Jump to content

Oswestry

Coordinates: 52°51′35″N 3°03′14″W / 52.8598°N 3.0538°W / 52.8598; -3.0538
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Oswestry (disambiguation).

Oswestry
Clockwise from top: Llwyd Mansion, Cross Street, St Oswald's Church, Oswestry Market
Coat of arms of Oswestry
Motto: Floreat Oswestria
('May Oswestry flourish')
Oswestry is located in Shropshire
Oswestry
Oswestry
Location within Shropshire
Population17,509 (2021 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceSJ292293
• London179 mi (288 km) SE
Civil parish
  • Oswestry
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townOSWESTRY
Postcode districtSY10, SY11
Dialling code01691
ISO 3166 codeGB-SHR
PoliceWest Mercia
FireShropshire
AmbulanceWest Midlands
UK Parliament
Councillors
WebsiteOswestry Town Council
List of places
UK
England
Shropshire
52°51′35″N 3°03′14″W / 52.8598°N 3.0538°W / 52.8598; -3.0538

Oswestry (/ˈɒzwəstri/ OZ-wəss-tree; Welsh: Croesoswallt) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border.[2] It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads.

The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Oswestry until that was abolished in 2009. Oswestry is the third-largest town in Shropshire, following Telford and Shrewsbury. At the 2021 Census, the population was 17,509.[3][4] The town is five miles (8 km) from the Welsh border and has a mixed English and Welsh heritage.[5]

Oswestry is the largest settlement within the Oswestry Uplands, a designated natural area and national character area.[6]

Toponym

[edit]
St Oswald's Well, believed to cure eye trouble. Image from Hope's book on Holy Wells.

The name Oswestry is first attested in 1191, as Oswaldestroe. This Middle English name transparently derives from the Old English personal name Ōswald and the word trēow ('tree'). Thus the name seems once to have meant 'tree of a man called Ōswald'.[7] However, the traditional Welsh name for the town, Croesoswallt (first attested in 1254), means 'Oswald's cross', and 'cross' is a possible meaning of Old English trēow. Thus the town's name may have meant 'Oswald's cross' in both English and Welsh.[8]

The Oswald mentioned is widely imagined to have been Oswald of Northumbria, who died at the Battle of Maserfield in 641/642. The location of the battle is debated among scholars, but for much of the twentieth century was assumed to be at Oswestry.[9] However, A. D. Mills's Dictionary of English Place Names concluded that 'the traditional connection with St Oswald, 7th-century king of Northumbria, is uncertain'.[7]

The name and the association with King Oswald have attracted more fanciful interpretations. According to legend, one of the dismembered Oswald's arms was carried to an ash tree by a raven. Miracles were subsequently attributed to the tree, and the legend has it that this was "Oswald's Tree", and gave its name to the town.[10] A spring called 'Oswald's Well' is supposed to have originated where the bird dropped the arm from the tree, though one historian has suggested that it was likely to have had sacred associations long before Oswald's time. The water from the well was believed to have healing properties, particularly for curing eye trouble.[11] Offa's Dyke runs near the well, to the west.[12] This interpretation is supported by a passage in Fouke le Fitz Waryn (13th century romance) which states that Oswaldestré was derived from Arbre Oswald (Oswald's tree), which in turn was changed from La Blanche Launde (Welsh: y tir Gwyn) which belonged to a Briton called Meredus Fitz Beledyns (Maredudd ap Bleddyn).[13]

There is an alternative view that Oswestry was named after Oswy, Oswald's brother, who fought a battle here against King Penda in 655 AD. Oswy became King of Northumbria after Oswald's death in 642 AD. The battle of 655 AD was fought near to a river called the Winwead, which it is believed, was the nearby River Vyrnwy. Welsh folklore has it that this battle was called the battle of Pengwern and in it their leader Cynddylan was also killed.[14]

History

[edit]

Prehistory

[edit]

The earliest known human settlement in Oswestry is Old Oswestry, one of the best-preserved Iron Age hill forts in Britain, with evidence of construction and occupation between 800 BC and 43 AD.[15] The site is known in Welsh as Caer Ogyrfan, meaning 'City of Gogyrfan', referring to the father of Guinevere in Arthurian legend.[16]

Saxon times

[edit]

The Battle of Maserfield is widely thought to have been fought at Oswestry in 641 or 642, between the Anglo-Saxon kings Penda of Mercia and Oswald of Northumbria. However, the location of the battle is debated among scholars.[9]

The Conquest

[edit]

The Domesday Book (1086) records the castle being built by Rainald, a Norman Sheriff of Shropshire: L'oeuvre (French for 'The work').[17]

