20 CONTEXT 176 : JUNE 2023 PETER CHOWNS Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal World Heritage Site The monumental scale of the engineering and the innovative use of materials, most notably cast and wrought iron, make this world heritage site universally outstanding. Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and CanalWorld Heritage Site, inscribed by Unesco in 2009 and predominantly owned by the Canal and River Trust, comprises the westernmost 18-kilometre length of the Llangollen Canal, along with its associated engineering and architectural features. It extends from Gledrid Bridge, near Rhoswiel, via Trevor Basin to its western terminus at Horseshoe Falls near Llantisilio. This length of the Llangollen Canal was constructed between 1795 and 1808 to the designs of William Jessop and Thomas Telford, two of the most notable figures of the ‘heroic age’ of civil engineering during the industrial revolution. This world heritage site is unusual in that it straddles two nations and three local authority areas. Located primarily in northeast Wales, it runs through the Welsh county of Denbighshire and the county borough of Wrexham, before crossing the border into the English county of Shropshire near the small town of Chirk. Originally the canal from Gledrid Bridge to Trevor was known as the Ellesmere Canal, and the section west to Horseshoe Falls was its Llangollen branch, but in the late 20th century both lengths were rebranded the Llangollen Canal. The Ellesmere Canal was constructed under an Act of Parliament passed in 1793, with construction commencing in 1795. Originally the canal was planned as a means of linking the major river arteries of the Mersey, Dee and Severn, and opening them up to the rich slate, coal and iron reserves of the Welsh uplands. However, only part of the original plan was eventually executed, with the stretch from Chester south to Ruabon abandoned, along with the link south to the River Severn. This meant that that the canal now terminated at Trevor Basin, where wharves and a tramway served the local iron and coal industries. Without a connection to the intended supply of water near Wrexham, a new supply was required to keep the Ellesmere Canal in water. The 10-kilometre Llangollen Branch was constructed under a separate Act of 1804, primarily as a feeder and to supply water to local industries; for this reason it is not as wide Chirk Aqueduct was completed in 1801 by William Jessop and Thomas Telford. Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal World Heritage Site
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