Looking down menacingly over the surrounding estate, this austere and squat Welsh border castle has suffered a turbulent history, succumbing to several changes of ownership and witnessing numerous renovations during the 700 years of its existence. First built as an imposing defensive structure for the powerful Marcher lord, Roger Mortimer, at the beginning of the 14th century, Chirk Castle became the subject of continual power struggles between the Crown and a succession of controversial contemporaries for the next three centuries.

When Sir Thomas Myddelton purchased Chirk Castle in 1595, a tenuous stability was established with the result that descendants of the same family still reside at Chirk Castle today. As founder of the East India Company, and a benefactor of the lucrative expeditions by Drake, Raleigh and Hawkins during the 16th century, Myddelton's wealth enabled him to buy Chirk Castle and gradually transform it from the formidable fortress to a comfortable country mansion. Although his own preference was to remain in London, where he became Lord Mayor in 1613, his son lived at Chirk Castle with his wife and family. Sustaining severe damage from a parliamentary force in 1659, the house underwent a programme of major building work, very much in the style of Captain William Winde, followed by a more elaborate and costly transformation just 100 years later by Joseph Turner.

During the Victorian period, a great deal of Gothic work was introduced at Chirk Castle, much of it attributed to A W Pugin and J G Grace who were working together at the time on the Houses of Parliament. Almost no trace of this remodelling work survives, with the exception of some of the medieval features created by Pugin still evident in the Cromwell Hall, as a result of Lieutenant Colonel Ririd Myddelton's restoration work in the 1950s. He decided to bring his ancestral home back to the graceful and restrained lines of the 18th century neo-classical look.

Unsurprisingly for a family home spanning several centuries, Chirk Castle contains a revered collection of paintings, period furniture, and a miscellany of personal items. Boasting a magnificently painted ceiling, depicting scenes from Greek mythology, the saloon is hung with four beautiful Mortlake tapestries, and a fabulous long gallery displays many items that were part of the original furnishings when the room was completed in 1678.

From the courtyard there is access to the servants' hall, a room built in the early 16th century as a dining hall but during the 1760s was converted for use by the domestic staff. The distinct smell of old wood and fire smoke lends an authentic musty atmosphere to the gloomy, low-ceilinged hall that would often seat up to forty servants at meal times.

The formal gardens and pleasure grounds at Chirk Castle are very impressive, and any time spent exploring these areas will be well rewarded. Secreted between various shrubberies, rock gardens and wild flower patches, are an assortment of odd little buildings and features. A huge statue of Hercules, that once formed part of a pair standing at the front entrance to Chirk Castle, has been re-erected on the high ground in front of the woodland where he can still watch over the comings and goings on the Chirk estate.