Alan fitz Flaad (died c.1120), a Breton knight, was granted the feudal barony of Oswestry[18] by King Henry I who, soon after his accession, invited Alan to England with other Breton friends, and gave him forfeited lands in Norfolk and Shropshire, including some which had previously belonged to Ernulf de Hesdin (killed at Antioch while on crusade) and Robert of Bellême.[19]

Alan's duties to the Crown included supervision of the Welsh border. He also founded Sporle Priory in Norfolk. He married Ada or Adeline, daughter of Ernulf de Hesdin.[20][21] Their eldest son William FitzAlan was made High Sheriff of Shropshire by King Stephen in 1137. He married a niece of Robert of Gloucester.[22] Alan's younger son, Walter, travelled to Scotland in the train of King David I, Walter becoming the first hereditary Steward of Scotland and ancestor of the Stewart Royal family.[23]

Border town

[edit]

The town changed hands between the English and the Welsh a number of times during the Middle Ages and still retains some Welsh-language street and place names. In 1972, ITV broadcast a television report asking residents if they thought the town should be English or Welsh, with mixed responses.[24]

In 1149 the castle was captured by Madog ap Maredudd during 'The Anarchy', and it remained in Welsh hands until 1157. Occasionally in the 13th century it is referred to in official records as Blancmuster (1233) or Blancmostre (1272), meaning "White Minster".[25] Later, Oswestry was attacked by the forces of Welsh rebel leader Owain Glyndŵr during the early years of his rebellion against the English King Henry IV in 1400; it became known as Pentrepoeth or "hot village" as it was burned and nearly totally destroyed by the Welsh. The castle was reduced to a pile of rocks during the English Civil War.[26]

The town is now the home of the Shropshire libraries' Welsh Collection.[27]

Market town

[edit]
Oswestry – Historic buildings in the town centre, October 2008. Timber-framed building in foreground is Llwyd Mansion.

In 1190 the town was granted the right to hold a market each Wednesday.[28] The town built walls for protection, but these were torn down in the English Civil War by the Parliamentarians after they took the town from the Royalists after a brief siege on 22 June 1644, leaving only the Newgate Pillar visible today.[29]

After the foot and mouth outbreak in the late 1960s the animal market was moved out of the town centre. In the 1990s, a statue of a shepherd and sheep was installed in the market square as a memorial to the history of the market site.[30]

Military

[edit]

Park Hall, a mile east of the town, was taken over by the Army during World War I in 1915 and used as a training camp and military hospital. On 26 December 1918 it burnt to the ground following an electrical fault. The ruined hall and camp remained derelict between the wars,[31] the camp hospital, however, was still in use; the Baschurch Convalescent and Surgical Home moved there in February 1921 and it became known as the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital.[32]

One of the main uses of the land from the 1920s was for motorcycle racing and it became quite a well-known circuit.[32]

The camp was reactivated in July 1939 for Royal Artillery training and the Plotting Officers' School.[32] Following World War II, Oswestry was a prominent military centre for Canadian troops, then for the British Royal Artillery, and finally a training centre for 15 to 17-year-old Infantry Junior Leaders. The camp closed in 1975. During the 1970s some local licensed wildfowlers discharged their shotguns at some passing ducks and were shot themselves by a young military guard, who had mistaken them for an attacking IRA force.[32]

The area previously occupied by the Park Hall military camp is now mainly residential and agricultural land, with a small number of light industrial units. Park Hall Farm became a visitor attraction in 1998, it is home to the Museum of the Welsh Guards.[32][33] The Park Hall Football Stadium (home of The New Saints FC) and The Venue is now closed.[34]

Landmarks

[edit]
Old Oswestry
Oswestry Guildhall

Old Oswestry, on the northern edge of the town, dominates the northern and eastern approaches. The 3,000-year-old settlement is one of the most spectacular and best preserved Iron Age hill forts in Britain, with evidence of construction and occupation between 800 BC and AD 43.[15]

Other attractions in and around Oswestry include: Cae Glas Park, Shelf Bank, Wilfred Owen Green, Saint Oswald's Well at Maserfield, Oswestry Castle, and the Cambrian Railway Museum located near the former railway station. Oswestry Guildhall, the meeting place of Oswestry Town Council, was completed in 1893.[35]

A story incorporating the names of all of the many pubs once open in Oswestry can be found hanging on a wall inside The Oak Inn on Church Street. There is a tapestry of forty Oswestry pub signs on display in Oswestry Guildhall on the Bailey Head. The Stonehouse Brewery opened in 2007, on the site of the former Weston Wharf railway station at Weston, in nearby Oswestry Rural; Stonehouse Brewery supplies many of the pubs with real ale.[36]

Brogyntyn Hall, which belonged to the Lords Harlech, lies just outside the town. Brogyntyn Park is five and a half acres of parkland occupying the southern slope of the Grade II listed Brogyntyn Estate. It was gifted to Oswestry Town Council by the fourth Lord Harlech, William Ormsby-Gore, in 1952.[37]

Culture

[edit]

There is a range of arts related activities in the town.

