'Exceptional' World Heritage Site property is sliding into Welsh river 60ft below

A pretty canal cottage in a World Heritage site has been placed on an at-risk register. Cartref, one of the guardians of Chirk Aqueduct, is reported to be sliding into the river Ceiriog below.

The two-storey building is one of the six “Aqueduct Cottages” built in the 1870s for workers on the Llangollen Canal and Glyn Valley Tramway. One of two detached properties, it was probably home to a canal foreman.

For decades Cartref was renowned for its old-fashioned lamppost and half-acre of finely manicured gardens. Less than 10 years after it was sold with planning consent for an extension, it is boarded up and the grounds are so dense they are impassable.

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Save Britain’s Heritage (SBH) lists the property as being in “poor condition” and is lobbying for action. Its at-risk register describes Cartref as being in an “exceptional" site, adding: “There can hardly be a more picturesque location.”

From the cottage, the canal curves sharply to pass over Chirk Aqueduct, briefly the world’s tallest until surpassed four years later by Thomas Telford’s other engineering masterpiece, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, a little over two miles away. All the cottages were built on a 60ft-high spoil mound from the canal’s deep hillside cutting: the size of their gardens show the vast scale of earth moving undertaken. Between numbers 3 and 4 is an earthwork platform believed to have been used as the aqueduct’s construction yard.

Each cottage had a toilet and a pig sty at the end of their gardens. By the early 1900s Cartref – number 6 – was occupied by canal employee Evan Baines, wife Jane and their 11 children. For decades the house continued to be owned the Baines family as originally it could only be passed to a family member.

Later, however, the property was sold. Its most illustrious tenant was Neville Hurdsman, a Chirk barber and postman who became the town’s first historian, publishing A History of the Parish of Chirk. He was also an avid gardener. Join the North Wales Live WhatsApp community group where you can get the latest stories delivered straight to your phone

Recent social media photos of Cartref have left locals and canal enthusiasts aghast. “The garden was immaculate back in the day,” said one woman sadly. Another said the property was once "beautiful" and much sought after. A man added: “Used to have a lovely long garden adjoining the lovingly kept house. Unfortunately nowadays it’s the target of urban explorers and kids.”

In September 1998 the cottage sold for £55,000. When developing a World Heritage Site nomination for the Llangollen Canal and its aqueducts in 2007, Cartref was listed as being in a “good” state of conservation. This indicated the building’s authenticity and integrity was intact, being close to its original state.

The property changed hands again in May 2015. By then its value had soared to £201,000, thanks in part to it having planning consent for a large rear extension with a dining kitchen and a third bedroom.

Unfortunately, development plans stalled. Locally, subsidence was blamed, a section of the old spoil mound finally unravelling. In 2018 a canal boater from Blackpool cruised past and noted: “It seems the poor house is, like we were, gravitating towards the Bridge Hotel behind it!” Being on a wider part of the embankment, none of the other cottages are reported as being at risk.

As Cartref lies just yards from the Wales-England border, it comes under Shropshire Council’s jurisdiction. In June 2022, the local authority served a legal notice citing an “untidy garden” and ordering it to be brought up to a fit state of repair. By then the property had been “derelict and uninhabitable” for several years.

Now all hope, like the property, seems to be slipping away. Locals report that plate pilings failed to secure the embankment and that Cartref is “falling apart at each corner”. One man said online: “It’s just about to slip down the hill into the river below, the cost would be enormous to save it. Beautiful home and location but who really would have the money?”

Cartref is cited by Coflein, the historic records body for Wales, but the building lacks listed status. Liz Fuller, SBH buildings at risk officer, said the house was not registered as being in use. “It’s believed to be completely empty and uninhabited,” she said. “The local authority is aware of the situation. It is worried about the property and would like to see something done.”

This seems unlikely. Further along Afon Ceiriog, 1.5 miles away, Storm Christoph caused a landslip on the B5605 at Newbridge. The road has been closed ever since. Repairs began in September and Wrexham Council hopes it will reopen in spring 2025.

For this work to happen, hard lobbying was needed for the Welsh Government to release almost £3m funding. Given the scale of the work needed to stabilise Chirk Bank’s canal embankment, a similar amount might be needed to save Cartref. Unless the canal, aqueduct and sister viaduct were threatened, or the Afon Ceiriog’s ecology, it’s hard to see funds being made available.

Meanwhile, locals suspect the place is being trashed inside. “It used to be such a beautiful house and well cared for,” sighed an Oswestry woman online. “It’s so sad to see it as it is now.”

The local authority was approached for a comment. Andy Wigley, policy and environment service manager, said: "Shropshire Council remains concerned about the condition of 6 Aqueduct Cottage and the impact it is having upon the amenity of this part of the World Heritage Site.

"We remain committed to seeking a resolution to this situation, although it the first instance we are seeking to persuade the owner to fulfil their obligations and responsibilities in this respect. Shropshire Council is not responsible for the wider embankment and has no powers it can use to address the subsidence that is said to be affecting it.

"This would likely sit with the Canals and Rivers Trust as the body that manages and maintains the canal." More properties on the Save Britain’s Heritage register can be found here. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox

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