A National Trust Property, forbidding Chirk Castle lies just south of Wrexham on the A483 to Oswestry. It is still inhabited by descendants of the Middleton family who have been living in the gloomy, impregnable pile for four centuries. The castle may have been begun around 1290 by the architect responsible for so many masterpieces of castle-building in Wales, the Savoyan James of St. George. The castle and its grounds, offering a glimpse of aristocratic life through three or more centuries, are open to visitors.

Situated in magnificent parkland, Chirk Castle is entered through the famous gates constructed by the Davies Brothers. They are perhaps the finest example of wrought-iron work in Britain. Their painstaking detail makes us wonder why they were not given an honored place as one of the so-called Seven Wonders of Wales. The only comparable iron work is found in two other sets of Davies Brothers' gates: at Sandringham, one of the English monarch's residences; and at Leeswood Hall, near Mold in Flintshire. Near Wrexham,too, is the village of Acton, where Judge Jeffreys, the infamous hanging judge of the Bloody Assizes of 1685 was born in 1645.

Bersham can be reached from Wrexham's town center on the B5097 via Rhostyllen (Hroce tuthlen). Erddig is located just off the A483 to Chirk, where the Castle can be reached from the A483 to Oswestry.

Next Stop: Hawarden & Ewloe Castle

Six Regions of Wales - Northeast   Chester   Flint   Rhuddlan   Rhyl   Prestatyn   Abergele   Denbigh   Ruthin   Mold   St. Asaph   Corwen   Mostyn   Winifred's Well   Caerwys   Llangollen   Wrexham   Chirk Castle   Hawarden and Ewloe The Northwest Mid-Wales The Southwest Cardiff & the Valleys The Southeast