Hermon Chapel
  • The Qube
  • Oswestry Visitor & Exhibition Centre
  • Willow Gallery
  • The Oswestry Town Museum
  • Cambrian Railways Museum
  • Attfield Theatre[38]
  • Fusion Arts organises arts and music activities for young people.[39]
  • Kinokulture, a cinema (due to close by the end of April 2024)[40][41]
  • Hermon Chapel Arts Centre[42]
  • Oswestry Choral Society, the Oswestry Recorded Music Society, and the Oswestry Ladies Choir has developed.[43]
  • OsRocks Choir
  • Wilfred Owen Green[44]
  • Borderland Visual Arts. A network of local artists which holds an annual Open Studios event[45]
  • Borderlines Film Festival[46]
  • The Oswestry Food and Drink Festival[47]
  • Oswestry Balloon Carnival[48]
  • The Whittington International Chamber Music Festival[49]

Royal visits

[edit]

There have been the following royal visits to Oswestry:

Religion

[edit]

In the 2011 Census, 68.7% of the population of Shropshire stated that their religion was 'Christian'. The second largest group (22.8%) stated that they had 'no religion'.[54]

Parish Church of St Oswald

There are a number of places of worship in Oswestry.

Oswestry is divided into two Church of England parishes, which are part of the Diocese of Lichfield: Holy Trinity, which encompasses Oswestry East and eastern part of Oswestry Rural; and St. Oswald, which encompasses Oswestry South, Oswestry West and the western part of Oswestry Rural. Each parish has its own parish church.

St Oswald's Church was first mentioned in the 1086 Domesday book and a tithe document in Shrewsbury the same year.[55] St Oswald's Church is Grade II* listed, having a tower dating from late 12th or early 13th century and later additions particularly in the 17th and 19th centuries.[56] There is a new window in the east nave, designed by stained glass artist Jane Gray[57] in 2004.

In June 2022, it was announced that, from January 2023, oversight of traditional Catholics within the Anglican Church in the west of Province of Canterbury (formerly the Bishop of Ebbsfleet's area) would be taken by a new Bishop of Oswestry, suffragan to the Bishop of Lichfield.[58] The Bishop of Oswestry serves the western 13 dioceses of the southern province (Bath and Wells, Birmingham, Bristol, Coventry, Derby, Exeter, Gloucester, Hereford, Lichfield, Oxford, Salisbury, Truro, and Worcester).[59]

The town of Oswestry and surrounding villages fall into the parish of Our Lady Help of Christians and St Oswald, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury. The single Catholic church is Our Lady and St Oswald's Catholic Church.[60] There is an associated primary school.[61]

There are two Methodist churches: the Horeb Church on Victoria Road and the Oswestry Methodist Church. Cornerstone Baptist Church is on the corner of Lower Brook Street and Roft Street in a modern 1970s building. Other Nonconformist churches include the Albert Road Evangelical Church, Hope Church, formerly Carreg Llwyd Church (Welsh for 'Grey Rock'), founded in 1964, and the Cabin Lane Church, established by members of the Hope Church in 1991 following the eastern expansion of Oswestry.[62]

Christ Church, where the composer Walford Davies was a choirboy

Christ Church was opened by the Congregational Church in October 1972,[63] but now shared by the United Reformed Church and the Presbyterian Church of Wales, was the home church of the composer Walford Davies, who sang in the choir.[64][65] There is a Welsh-speaking church, the Seion Church, and the Holy Anglican Church, a Western Rite Anglican establishment. Coney Green has a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall. The Religious Society of Friends also holds meetings in Oswestry. The Grade II* star Hermon Chapel, by chapel architect Thomas Thomas, was a Welsh-speaking Congregational church[66] and is now an arts and community centre.

