Chirk Castle White Gates - Chirk, Wrexham, Wales, UK
Posted by: Ddraig Ddu
N 52° 55.903 W 003° 04.266
30U E 495220 N 5864676
The magnificent iron gates are dated 1719 and bear the coat-of-arms of the Myddelton family of Chirk Castle. They were made by Robert and John Davies, Brothers of Croesfoel Forge, near Bersham, Wrexham and were erected between 1719 and 1721.
Waymark Code: WMB6G5
Location: North Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/11/2011
Views: 76
The magnificent iron gates are dated 1719 and bear the coat-of-arms of the Myddelton family of Chirk Castle. They were made by Robert and John Davies, Brothers of Croesfoel Forge, near Bersham, Wrexham and were erected between 1719 and 1721.
Sir Richard Myddelton commissioned the Davies Brothers to make the gates in January 1711 - 12 and they were paid 2 shillings a day to begin with, iron being made available from Sir Richard's nearby Pont-y-Blew Forge.
The original gates were intended to be located at the end of the drive from Chirk Castle gateway. It appears however, from a painting by Peter Tillemans of 1720, and engravings by Badeslade 1735 and Buck 1745 that the gates were positioned between flanking walls and screens to form a forecourt to the entrance to the Castle.
William Emes, the landscape architect (who had designed gardens at the Old Rectory, Hawarden and improved the garden at Erddig, nr. Wrexham) produced a landscape design for the parkland and in 1771 the New Hall Lodge was built and the gates were moved alongside.
In 1888 the gates were moved for a third time to their present position at Llwyn y Cil and the palisades on either side were restored to their former state by local blacksmiths as parts of if needed maintenance and restoration. They are still bright white and a stunning thing to look at.
With thanks to the National trust website fro the history of the gates:- (
visit link)