Thomas Telford (1757 – 1834)

The building of the Llangollen Canal between 1793 and 1805 was overseen by Thomas Telford and he used Beech House, which still stands by the canal at Ellesmere, as his office.

He was a civil engineer, road, bridge and canal builder. As well as the construction of the Llangollen Canal (originally called the Ellesmere Canal) his projects in the area include the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct near Llangollen and the aqueduct at Chirk.