A small Muslim community exists in the town. A plan to transform a 19th-century former Presbyterian church on Oswald Road into a permanent base for meetings and prayer services fell through in March 2013 due to cost.[67] New plans were submitted to Shropshire Council for approval in 2019, to convert the former Salvation Army citadel in King Street into an Islamic Prayer Centre. These plans were eventually approved by Shropshire Council.[68]

There is a small Orthodox Christian community in Oswestry, which has increased in size over years due to the town's growing Bulgarian community. There is no Orthodox church in Oswestry, however, so congregants have to travel to the Greek Orthodox Community of the Holy Fathers of Nicaea, Shrewsbury, to worship. There used to be an Orthodox outreach at Holy Trinity Church for a few years, but a disagreement over the church layout brought this service to an end. Congregants also used to benefit from a Greek Orthodox priest at Weston Rhyn, who left the area in the 1990s.[citation needed]

There is a very small Liberal Jewish community within Oswestry, who are served by the Welshpool Jewish Group, over 15 miles away.[69] Oswestry's Jewish history is little known, but has had Jewish businesses and families since at least the 1850s. Located within Oswestry Cemetery is the grave of a child Holocaust refugee.

Healthcare

[edit]

The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust in Oswestry provides elective orthopaedic surgery and musculoskeletal medical services.[70] The hospital is located towards Gobowen.

The hospital is now home to the UK's first orthopaedic outpatient centre for British Armed Forces veterans following a fund-raising appeal by the RJAH League of Friends in 2018.

There is a Health Centre on Thomas Savin Road, next to Shelf Bank and opposite the bus station. Within the Health Centre is the Oswestry Minor Injuries Unit, Cambrian Medical Centre and a range of services run by Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust. There are three other GP surgeries situated within the town, and numerous opticians, pharmacists and dentists.

Education

[edit]

Oswestry is home to the second oldest 'free' (which in this context means not linked to any ecclesiastical foundation) school in the country, Oswestry School, which was founded in 1407. (The oldest, Winchester College, was founded in 1382.)[71] Oswestry School's 15th century site, adjacent to St Oswald's Parish Church, is now a café restaurant. It used to house the Tourist Information Centre, now moved to Castle view.[72]

There are four state primary schools in Oswestry: The Meadows Primary School, Cabin Lane; Woodside Primary School, Gittin Street; Holy Trinity C.E. Primary Academy & Nursery, Beech Grove and Middleton Road; and Our Lady & St. Oswald's Catholic Primary School, Upper Brook Street. There is also an independent co-educational preparatory school in Church Street, Bellan House, which is run by Oswestry School.

Secondary education is provided by both Oswestry School and the state secondary school with academy status: The Marches School, Morda Road.

Further education is provided by The Marches School's Sixth Form and the North Shropshire College which is situated in the town at Shrewsbury Road and at the Walford Campus near Baschurch.

Local media

[edit]

Regional TV news is provided by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central. Television signals can be received from either The Wrekin or Sutton Coldfield TV transmitters. [73] [74]

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Shropshire on 96.0 FM, Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire on 103.1 FM and Greatest Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire on 107.1 FM.

The Border Counties Advertizer and Shropshire Star are the town's local newspapers. [75] [76]

Transport

[edit]
Oswestry – The former station and Cambrian Railways headquarters, later the Cambrian Visitor Centre, October 2008.

Oswestry is at the junction of the A5 with the A483 and A495. The A5 continues from Shrewsbury to the north, passing the town, before turning west near Chirk and entering Wales.

Bus services are operated by Arriva Midlands, Arriva Wales and local independents Tanat Valley Coaches, Lakeside Coaches and Owen's Travelmaster. The town has regular bus routes that link nearby villages and towns including Wrexham, Welshpool, Newtown, Llanfyllin, Ellesmere and Shrewsbury. There is also a Dial-A-Ride minibus service which operates Mon-Fri and a direct bus route between Oswestry and Lake Vyrnwy every Wednesday, both operated by Oswestry Community Action, trading as the Qube.

On 9 November 2023, Oswestry was awarded Coach Friendly accreditation by the Conference for Passenger Transport (CPT) at a ceremony in the Guildhall on Bailey Head. The award followed an initiative by Oswestry Business Improvement District (BID) to increase the frequency and regularity of coach visits to boost the footfall and income of local shops, cafes, businesses and organisations.

Gobowen railway station is 2 miles from the northern edge of Oswestry. It has direct services to Birmingham, Cardiff, Chester and North Wales. The original station name board 'Gobowen for Oswestry' is permanently displayed on the station platform.

