accompaniment of the
_sea_.
Castel Crogen, the original name of Chirk, was an ancient British
fortress, and fell into the hands of Roger Mortimer, Justice of North
Wales, in the following manner. John Earl of Warren and Roger Mortimer
Earl of Wigmore, being appointed guardians over the sons of Gryffydd ap
Madoc, a partisan of Henry the Third and Edward the First, put their
wards to death and seized upon their estates, Mortimer taking Nanheuddwy
and Chirk, the portion of the younger child, and Warren possessing
himself of Bromfield, Yale, and Dinas Bran. A property held by so base a
title required to be protected by powerful measures, and Mortimer thought
it expedient to erect a strong castle at Chirk, on the site of the
British fortress. The building was commenced in the year 1011, and
completed in 1013. The crimes of Mortimer were punished by an
ignominious death in the Tower of London, but Chirkland continuing in his
family, was sold by his grandson, John, to Richard Fitz-Alan, Earl of
Arundel, whose son was appointed governor of the castle with a
continuation of the grant, whereby Chirkland was again annexed to
Bromfield and Yale. Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, having espoused a
sister of Lord Arundel, the estate passed over to him, but was
transferred to the Earl of Abergavenny, who had married another of the
sisters of Lord Arundel, upon the Duke of Norfolk’s disgrace and
banishment in 1397. By the marriage of Edward Nevil with the
granddaughter of the last proprietor it passed into his family, in the
reign of Henry the Sixth. Sir William Stanley appears to have been the
next proprietor, upon whose untimely death it escheated to the crown.
Elizabeth bestowed it upon the Earl of Leicester, at whose death it
passed into the possession of Lord Bletso, from whose son it was
purchased by Sir Thomas Myddleton, Knt. in 1595, and is now possessed by
his descendant, Mrs. Myddleton Biddulph.
Previous to the year 1506 the castle was regularly garrisoned: during the
usurpation it was besieged, and three of the towers battered down by
Cromwell’s artillery. Sir Thomas Myddleton, the owner, defended himself
gallantly, and was reimbursed by Charles the Second for his losses,
amounting to thirty thousand pounds, accompanied by an offer of elevation
to a peerage, which honour he very modestly declined.
The view from the high grounds of the park is amazingly extensive,
commanding a prospect over seventeen different counties. A part of the
grounds, distinguished by the name of the “Black Park,” derives its
epithet from the death of a keeper, who, coming to the assistance of a
young woman who was attacked by a stag, was himself gored to death by the
ferocious animal. The village of Chirk lies at the foot of the hill on
which the castle stands. It consists of a few cottages built from
agreeable rustic designs, and presents a neat and cheerful appearance.
The church is handsome, spacious, and adorned with a noble tower. The
interior is ornamented with monuments of the Chirk-Castle family; the
best and most interesting of which is erected to the memory of the famous
Sir Thomas Myddleton.
The little river Ceiriog, which separates England from Wales, flows
through the valley of Chirk, and is crossed by a handsome aqueduct
conveying the waters of the Ellesmere canal. This extremity of the
aqueduct is met by a tunnel passing under the hill, and carrying the line
of navigation towards the aqueduct at Llangollen. A singular mound may
be observed on the brow of the hill hanging over the Ceiriog, and at a
little distance from the church, it is obviously artificial, and is
doubtless a sepulchral barrow, such as are frequently found in other
parts of the principality.