In 1793 Scottish-born stone mason and surveyor Thomas Telford began work on the Llangollen Canal. He left two enduring landmarks on the Welsh landscape.

Working with chief engineer William Jessop, Telford built Chirk Aqueduct across the River Ceiriog. Completed in 1802, ten stone arches supported by stone piers rising 70 feet above the valley floor carry canal water in a bed of iron plates bolted together.

Completed three years later, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, a proposed World Heritage Site, stretches 1,000 feet over the Dee valley. Advances in technology include steel-girder arches which carry the canal in a steel trough. The sealant was made by dipping lead wrapped in Welsh flannel into boiling sugar syrup!

Chirk and Ruabon are the nearest OCN Churches.

You can cross both aqueducts on foot using the towpath or take a short trip across the Pontcysyllte on a narrow boat.