Canals

[edit]

The Llangollen Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal runs from Ellesmere to Llangollen, running 4.5 miles (7 km) east of the town at Hindford and on through Chirk, 6 miles (10 km) north. A navigable section of the partially restored Montgomery Canal, runs from Frankton Junction (connecting to the Llangollen Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal) to Newtown.[77]

Historic railways

[edit]
Main article: Oswestry railway station

The railway station, once on the main line of the Cambrian Railways, was closed in 1966 as a consequence of the Beeching cuts. Opened in 1840, the section from Whitchurch to Welshpool (Buttington Junction), via Ellesmere, Whittington, Oswestry and Llanymynech, closed on 18 January 1965, leaving only a short branch line from Gobowen to continue to serve Oswestry – but only until 7 November 1966. This former Great Western Railway (GWR) branch had once run into a separate GWR Oswestry terminus, but this has long since disappeared and the land redeveloped as a bus station and supermarket. Trains were re-routed into the main Cambrian station from 7 July 1924.

Down stopping train at Oswestry in 1960

The main building of the Cambrian station is still a prominent landmark in the town centre: it once housed the headquarters of the Cambrian Railways company. After restoration, this building was reopened as the Cambrian Visitor Centre in June 2006 but closed on 11 January 2008. It later reopened, and has since evolved into the headquarters of the Cambrian Heritage Railways (CHR) and a small catering establishment known as "Buffers"; other parts of the building have been converted into retail and office units to contribute to the upkeep of the building.

A single railway track still runs through the station, once overgrown and rusting, it has been cleared and repaired and is the subject of an ambitious plan to reopen the line as a steam heritage railway between Oswestry and Llanyblodwel and Pant (to link with the restored Montgomery Canal – see above), and as a sustainable community transport rail link from Oswestry to the National Rail railway station at Gobowen.

By 2013, the main "up" platform at Oswestry station had been reconstructed and some new semaphore signalling installed. The branch-line track-bed from south of Gobowen to Llanyblodwel is now owned by Shropshire Council, who lease the land to CHR, a registered charity. Work is advancing in securing the transfer of the existing Transport & Works Act Order (TWAO) from Network Rail to CHR. The aim was for this transfer to be completed by 2014, and for the railway line between Gobowen and Oswestry to be fully re-instated and operational by 2017; however the legal process of the TWAO Unit administering a form of written debate between the proposer and objectors with a guided number of exchanges, was still ongoing in mid 2016. CHR purchase of the final section of the Oswestry to Gobowen railway branch line was completed in April 2016; nevertheless, other hurdles to becoming operational, such as permissions and finances to reinstate the level crossings on the main A5/A483 Trunk Roads, will also need to be overcome.

Immediately to the south of Oswestry Railway Station is the Cambrian Railways Museum; while a short distance to the north are the "listed" Works Bridge and the former Cambrian Railways works, which are now occupied by a variety of local commerce concerns and Oswestry's Community Health Centre and ambulance facility.

Sport

[edit]
Oswestry Cricket Club's pavilion, August 2010

From 2013, the town was represented in football by F.C. Oswestry Town, who were members of the North West Counties Football League Division One South, until folding in July 2020, citing Covid 19 as the reason [78] The former local football club, Oswestry Town F.C., was one of the few English teams to compete in the League of Wales. It also won the Welsh Cup in 1884, 1901 and 1907.[79] The club was in financial difficulties in 2003 and merged with Total Network Solutions F.C. of Llansantffraid, a village eight miles (13 km) away on the Welsh side of the border. Following the takeover of the club's sponsor in 2006, the club was renamed as The New Saints. They moved to the redeveloped Park Hall Stadium on the outskirts of the town in September 2007. The New Saints or TNS is a full-time-professional football club that play in the Welsh Premier League, which they have won a record twelve times.

Oswestry Lions F.C. of the Shropshire County League also play at the ground.

Recreation and leisure

[edit]

From the 1700s to 1848, there was a popular racecourse outside the town. Known as Cyrn-y-Bwch (Welsh for 'the Horns of the Buck'), the site was chosen on this 1,000-foot (300 m) high hilltop because of its location between the Kingdom of England and the Principality of Wales, and the aim was to bring together the local landowners and gentry of Wales and England. Remnants of the old grandstand and figure-of-eight racetrack can still be seen.[80]

Nowadays, Oswestry Race Course is common land, registered under the Commons Act 1899 and the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, with a number of rights of way on the South Common including Offa's Dyke Path and Bridleway. Also designated as a publicly accessible open space and a Wildlife Site in the 1999 Local Plan, it is an area reserved for:

quiet, informal leisure activities and recreation;
the biological diversity of the matrix of heathland, sparse woodland, ponds and ditches; and
the sustainable management and conservation of nature and wildlife.

The site provides extensive views across the surrounding landscape of England and Wales.

