Skip to main content
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Explore things to do

Things To Do

Suggested Getaways near Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

More Suggested Getaways

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

TREVOR BASIN Family Friendly, Historic Britain, Great Outdoors

 The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee in the Vale of Llangollen in North East Wales. The 18-arched stone and cast iron structure is for use by narrowboats and was completed in 1805 having taken ten years to design and build. It is the longest aqueduct in Great Britain and the highest canal aqueduct in the world.

The aqueduct was to have been a key part of the central section of the proposed Ellesmere Canal, an industrial waterway that would have created a commercial link between the River Severn at Shrewsbury and the Port of Liverpool on the River Mersey. Although a cheaper construction course was surveyed further to the east, the westerly high-ground route across the Vale of Llangollen was preferred because it would have taken the canal through the mineral-rich coalfields of North East Wales. Only parts of the canal route were completed because the expected revenues required to complete the entire project were never generated. Most major work ceased after the completion of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in 1805.

The structure is a Grade I listed building and a World Heritage Site.

Explore all Attractions & Events

Contact Info

  Station Rd, Trevor Basin, Wrexham LL20 7TG

Visit WebsiteVisit website

Other Things to Do in the Wales Region