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to assess their plans, and he produced plans for a rather different route, running from the
Chester Canal basin through Wrexham, Bersham, Ruabon, Pontcysyllte, Chirk, Frankton and Weston to reach Shrewsbury. The route would have involved three tunnels, one of 4,607 yards (4,213 m) at Ruabon, one
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at a different location, resulting in a shorter tunnel. The contract for the adjacent aqueduct was let in
January 1796, and its construction was completed in 1801. The 8 miles (13 km) of canal eastwards to Frankton was opened immediately, because of the valuable trade in limestone from the Fron
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on 30 April of that year. A whole series of alterations and deviations had been rushed through in the intervening months, and the canal at Chirk now crossed the
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The tunnel is claimed to be the first in
Britain to have a towpath running through it (along with its shorter neighbour, Whitehurst Tunnel). However,
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Quarries. The section through the tunnel, which also passed through
Whitehurst Tunnel to reach Pontcysyllte was opened in June 1802.
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was open by 1797 and included a towpath throughout its 970-yard (890 m) length. As the tunnel at Chirk is completely unlit, a
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Rival parties supporting the different routes joined forces in
February 1793, and the canal was authorised by
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is necessary for anyone walking through the tunnel, as it is pitch black in the centre. A wooden
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In 1791, the embryonic
Ellesmere Canal was planning a network of canals to link the
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521:"Chirk Tunnel, Llangollen Canal; Ellesmere Canal; Shropshire Union Canal (34408)"
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limeworks at Chirk, which would have been 1,236 yards (1,130 m) long.
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463:"Chirk Tunnel, including the N and S Portals, and Chirk Basin., Chirk"
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along the entire length prevents walkers from falling into the canal.
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of 476 yards (435 m) at Weston, and a tunnel under the
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and possibly to
Whitchurch and Wem. The promoters asked
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Grade II* listed buildings in
Wrexham County Borough
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282:The tunnel is designed for a single standard
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415:List of canal tunnels in the United Kingdom
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33:Chirk tunnel viewed from Chirk aqueduct.
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275:, immediately northwards of the
430:The Canals of the West Midlands
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302:Southern portal of the tunnel
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465:. British Listed Buildings
428:Hadfield, Charles (1985).
355:Walking through the tunnel
234:421 m (1,381 ft)
600:Tunnels completed in 1802
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136:52.9297028°N 3.0629806°W
595:Works of Thomas Telford
206:Canal & River Trust
173:52.932639°N 3.0667583°W
67:52.9314250°N 3.064972°W
585:Canal tunnels in Wales
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141:52.9297028; -3.0629806
572:at Wikimedia Commons
432:. David and Charles.
393:United Kingdom portal
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178:52.932639; -3.0667583
72:52.9314250; -3.064972
16:Canal tunnel in Wales
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314:, with branches to
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568:Media related to
344:Act of Parliament
271:. It lies on the
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124:52°55′46.93″N
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55:52°55′53.13″N
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570:Chirk Tunnel
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532:. Retrieved
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467:. Retrieved
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421:Bibliography
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337:Froncysyllte
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261:canal tunnel
257:Chirk Tunnel
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161:52°55′57.5″N
22:Chirk Tunnel
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534:23 November
328:Llanymynech
290:structure.
194:Constructed
176: /
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127:3°3′46.73″W
70: /
45:Coordinates
579:Categories
449:References
320:Llangollen
312:Shrewsbury
284:narrowboat
164:3°4′0.33″W
58:3°3′53.9″W
212:Technical
197:1794–1802
189:Operation
469:5 August
379:See also
373:handrail
105:Waterway
90:SJ284376
39:Overview
525:Coflein
363:on the
324:Bersham
294:History
239:Towpath
529:RCAHMW
436:
316:Ruabon
231:Length
97:Status
610:Chirk
269:Wales
265:Chirk
263:near
259:is a
202:Owner
115:Start
536:2009
471:2016
434:ISBN
318:and
100:Open
310:to
242:Yes
152:End
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250:No
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