The Llanymynech to Chirk Mill section of the Offa's Dyke Path National Trail crosses the common.[81]

Further information: Wilfred Owen Green

Twin towns

[edit]

Oswestry is twinned with Combs-la-Ville, France, since 1980.[82] |}

Notable people

[edit]
See also: Category:People from Oswestry and Category:People educated at Oswestry School

Arts and media

[edit]

Public service

[edit]

Religion and politics

[edit]

Science, medicine and business

[edit]

Sports

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Oswestry". City population. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  2. ^ "The rise and rise of a railway town". BBC. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  3. ^ Population Density, 2011 Archived 4 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Neighbourhood Statistics, 2011 Census, Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  4. ^ "Oswestry". World Gazetteer. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  5. ^ Shropshire Tourism. "Oswestry & the Welsh Borders". Archived from the original on 24 October 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  6. ^ NCA 63: Oswestry Uplands Key Facts & Data at www.naturalengland.org.uk. Accessed on 5 April 2013.
  7. ^ a b A. D. Mills, A Dictionary of English Place Names (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), s.v. Oswestry ISBN 9780199609086.
  8. ^ Charles, B. G. (1938). Non-Celtic Placenames in Wales. London Medieval Studies Monographs, 1. p. xlvi.
  9. ^ a b Andrew Breeze, British Battles, 493-937 (London: Anthem Press, 2020), ch. 9 ISBN 9781785272257.
  10. ^ "The man who gave Oswestry its name: Oswald film to feature at Cannes". Shropshire Star. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  11. ^ Hope, Robert Charles (1893). The legendary lore of the holy wells of England: including rivers, lakes, fountains and springs. London: Elliot Stock. pp. 143–145. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  12. ^ "Ian Bapty review of Hill and Worthington, Offa's Dyke: History and Guide, 2003". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  13. ^ Fouke le Fitz Waryn. Western Printing Services (Anglo-Norman text society). 1976. ISBN 0-631-17000-6.
  14. ^ "British Kingdoms of the Midlands". David Nash Ford's Early British Kingdoms. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  15. ^ a b "History of Old Oswestry Hill Fort". English Heritage.
  16. ^ "Old Oswestry Hill Fort". Visitor UK. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  17. ^ "Gatehouse Gazetteer - Oswestry". Gatehouse Gazetteer.
  18. ^ Burke, Messrs., John and John Bernard, The Royal Families of England, Scotland, and Wales, and Their Descendants &c., volume 2, London, 1851, p. xl.
  19. ^ Ritchie, R. L. Graeme, The Normans in Scotland, Edinburgh University Press, 1954, p.280-1
  20. ^ Round, J. H., Studies in Peerage, p.123
  21. ^ Ritchie (1954) p.98n and 280-1
  22. ^ Ritchie (1954) p.281
  23. ^ Ewart, G; Pringle, D; Caldwell, D; Campbell, E; Driscoll, S; Forsyth, K; Gallagher, D; Holden, T; Hunter, F; Sanderson, D; Thoms, J (2004). "Dundonald Castle Excavations, 1986–93". Scottish Archaeological Journal. 26 (1–2): i–x, 1–166. eISSN 1766-2028. ISSN 1471-5767. JSTOR 27917525.
  24. ^ "Watch: 43 years on - should Oswestry be in England or Wales?". Shropshire Star. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  25. ^ E. Ekwall, 'Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names', 4th ed., 1960
  26. ^ "Oswestry Castle". Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  27. ^ Shropshire Council. "Welsh Collection at Oswestry Library". Retrieved 3 March 2009.[permanent dead link]
  28. ^ "Oswestry Market". Shropshire Tourism.
  29. ^ "Oswestry town defences". Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  30. ^ "The Borderland Farmer". Statues - Hither & Thither. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  31. ^ Shropshire Routes to Roots. "Introduction to Park Hall". Shropshire County Library Service. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007.
  32. ^ a b c d e "Gazetteer of Sites: Park Hall Barracks, Oswestry (SJ3031)". Shropshire History.
  33. ^ "The Welsh Guards Collection: The Official Welsh Guards Museum". Welsh Guards. Archived from the original on 4 June 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  34. ^ "Park Hall Stadium". New Saints FC. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
  35. ^ Historic England (14 June 2021). "The Guildhall (1367321)". National Heritage List for England.
  36. ^ "Stonehouse is back on the rails for a post-covid recovery". Beer Today. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  37. ^ "Oswestry Town Council: Brogyntyn". www.oswestry-tc.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  38. ^ "Attfield Theatre – Welcome!". attfieldtheatre.co.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  39. ^ "Fusion Arts Oswestry – Opening the Arts to Everyone". fusionartsoswestry.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  40. ^ "HOME – Oswestry's Community Cinema". kinokulture.org.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  41. ^ "Oswestry's Kinokulture cinema to permanently close". BBC News. 11 April 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  42. ^ "Hermon Chapel". Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  43. ^ "Oswestry Ladies Choir". Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  44. ^ Wilfred Owen Green Borderline Breaks [permanent dead link]
