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Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Trevor Basin
HeritageEasy1 to 2 hours including the walk across and back

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Trevor Basin

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About

Thomas Telford and William Jessop's aqueduct carries the Llangollen Canal across the Dee valley on nineteen cast-iron spans, 126 feet (38.4 metres) above the river; it was built between 1795 and 1805. It is the centrepiece of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2009, which takes in 11 miles of canal from the Horseshoe Falls west of Llangollen to Gledrid Bridge near Chirk Bank, through Denbighshire, Wrexham county and into Shropshire. The aqueduct itself is not in Llangollen: it is in Wrexham county, about five and a half kilometres east of Llangollen Bridge in a straight line, with the Canal & River Trust's free visitor centre at Trevor Basin. Walking the towpath across is free.

Photos

Highlights

  • ✓Nineteen cast-iron spans, 126 feet (38.4 metres) above the Dee
  • ✓World Heritage Site since 2009, 11 miles from the Horseshoe Falls to Gledrid Bridge
  • ✓Free to walk the towpath across
  • ✓Canal & River Trust visitor centre at Trevor Basin

Tips

  • →The Canal & River Trust lists the Trevor Basin visitor centre, off Station Road, Trevor, Wrexham, LL20 7TY, as free and open 10am to 4pm daily until the end of October; its page was last edited on 1 October 2025.
  • →The Trust gives LL14 3SG as the sat nav postcode. Its car parks are pay and display, open 8am to 8pm, and the gates are locked outside those hours. Toilets are by the small blue badge car park, about 300 yards from the visitor centre.
  • →To cross by water, the Horse Drawn Boat Company's two-hour trip from Llangollen Wharf finishes over the aqueduct at Froncysyllte, with a courtesy coach back to town.

Best Season

SpringSummerAutumn

Accessibility

Not assessed for this record; ask the Canal & River Trust about access.

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