Although this city is not strictly within the cognizance of our
publication, yet its close proximity to North Wales, and the advantages
which it offers as a starting point from which a tour of the Principality
may be commenced, warrant us in devoting to it a passing notice. Chester
abounds with objects of interest to the traveller; and its many antique
relics of bygone ages never fail to excite the admiration of those who
take pleasure in the quaint architecture, or historical memorials of
former times.
Its old walls, its antique rows, its curiously carved and gable-ended
houses, its venerable cathedral, its solemn towers, its abbey gates, the
ruined Priory, and the time-worn church of St. John, may be enumerated
among the more prominent vestiges of its antiquities. While its noble
castle, its unrivalled Grosvenor Bridge, and the elegant lodge at the
entrance of Eaton Park, are among the modern attractions which the
tourist will examine with interest and delight; but to the description of
which we shall not in this place devote a fuller notice, as they are more
particularly alluded to elsewhere.
CHIRK,
(_Denbighshire_.)
Llangollen 7
London 176
Oswestry 5
Ruabon 6
Chirk 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 of course Wales and England. It is a
very neat and clean village, and contains some highly respectable houses,
and several substantial and well-built cottages, having been greatly
improved within the last few years by the late Mrs. Myddelton Biddulph,
who, on coming into possession of the Chirk Castle estates, 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 the village, has been widened and altered within the last
few years, so as to avoid the irregularities and windings in its course.
There are some coal mines in this parish, extensive lime works, and
several large iron forges, which employ a great number of hands. The
village has a good church, and in the yard are several remarkably old yew
trees.
Chirk Aqueduct.
The Ellesmere canal enters this parish from Shropshire, and is conveyed
across the vale of Chirk and the river Ceiriog by means of an aqueduct,
two hundred and thirty 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 subterranean
passage, it proceeds on 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-Cyssylltau. About one mile and a
half to the west of the village is