Built 1310…..Still Standing and Still A Family Home

The Rose Garden, Chirk Castle

An English Castle on Welsh land…Chirk Castle was built on land once owned by the  Prince of Wales and built on the command of Edward 1st and completed in 1310. It was one of a string of ‘Border’ castles and fortresses intended by the English King to bring the Welsh to heel!  Chirk Castle stands dominant on a hill beyond the village of the same name, whilst it was intended in part to have some military significance it was the vast estate that surrounded the castle that was of greater importance and remained so for many centuries.  The Castle and Estate which is still huge is now a National Trust Property but importantly is still lived in by the Myddelton Family who have occupied the Castle for over 400 years…for me it is this maintenance of a family link that makes the Castles history and todays visitors experience  important and much more satisfying.

It is the Castle Gardens that add a great deal to any visit.  In particular the Hawk House has its own character set in Mediterranean styled borders…..

But join us on a quick tour….

There were also some more unusual but nice touches…….

The Castle has the ‘luxury’ of its own Post Box and from which the post is still collected daily……

And you will no doubt have heard the nursery rhyme “ Ten Green Bottles standing on the Wall”…well one must have accidently fallen as only Nine remain….

One of the ancient trees in the garden was lost due to heavy snows. It was a Cedar Tree and the trunk has been crafted in to a special bench featuring ‘Poppies’ as a bench of remembrance for the centenary of the start of the 1st World War……

And last but not least…This sign may well be word in an individual style and certainly has a humorous slant……but it still means NO DOGS in the Garden….

23rd July

© David Oakes 2014