Chirk Aqueduct

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looking at Wales over the Aqueduct

Chirk Aqueduct and the Railway viaduct behind it

Chirk Aqueduct is a 70ft high aqueduct near Chirk that carries the Llangollen Canal across the River Ceiriog. It was designed in 1801 by Thomas Telford, and possesses a cast trough within which the water is contained. The masonry walls effectively hide the cast iron interior. The aqueduct followed Telford's innovative Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct on the Shrewsbury Canal, and was a forerunner of the magnificent Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. Telford pioneered the use of cast iron in bridges as well as aqueducts, and cast iron troughs were widely used elsewhere on the British canal network, especially where a secure and watertight crossing or bridge was needed. Another famous example is the Cosgrove aqueduct on the Grand Junction Canal at Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire.