Chirk Castle, June 2024

We took an early morning visit to Chirk Castle (Castell Y Waun), located just outside of Wrexham, on a random Sunday morning in June. Packed some drinks, ham baps (Elliott was having a ham only phase) and crisps and headed out on the 20ish minute journey to Chirk.

We’ve been to Chirk Castle a few times now. Prices on the doors costing from £40 for a family or £16 per adult/£8 per child, but when we’ve been previously we’ve used the free one-time family pass that they offer in the newspapers or online once or twice per year – keep an eye out for these, they’re great for a cheap day out and we’ve used them at both Chirk and Powis Castle. This time though we were armed with our National Trust passes that we’d picked up for Stonehenge (£159 for a family pass) so given this was the 3rd time we’d used them, we’d made our money back.

Chirk Castle sits in a stunning location on the top of a hill, overlooking some beautiful Welsh countryside. The free car park is at the bottom of the hill, so it’s a bit of a trek uphill if you have a 6-year-old with lazy legs like we do. For anyone with difficulties making it up, they do have a minibus to the top from the entrance. On this day though, I don’t think the bus was running but they were allowing blue badge holders to drive up and park outside the castle.

As you enter, the reception area is set in a small cottage – tall folk beware! Mind your head in here – so once you’ve checked in, you pass into a lower yard area with a flower shop, 2nd-hand book shop, gift shop and café.

Before you make the ascent up to the castle, there is a play area for the kids (which is always busy first thing), the old squash courts building and the entrance to the kitchen garden. There’s usually a hatch on the end here to grab drinks or snacks, but it was closed. The café was open though.

We headed through the tree lined pathway up towards the castle. It looks even more impressive as you emerge from the trees to see the towering castle walls looming over you as you enter the castle grounds. The final stage of the ascent (making it sound like Everest here, its not) leads you around the castle wall to the main gate at the front with those tremendous views across an expanse of green fields. Luckily you can’t see the local factory from here, unless it has smoke billowing, so it doesn’t spoil the view!

Today, outside the main gateway into the castle there was an exhibition of decorative Peonies for the local hospice Nightingale House, with each Peony a dedication to a loved one. You can find more information here.

After the kids had done their usual ‘run through the small tunnel under the bridge to the gate’ routine, we ventured into the main courtyard. In this wide-open area, you’ll find the entrance to the main house tour, a larger café, a small gift shop, toilets, the entrance to the Servant’s Hall and the entrance to Adam’s Tower where you’ll find stairs up to see some of the old castle interiors and stairs down to the dungeon.

With a few photos taken, we headed to the café for some drinks (iced latte for me, it was hot and I’m fancy) and a slice of lemon cake. There is indoor and outdoor seating for the café. We sat out in the sun, and it’s a much nicer view.

Elliott wasn’t feeling a trip inside the castle (yet) so he sat outside with mummy whilst Evan and myself went for a nose around Adam’s Tower, and there are some fun things in here that kids (and adults) will love. The first room you’ll enter is an armoury room and there are tables filled with pieces of armour, gloves, helmets, chainmail and shields that you can try on for a photo. Warning though, they aren’t exactly comfortable, and they are super heavy – especially if you’re only 10. If you’ve ever wanted to cosplay as a knight, now’s your chance!

Up the stairs you’ll come to Sir Thomas’s Room, with a grand fireplace, windows set in an arched recess and period outfits on display next to portraits on easels. In another room, there’s a small banquet table laid out with food – the plastic pies are exquisite! Chefs kiss

…and with any good castle, you’ll always find a medieval toilet lurking around a hidden corner.

If you’re a fan of the grim side of castles and battles, you can find some ‘Murder holes’ up in Adam’s Tower, where the unfortunate attacking forces would be fired upon with arrows, pelted with rocks or have something probably boiling and painful poured on them. Nice.

