The Castle continued in the hands of the Mortimer family but a short period, it being sold by John, grandson of Roger Mortimer, to Richard Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel, whose family possessed it for three generations. It afterwards passed to Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk and Justice of North Wales, Chester, and Flint, in right of his wife, Elizabeth, eldest sister to Thomas, Earl of Arundel. It then devolved upon the Beauchamp and Neville families, and afterwards became the property of Sir William Stanley, together with Holt Castle. Henry VIII. bestowed it upon his natural son, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset; in the following reign it was granted to Thomas, Lord Seymour, brother to the Protector Somerset. Queen Elizabeth granted it to her favourite Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and on his death it became the property of Lord St. John, of Bletso, whose son, in 1595, sold it to Sir Thomas Myddelton, Knight, Lord Mayor of London, in a branch of whose family it still remains.
It is stated that the erection of the Castle was begun in 1011, and finished in 1013. The building partakes both of the castle and mansion, the form quadrangular, the angles being strengthened with bastion-like towers, each surmounted by a small turret. The principal entrance, through a fifth massive arched tower, is at the north front, leading into a court-yard 160 feet long by 100 broad. Around this are ranged the different apartments, and the east side is ornamented by a handsome colonnaded piazza. The north and east wings are occupied by the family, and the south and west given up to the offices. The most remarkable of the apartments are, a saloon of sixty feet by thirty, lighted by three large mullioned windows looking towards the court; a drawing-room thirty feet square; and an oak gallery, extending the whole length of the west wing, one hundred feet by twenty-two, leading to the chapel. The ceilings throughout are ornamented by rich plaster work, and the rooms display a large collection of paintings. Among the portraits are those of the Myddelton family, Sir Orlando Bridgeman, the Duke of Ormond, and his son Lord Ossory, the Countess of Warwick, daughter of the fourth Sir Thomas Myddelton, and afterwards wife to the celebrated Addison, author of the “Spectator” and other classic writings. Among the landscapes there is a view of the admired water-fall, Pistill Rhaiadr, in Montgomeryshire, represented as falling into the sea. Of this work of art a pleasant story is told. The artist employed in taking the view was a foreigner, to whom it was hinted, when he had nearly finished the picture, that the addition of a few sheep would add to the effect. The painter replied, “you want some sheeps in it. O! O! ver veil. I vill put you some sheeps it.” He then introduced the sea, and with it several ships! The picture being thus ludicrously transformed, it was allowed to remain in its altered state as an artistic curiosity; and the visitor when inspecting it is sure to have his risible muscles disturbed by so droll a metamorphosis. The gallery contains several old cabinets, the work probably of Italian or French Artists; one, an exceedingly handsome one, a gift from Charles II. to the brave Sir Thomas Myddelton.
The history of the Myddelton family is one of national interest. There were four Sir Thomas Myddeltons at Chirk Castle, the two former knights, and the two latter baronets. The first Sir Thomas was Lord Mayor of London when his brother, the celebrated Hugh Myddelton, was knighted for bringing the new river into the Metropolis. The second Sir Thomas served in Parliament for the county of Denbigh, and took arms in its support when he was fifty-seven years old. For his services at Oswestry, Montgomery, and Holt, in 1643–4, he received the thanks of Parliament through the Speaker. When he engaged in the service of the Parliament his own castle became garrisoned for the king, and the veteran knight was compelled to besiege it with all his force. It remained, however, in the hands of the royalists till February 1646, when Sir John Watts, the governor, quitted it, and was captured, with his men, at Churchstoke, Montgomeryshire. Sir Thomas Myddelton, some ten years afterwards, abandoned the parliamentary cause, and took up arms with Sir George Booth, a Cheshire general, to restore the monarchy, and place Charles II. on the throne. The royalists were few in number, and easily defeated, by Lambert, who retook Chester, and made Sir George Booth prisoner. He then laid siege to Chirk Castle, which, after a sharp resistance, was surrendered by Sir Thomas Myddelton, who deemed it useless, he said, to oppose the whole kingdom. A resolution was passed in parliament, authorizing Lambert to demolish the Castle; but, Cromwell dying the same year, the threatened destruction did not take place. The damage and loss sustained at Chirk Castle, during the usurpation, are said to have amounted to £130,000. Such was the reward which the veteran Sir Thomas Myddelton received for his patriotism. His fate resembled that of his co-patriot, Major-General Mytton, but was somewhat more disastrous.
Sir Thomas’s son, of the same name, was made a baronet at the Restoration. The son died in 1663, his father surviving him three years, when he died at the age of 80 years. His grandson, the fourth Sir Thomas, and the second baronet, married twice. By his second wife, Charlotte, daughter of the Lord-Keeper Bridgeman, he had an only daughter, Charlotte, who married first to the Earl of Warwick, and secondly to Addison, as already mentioned. Their daughter, Miss Addison, died unmarried. The baronetage became extinct at the death of Sir William, son of Sir Richard, brother to the last Sir Thomas, Sir William having died unmarried in 1718. The estate, by the entailment, came to Robert Myddelton, eldest son of Richard, the third son of Sir Thomas, the soldier. He, dying without issue, was succeeded by his brother John, father of Richard, father of Richard Myddelton, Esq., for many years M.P. for the Denbigh boroughs, who died unmarried in 1796. The estate was afterwards divided among his three sisters. The eldest, Mrs. Myddelton Biddulph, had for her share Chirk Castle and its domain, and it is now in the possession, as before stated, of her son, Col. Myddelton Biddulph. The second sister, Maria, who married the Hon. Frederick West, brother of the late Earl of Delawarr, had for her portion the property in Llangollen, Rhuabon, Wrexham, and Holt. The third sister had for her portion Ruthin Castle with its demesnes, and died unmarried; her property, with that of the Hon. F. West, came into possession of his son, Frederick Richard West, Esq., M.P. for the Denbigh Boroughs, who now resides at Ruthin Castle, a portion of which has been re-built, and the whole greatly embellished under his tasteful superintendence.
Chirk Castle is among the most interesting and oldest-inhabited feudal buildings in the kingdom. Its
“Towers, unmodernized by tasteless art, remain
Still unsubdued by time.”
The family have hitherto protected it from injury, as it has been repaired with care and skill where much decay or damage had presented itself, but in no degree to impair its original character. Within the last few years considerable improvements and alterations have been made in it, under the direction and superintendence of the late Mr. Pugin. The lower apartments are of the pure gothic of the fifteenth century. The large rooms are in the style of Francois the First. The bed in which Charles I. slept when he visited Chirk Castle, in his “utmost need,” in 1646, is still shown in a room adjoining the gallery. The south-west wing has undergone little if any alteration by modern art, and there may still be traced the architecture of the period in which the fortress was erected.
The large estate surrounding the Castle has been much improved by Col. Myddelton Biddulph; the grounds and noble trees that ornament it are kept in excellent order, and the farms upon the property are all in a nourishing and healthy condition.
Col. Myddelton Biddulph is Lord Lieutenant of the county of Denbigh, and representative also for the shire.