Chirk Castle

Marcher lord Roger Mortimer built Chirk after receiving Chirkland from Edward I, intending a powerful frontier fortress. Several medieval holders were executed and their lands seized; in 1595 merchant Sir Thomas Myddelton bought the neglected castle for his family.

Chirk suffered attacks from both sides during the civil wars of the 1640s and was damaged again during General Lambert's action in 1659. The Myddeltons restored it as a home, while Joseph Turner, the Pugins and Arthur Blomfield later altered rooms and ranges.

Great round towers, curtain walls, gate defences and a rock-cut dungeon preserve the medieval fortress, though the planned southern side may never have been completed. A 1678 long gallery, later grand rooms, collections, gardens and William Emes's park show centuries of domestic change.

Chirk began as a physical statement of English rule beside the Welsh border and later became the centre of Myddelton land, mining, politics and patronage. Its fabric makes the change from conquest castle to wealthy country house unusually clear in one continuously occupied place.