At the top of the staircase, there is a model of the castle, showing how a completed version if the castle may have looked if outer walls had been added. Another corridor leads to a small set of stairs leading down to a room known as the Magistrates Room, where there is an array of animals, mythical creatures and objects in the plasterwork around the top.

Down and outside again and Elliott had now decided he did want to go for a look around the castle, so we did the full tour again, complete with photos of a 6-year-old pretending to have a medieval number two. On this occasion though, Elliott wanted to make his trip a little more perilous: he wanted to go down to the dungeon!

The stairs to the dungeon, and I’d imagine stairs to many castle dungeons are awful. Thin and winding with only a chunky piece of rope to hold on to. So, with a GoPro in one hand and a child holding the other, we made the slow descent into the darkness of the Chirk Castle dungeon.

Good news, there is a mid-way point for a break, or to allow whoever is coming the other way to pass. Definitely no room for passing on the stairs here, superstitious or not. At the mid-way point, lies the Guardroom. I hope the guards back then had a little more comfort as the Guardroom looks almost as rough as the dungeon itself. Well, aside from the bed!

Winding further down, we made it into the depths of the dark and dingy dungeon. Only a small round room with the only light from a small opening higher up the wall. With another effort, we made our way back up and into safety of the Courtyard.

FYI outside Adam’s Tower in the courtyard, there are some stocks, so you have to lock up the kids/family/friends and take a fun photo in them. You have to, it’s the law, or you’re no fun and get locked in the dungeon.

We took a quick look around the Servant’s Hall, featuring a large fireplace, plate covered mantlepiece, paintings and antlers on the walls and an enormous oak dining table. The room has been used for many purposes over the years and there’s a guidebook in the room which tells you about the room and its history.

Out in the courtyard, we found a small new gift shop which I don’t remember being there on previous visits, selling many of the items from the main gift shop, such as toys, teddies, magnets and other gifts. Elliott had his heart set on a small slinky spring as Evan had bought one at Erddig Hall on our last outing.

It was only supposed to be a fleeting visit to Chirk Castle today as we had plans in the afternoon, so we didn’t venture into the main house or through the kitchen garden. We have been before and will again. But there is plenty to see inside the house with lots of rooms decorated as they would have been many years ago, bedrooms, dining rooms, plenty of art, architecture, paintings and weapons on the walls and more besides. Bags off in here though! No swinging your backpack into a chandelier!

For the horticulturists amongst you, the Kitchen Garden is a great area with a small orchard, greenhouses and vegetable plots growing different things throughout the year. Don’t forget to shut the gate as there are rabbits about!!

It was lunchtime though, so we took a walk to the left of the castle towards the main garden for a picnic.

Along this left side is a path leading down, aligned with conical trees, passing a small private walled garden, neatly trimmed hedges, flowers, statues and sundials. We were aiming for the large stretch of garden area off to the left. This area is the longest stretch of garden, with an impressive summer house to the left and ponds and woodland area to the right.

If you’re here, don’t forget to check out the remains of the 200 year old giant Cedar tree that fell in 2013 due to heavy snow, which has now been carved as a bench with poppies commemorating the First World War.

We sat on a bench at the back of this area, looking down towards the summer house, taking in all of the garden views. We’ve been previously during a summer event, and they had games and activities on the lawn for the kids including frisbees, giant chess/draughts, footballs, bat and balls so always worth checking if there are any events going on.

You can follow the path down through here which takes you around the grounds and into a woodland area, where you’ll find old walls and gateways, which will eventually lead you to a central path facing back towards the castle. The view of the castle from here is amazing as you can see it from a distance. Great photo spot.

You’ll also find on this path the naked Hercules statue, which the kids always find hilarious.

Picinic done and it was time to leave, but not before hitting the gift shop to pick up a bottle of Chirk Castle Fortress Ale, which is quite nice!

Into the car, follow the winding path though the gardens and past the sheep towards the grand white gates, and then home.

For more information on Chirk Castle and any events happening, visit the Chirk Castle / National Trust Website