  45. ^ "B V A | Borderland Visual Arts". www.borderlandvisualarts.com. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  46. ^ "Borderlines Film Festival". Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  47. ^ "Oswestry Food Festival". oswestryfoodfestival.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  48. ^ "Oswestry Balloon Festival". Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  49. ^ "Whittington International Chamber Music Festival". Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  50. ^ Austin, Sue (28 March 2023). "Duchess to give a royal seal of approval to new veterans' centre at orthopaedic hospital". www.shropshirestar.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  51. ^ Lee-Birch, David (14 October 2021). "Oswestry company receives a Royal visit". Oswestry Life. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  52. ^ "Oswestry Life September 2017 by DTS media Ltd - Issuu". 24 August 2017.
  53. ^ "HRH to visit the new Oswestry Leisure Centre". 28 November 2011.
  54. ^ "Religion in England and Wales 2011 - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
  55. ^ "St Oswald Church Oswestry – Church History". stoswaldsoswestry.org.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  56. ^ "Church of St Oswald, Oswestry". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  57. ^ "Shropshire stained glass artist Jane Gray's life story". BBC Shropshire news,25 April 2011. BBC. 25 April 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011
  58. ^ "Bishops of Maidstone, Ebbsfleet and Oswestry". Diocese of Canterbury. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  59. ^ Beddowes, Brian. "Welcome". The See of Oswestry. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  60. ^ [1][permanent dead link]
  61. ^ "Home Page". osoprimary.co.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  62. ^ "Cabin Lane Church – Who are we?". Cabin Lane Church. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  63. ^ Stiles, Charles. "David Christopher Davies FGS : 1827 to 1885" (PDF). oswestrygenealogy.org.uk. Oswestry Family & Local History Group. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  64. ^ "Christ Church – Picture and Notes". Retrieved 31 December 2007.
  65. ^ Plaque on the wall of Christ Church, Oswestry, whose accompanying inscription includes "Born in 1869 in Willow Street, Oswestry, Walford Davies sang as a chorister in this church (where his father was organist) before moving to St George's, Windsor."
  66. ^ "Hermon Chapel, Oswestry". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  67. ^ "Muslim prayer centre plan for church dropped". Shropshire Star. 5 April 2013. p. 1.
  68. ^ Morris, Andrew (10 October 2019). "Oswestry Muslim centre plan gets go-ahead". www.shropshirestar.com. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  69. ^ "JCR-UK: Welshpool Jewish Group, Powys, Wales".
  70. ^ "History of Oswestry Orthopedic Hospital". NHS. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007.
  71. ^ "History - Oswestry School". oswestryschool.org.uk. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  72. ^ "Welcome to Oswestry". oswestry.com. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  73. ^ "Full Freeview on the The[sic] Wrekin (Telford and Wrekin, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  74. ^ "Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  75. ^ "Border Counties Advertizer". British Papers. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  76. ^ "Shropshire Star". Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  77. ^ Lewery, Tony. "The Montgomery Canal". Canal Junction. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
  78. ^ "FC Oswestry Town's grand plans no more after final game". 9 July 2020.
  79. ^ "Welsh Cup " Champions". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  80. ^ Greyhound Derby "Oswestry racecourse". Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  81. ^ "Hikeview Offa's Dyke Page". Hikeview.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  82. ^ "Oswestry Twinning Association". Oswestry Twinning Association. 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  83. ^ Lloyd, D.M.; Lloyd, E.M., eds. (1953). A Book of Wales. London: Collins. pp. 95–97. Anthology of prose and poetry, in which this is his only poem published.
  84. ^ "Brooks, Charles William Shirley" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 6. 1886.
  85. ^ "Brooks, Charles William Shirley" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 04 (11th ed.). 1911.
  86. ^ Manchester Guardian, 1 September 1930, archived obituary. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  87. ^ "Davies. John Cadvan". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  88. ^ "DAVIES, Sir HENRY WALFORD". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  89. ^ Wilfred Owen at the British Library. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  90. ^ Wilfred Owen Association. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  91. ^ Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  92. ^ The Barbara Pym Society based at St Hilda's College, Oxford Archived 26 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  93. ^ IMDb Database. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  94. ^ IMDb Database. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  95. ^ The Guardian, 3 September 2009, Mott the Hoople, The dudes abide. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  96. ^ The Guardian, 6 Oct 2005, Obituary, Phil Llewellin. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  97. ^ IMDb Database. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  98. ^ National Portrait Gallery, Peter Edwards. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  99. ^ IMDb Database. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  100. ^ "Palmer, Roger" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 43. 1895.
