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
were greatly altered, modernised, and embellished by the late 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, is 100 feet in length by 22 in
width, and contains some good portraits and other paintings.
Chirk castle is supposed to have been built in the year 1013, and was an
extremely strong fortification. The front is about 250 feet; and two
persons abreast may parade the battlements with ease. It was besieged by
the parliamentary forces, and considerably battered by the cannon of
Cromwell. The repairs cost £80,000.
The park is extensive, and disposed with picturesque effect, the
inequalities of its surface, and the declivity of the hill extending
behind it and towards the north, having afforded a favourable scope for
the arrangement of the trees and plantations. 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, most
delicate, and exquisite workmanship, designed and executed by a common
blacksmith.
The summit of the castle commands a wide expanse of great beauty and
magnificence, offering to the naked eye an uninterrupted view into
seventeen different counties. The river Ceiriog runs on the west side of
the castle, through a deep and picturesque valley, remarkable in history
as the scene of a sanguinary conflict in 1165, between the forces under
Henry the Second and those of the Welsh under their brave Prince Owen
Gwynedd, when the latter obtained a decisive victory, and compelled the
Saxon monarch to seek safety in a retreat to his own territories.
In this neighbourhood are many ancient fortifications, the most
noticeable of which is part of Offa’s dyke, thrown up as the boundary
between the ancient Britons and the Saxons in 763.
This fine estate has been in possession of the Myddelton family since the
beginning of the seventeenth century; the present possessor is Colonel
Robert Myddelton Biddulph, Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire, paternally
descended from the Biddulphs of Ledbury, in Herefordshire.