Oswestry
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The area has long been settled. Old Oswestry is the site of a large Iron Age hill fort with evidence for occupation dating back to the 550s BC.
The Battle of Maserfield is thought to have been fought here in 642, between the Anglo-Saxon kings Penda and Oswald. Oswald's body was hung from a tree, which became known as "Oswald's Tree", which evolved into "Oswestry". The spring Oswald's Well is supposed to have originated where a raven dropped one of Oswald's arms.
Offa's Dyke runs nearby to the west.
The Domesday Book records a castle L'oeuvre belonging to Rainald, a Sheriff of Shropshire. The Normans built a castle in the 12th century (which was reduced to a pile of rocks after the English Civil War), and the town changed hands between English and Welsh a number of times during the Middle Ages.
The town was still exposed to border fighting after the Civil War, and built walls for protection, but these were torn down in the 18th century, leaving only the Newgate Pillar visible today.
Attractions of Oswestry include Whittington Castle (in nearby Whittington), Shelf Bank and Oswestry School.
The former local football club, Oswestry Town F.C., was one of the few English teams to compete in the Welsh football league. Oswestry Town folded due to 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 renamed itself as The New Saints F.C. They are planning to build a new ground in Oswestry, but will probably not break ground until at least 2007.
Oswestry does not have an active railway station itself, although the buildings of the long-disused former railway station occupy a prominent place in the town, and the still mostly intact railway runs right through the middle, just past the town centre. The nearest active station is at Gobowen. It is possible that the rail link will be re-established using a Parry People Mover.
In an interview with Radio Times magazine, Matt Lucas and David Walliams admitted that Oswestry had provided the inspiration for the famous I'm the only gay in the village running sketch on their BBC comedy show Little Britain
Notable Oswestrians
- Henry Walford Davies, composer
- Alexander Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton, Chairman of Macmillan Publisher Ltd.
- Wilfred Owen, WWI soldier and poet
- Barbara Pym, author
- William Henry Griffith Thomas
- George Williams, Michigan State Senator
- Ian Woosnam, golfer
- Per Lindstrand, balloonist
- Ian Hunter, Musician - Mott the Hoople etc
- Rev. William Archibald Spooner, originator of the Spoonerism
- Trevor Rees-Jones, survivor of the car accident in which Diana, Princess of Wales died.
- Sebastian Donald Young, Official Car Crasher
- Jesse Armstrong, TV comedy writer
- Major Charles Ingram Who Wants to Be a Millionaire cheat
- Emma Jones Celebrated local beauty
- Andrew Morris Celebrated Journalist, wrestler and singer
External links
- [Oswestry Borough Council]
- [Oswestry Town Council]
- [Oswestry page]
- [Another Oswestry page]
- [And another Oswestry page, this site has a great guide to the many pubs in the town]
- [Oswestry and Border Counties Advertiser, the town's weekly newspaper]
- [Whittington Castle]
- [Cambrian Railway Museum]
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