Visitors can now bring their dogs into the gardens at Chirk Castle after a successful trial led to the policy being made permanent.
The National Trust site recently tested allowing dogs on short leads into the historic gardens and, after reviewing feedback from visitors, staff and volunteers, has confirmed the change will continue moving forward.
Dogs will now be able to enter the gardens daily, provided they are kept on a short, non-extendable lead and remain on designated paths to help protect the grounds.
Visitors who arrive without a suitable lead can borrow one from the garden gate, while water bowls and dog waste bins are available around the estate to help make visits easier for dog owners.
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Dogs are also welcome in the rear tearoom and across the wider estate, although they must remain on a lead at all times.
The castle estate covers around 480 acres and has a long association with dogs stretching back to medieval times, when wolfhounds were kept beneath the entrance bridge by the castle’s owners.
Today, Chirk Castle operates a “two pawprint” dog-friendly rating, meaning dogs are welcome in some areas but not everywhere.
While dogs are now permitted in the gardens and Pleasure Ground Wood during opening hours, they are not allowed inside the castle rooms, the kitchen garden, Adam Tower or the children’s play area.
The wider estate also offers several marked walking routes for visitors and their pets, including the Woodland Walk, the Old Golf Trail and a permissive section of the Offa’s Dyke route, which runs just beyond the estate between April and September.
Visitors are reminded that dogs must remain on leads throughout the estate to protect grazing livestock, ground-nesting birds and wildlife habitats within the Site of Special Scientific Interest surrounding the castle grounds.
The National Trust says following the guidelines will help ensure the historic site can remain dog-friendly for years to come.
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