  101. ^ "OWEN, OWEN". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  102. ^ Location of grave and VC medal (Shropshire). Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  103. ^ ESPN cricinfo Database. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  104. ^ BBC News Channel, 23 October, 2004, Secrets of jailed rebel exposed. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  105. ^ BBC News, 6 March, 2000, Diana's bodyguard: What's the story?. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  106. ^ "Fitzalan, William" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 19. 1889.
  107. ^ "Fitzalan, John (1223-1267)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 19. 1889.
  108. ^ The History of Parliament Trust, HOLBACHE, David (d.c.1422), of Dudleston and Oswestry, Salop. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  109. ^ Introduction to the History of Oswestry School. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  110. ^ "Ussher, Henry (1550?-1613)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 58. 1899.
  111. ^ "Bray, Thomas" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 04 (11th ed.). 1911.
  112. ^ HANSARD 1803–2005 → People (L), Mr Stanley Leighton. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  113. ^ "The Right Rev. Francis John Jayne". Aberdeen Journal. British Newspaper Archive. 25 August 1921.
  114. ^ HANSARD 1803–2005 → People (O), Hon. George Ormsby-Gore. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  115. ^ Church Society, William Henry Griffith Thomas (1861-1924). Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  116. ^ HANSARD 1803–2005 → People (B), Mr William Bridgeman. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  117. ^ HANSARD 1803–2005 → People (L), Major Bertie Leighton. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  118. ^ HANSARD 1803–2005 → People (O), Mr William Ormsby-Gore. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  119. ^ HANSARD 1803–2005 → People (B), Mr John Biffen. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  120. ^ Parliament, Lords, Lord Foulkes of Cumnock. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  121. ^ Oswestry Town Trail, Willow Street, Shropshire County Council. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  122. ^ "Biographies of chairmen, managers & other senior railway officers". steamindex.com. Savin, Thomas. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  123. ^ Weston, The Company and The Man. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  124. ^ Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Northcote W. Thomas and his collection. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  125. ^ Royal College of Anaesthetists, Dr Katharine Georgina Lloyd-Williams. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  126. ^ Gordon Jackson Rees FRCA FRCP FRCPCH, Proceedings of the History of Anaesthesia Society Archived 8 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  127. ^ Dame Stephanie "Steve" Shirley at TED. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  128. ^ "Dame Stephanie to return to Oswestry". Shropshire Star. 1 April 2015. p. 23.Report by Sue Austin. She was about to attend Oswestry Literary Festival to promote her autobiography and said of her time, "In Oswestry I had six wonderful years of peace" after World War II.
  129. ^ Lindstrand Technologies Ltd. (UK company), Founder and Inspirer of.... Archived 18 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  130. ^ BBC News, 7 March 2014, Geneva Motor Show: A Briton at the wheel of BMW. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  131. ^ Football & the First World War website, George Wynn. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  132. ^ Arsenal.com, historic players, Herbie Roberts. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  133. ^ Elderwick, David (1989). 50 Shropshire Celebrities Past and Present. IMPRINT, Newtown, Powys. p. 17.He is incorrectly given as 'George Antonio Rowlands'.
  134. ^ Joyce, Mike. "Harry Cooke". Since 1888. Retrieved 3 July 2009. (registration & fee required)
  135. ^ "What's Changed". Brentwood School. Archived from the original on 8 March 2008.
  136. ^ "Former Oswestry soccer boss dies". Shropshire Star (North Edition). 4 January 1982. p. 1.
  137. ^ "Alan Ball, the lad from Oswestry". Shropshire Star. 10 February 1965. p. 10.
  138. ^ Player profile, LFC history.net. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  139. ^ ESPN cricinfo Database. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  140. ^ Ian Woosnam, Official World Golf Ranking website. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  141. ^ SoccerBase Database. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  142. ^ SoccerBase Database. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  143. ^ SoccerBase Database. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  144. ^ SoccerBase Database. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  145. ^ BBC News, 27 September 2014, Amy Hughes completes...... Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  146. ^ SoccerBase Database. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oswestry.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Oswestry.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oswestry&oldid=1253780982"