IChurch · listed 1966St Mary's ChurchOn the list as Church of St MaryPhoto: Llywelyn2000 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Church of St Mary · Photo: Llywelyn2000 · CC BY-SA 3.0BHistory Grade
History of Chirk · Cadw
Chirk is home to a World Heritage Site: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal
Cadw lists 29 buildings inside Chirk’s built-up area, 74 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 1 scheduled monument. We have photos of 6 of its listed buildings and 5 old views of the town. 12% of its homes were built before 1919. Chirk grades B for history: #17 of 39 in Clwyd.
Listed buildings
29
74 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
1
exceptional interest
Grade II*
1
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
1
1 registered park or garden
Homes built before 1919
12%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Chirk in 11 photos and old views
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed, and the town before 1950. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
War MemorialGrade II* listed
Chirk Town Council OfficesGrade II listed
Hand HotelGrade II listed
1 Castle RoadGrade II listed
Bryn EglwysGrade II listed+6See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons and Geograph, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the building’s page or its official list entry.
Through time
Chirk from 1733 to 1813
5 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
c. 1733
c. 1735
c. 1770
c. 1776
c. 1813Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.
The map
Where Chirk’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park.
Grade IGrade II*Scheduled monumentPark or garden
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
29 listed buildings by grade
1 Grade I1 Grade II*27 Grade II
Cadw lists buildings of special architectural or historic interest in three grades: Grade I for buildings of exceptional interest, Grade II* for particularly important buildings of more than special interest, and Grade II for buildings of special interest. Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.
Every entry on Cadw’s register of listed buildings whose point lies inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary. One list entry can cover a terrace or a group of buildings.
Grade I
The Grade I listed building in Chirk
Buildings of exceptional interest, about 1.6% of all listed buildings. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
Grade II*
The Grade II* listed building in Chirk
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Every one is photographed.
II*Memorials · listed 1998Chirk War MemorialOn the list as War MemorialPhoto: Richard Green · CC BY-SA 2.0
What’s protected
The largest group of Chirk’s listed buildings is homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas13
Public & civic buildings6
Churches, chapels & priories5
Street furniture2
Inns, shops & warehouses1
Walls, gates & bridges1
Memorials, crosses & tombs1
13 entries (45%) are houses, terraces and villas. 5 are churches, chapels and priories, including 1 of the 1 Grade I buildings.
Buildings are sorted by Cadw’s broad class for each building, else by words in its name; an entry named only by its address counts as a house.
Grade II
27 Grade II listed buildings
Most listed buildings are in this grade, which covers buildings of special interest. Open any building to read its official list entry.
All 27 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Bryn CoedBryn EglwysChirk Furniture and Carpet Centre and DwellingChirk Lodge, Brynkinallt ParkChirk SurgeryChirk Town Council OfficesGates, Piers and Railings to the W Gate of Brynkinallt ParkHand HotelLychgate outside Church of St MaryMilestoneNorth Gate Piers to Chirk Town Council OfficesSouth Gate Piers to Chirk Town Council OfficesSt Michael's Nursing HomeSundial in churchyard of the Church of St MaryThe Mount, with front garden railings and gateTrevor HouseTrevor Mausoleum in churchyard of the Church of St MaryWard Monument in churchyard of the Church of St MaryWhitewalls1 Castle Road1 Hand Terrace2 Hand Terrace3 Hand Terrace4 Hand Terrace5 Hand Terrace6 Hand Terrace7 Hand Terrace
Conservation areas
1 conservation area covers 13% of Chirk
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Chirk 197519 ha
19 hain conservation areas, of 151 ha inside the built-up area.
28 of the 29 listed buildings stand in one.
Cadw’s conservation areas via DataMapWales. Hectares are the part of each area inside the built-up area.
How the list grew
More than half of Chirk’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1998
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1998 · 24
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 3 entries were listed in 1966, 1 of the 1 Grade I buildings among them. 24 came in 1998. Only 0 have been added in the last 15 years.
Monuments & landscapes
Monuments, parks and gardens
Designations that overlap the town by a tenth of their area or half a hectare.
World Heritage
| Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and CanalUNESCO World Heritage Site, partly or wholly inside the town |
1 scheduled monument
Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Welsh Government (Cadw).
Castell y Waun Castle MoundMedieval; Motte
1 registered park or garden
BrynkinaltGrade II* · Large picturesque landscape park; formal and informal pleasure gardens
History Grade
Chirk grades B for history
Protected heritage and the age of the town’s homes, against all UK towns.
Protected heritage, for its size and in all (36 points, 92 per 10,000 residents)More than 68% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (12%)More than 34% of UK towns
Two measures, each ranked against every UK town of 1,000 or more, with protected heritage counting twice as much as the age of homes. Protected heritage counts each listed building by its grade (Grade I three points, II* two, II one), each scheduled monument and battlefield two, and each registered park or garden by its grade; it is ranked both per 10,000 residents and as a total, so a village with one fine church doesn’t outrank a historic city. The second measure is the share of homes built before 1919, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records. History is a character grade: it describes the town and isn’t part of the overall grade.
Towns its size
Chirk has the 82nd most Grade I buildings of 1,056 towns its size
Places of 2,000–6,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.
Chirk1
#352 of 1,056for listed buildings per resident (74 per 10,000). Sandwich, Tenby and Dolgellau lead.
81 have more. The typical town its size has 0.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Chirk
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chirk | 3,930 | 29 | 1 | B |
| Weston Rhyn | 1,381 | 5 | 0 | C− |
| St Martins | 2,692 | 6 | 1 | C |
| Acrefair and Cefn-mawr | 6,905 | 8 | 2 | B− |
| Trevor | 1,397 | 8 | 0 | B |
| Gobowen | 3,046 | 6 | 0 | C+ |
| Ruabon | 3,414 | 40 | 1 | A− |
| Rhosllannerchrugog | 12,789 | 12 | 0 | C+ |
In brief
Chirk in brief
Chirk holds part of a World Heritage Site, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal. All told, the list holds 29 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I, including St Mary's Church. Only 81 of the 1,056 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings.
A conservation area has protected part of it since 1975. More than half went on the list in a single year, 1998: 24 of 29. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns; it also has a scheduled monument; and 12% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 15% in the typical UK town.
Questions about Chirk’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Chirk?
Cadw lists 29 buildings inside Chirk’s built-up area: 1 Grade I, 1 Grade II* and 27 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in Chirk?
One: Church of St Mary.
Are there scheduled monuments in Chirk?
Yes, 1 scheduled monument, including Castell y Waun Castle Mound.
Is Chirk a World Heritage Site?
Chirk is home to part or all of Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal, inscribed by UNESCO.
How many conservation areas are there in Chirk?
1, covering about 19 hectares of the town. The largest is Chirk.
When were Chirk’s buildings listed?
The first in 1966; the most, 24, in 1998.
Are there old photos of Chirk?
Yes: 5 public-domain photos and postcards from 1733 to 1813, all on this page.
How old are the homes in Chirk?
12% of homes were built before 1919 and 25% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
Listed buildings, scheduled monuments and historic parks and gardens: Cadw, © Crown copyright, via DataMapWales.
Sources: Cadw listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered historic parks and gardens via DataMapWales, October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only · Cadw conservation areas via DataMapWales (October 2026). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.