Oswestry
Oswestry (Welsh: Croesoswallt) is a historic market town of the Welsh Marches, located within the English county Shropshire.
A town of the Anglo-Welsh border region, the town changed hands between English and Welsh control multiple times throughout the Middle Ages. As late as 1972, residents were still split between English and Welsh identity.
History
The area has been inhabited since at least the 8th century BC, with evidence for an Iron Age fort at a location known as Old Oswestry, immediately north of the modern town.
The Iron Age hill fort was still occupied as late as 43 AD. The site is known in modern Welsh as Caer Ogyrfan, which means "fort/city of Gogyrfan"; according to Arthurian legend, Gogyrfan was the father of Guinevere.
The Battle of Maserfield took place in c. 642 AD and is widely believed to have been fought in Oswestry (although other accounts prefer Golborne, Lancashire). The battle was fought by the Pagan Anglian kingdom Mercia and the Britons against the Christian kingdom Northumbria.
Following the Norman conquest of 1066, the Domesday Book was completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. Oswestry was not mentioned by name in the survey, but a castle in the area was listed as Lvvre, thought to be for French l’oeuvre ("the work").[1] The castle was recorded as having been built by Rainalt, the Norman sheriff of Shropshire, would become Oswestry Castle.
Notable people
- Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) - soldier known for his war poetry.
