Lettings Agents Oswestry


	The Local Area information is split into two main area’s, please choose from the selection below: Oswestry below or Wrexham


	Local Area - Oswestry With a population of more than 17,000 people, after Telford and Shrewsbury Oswestry is the third largest in Shropshire; the border town has narrow passageways linking streets who’s names conjure up images of the past: English Walls, Welsh Walls, The Baily and Horsemarket. Most of the town centre has been designated a Conservation Area conveying a mixture of architectural styles. There are many old timber framed houses including the shops along Beatrice Street. Georgian architecture is also represented particularly around St Oswald's Church where there are a number of imposing town houses complete with grand entrance staircases and front doors. It has a significant Victorian legacy. Many of the Shop fronts and facades, the many terraced houses and churches and railway buildings reflect this period. It is a locally important shopping and agricultural centre and still retains the intimacy of a rural town serving local people and home to a number of specialist and independent shops.

History

Old Oswestry is the site of a large Iron Age hill fort with evidence for occupation dating back to the 550s BC. Thought to have been fought in 642, the Battle of Maserfield was between two Anglo-Saxon Kings Penda and Oswald. According to legend, the killed and dismembered Oswald’s arm was carried to an ash tree by an eagle, and miracles were subsequently attributed to that tree, as Oswald was considered a saint. It is thought that the name of the site derived from a reference to “Oswald’s Tree”. Oswald’s Well is supposed to have originated where the bird dropped the arm from the tree. Offa’s Dyke runs nearby to the west.

Borders

Being very close to Wales, Oswestry has many street and place names, and the town’s name in welsh is Croesoswallt, which translates into English as Oswald’s Cross. The town changed hands between English and Welsh a number of times during the Middle Ages. Oswestry was attacked by the Welsh rebel leader Owain Glyndŵr and his forces during the early years of his rebellion against the English King Henry IV in 1400, it became known as Pentrepoeth or 'hot town' as it was burned and nearly totally destroyed by the Welsh.

Market Town

Oswestry was granted the right to hold a market each Wednesday, in 1190. After the outbreak of foot and mouth in the late 1960’s, the animal market was moved away from the town centre. In the 1990s, a statue of a shepard and sheep were installed in the market square as a memorial to the history of the market site. With the weekly influx of welsh farmers, the town folk were often bilingual. Walls that were built for the protection of the town were torn down by the parliamentarians after they sieged the town briefly on 22 June 1644, leaving only the Newgate Pillar visible today.

Landmarks

There are attractions in and all around Oswestry which include: Whittington Castle (located in the nearby town of Whittington), Shelf Bank and the Cambrian Railway Museum, and the Old Station Visitor Centre. Due to the high number of Public Houses per head of population, the town has become famous, and many of the pubs offer real ale. The parish church, St Oswald’s Church is almost 1,000 years old, with the Norman tower which dates back to 1085.

Education

There are not only numerous primary schools in and around Oswestry, there are two private schools, Oswestry School and Moreton Hall, and a comprehensive school, The Marches School and Technology College. In addition, post-16 education is provided by Walford and North Shropshire College. There is also a specialist Orthopaedic hospital in the town, the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt.

Religious Sites

There are a number of places of worship in Oswestry. The two Church of England churches, which are part of the Diocese of Lichfield-St. Oswald’s Parish Church, which has been a church since 640 AD, and the Holy Trinity Parish Church. The town of Oswestry and the surrounding villages fall into the parish of Our Lady Help of Christians and St Oswald, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury.

Sports

The local football club, TNS, formally known as Oswestry Town F.C., was one of the few English teams to compete in the league of Wales. Oswestry Town folded due to financial difficulties and merged with Total Network Solutions F.C. of Llansantffraid, a village eight miles away from the welsh side of the border. Following the takeover of the club’s sponsor the club renamed itself as The New Saints.

Transport

By road
Oswestry can be located at the junction of the A5 with the A483 and the A495. The A5 continues from Shrewsbury to the North, passing the town, before turning West close to Chirk and crossing into Wales. Running near the town is a navigable section of the partially restored Montgomery Canal, which runs from Frankton Junction to Newtown.

By rail
There is no longer an active railway within Oswestry, although the buildings of the former railway station occupy a prominent place in the town. These buildings were reopened as the Cambrian Railways Visitor Centre in June 2006 but have consequently closed.

Further information
Oswestry Borough Council has information and advice on business and the community. Oswestry Town Council and Welcome to Oswestry has information for visitors and residents.


	Northwood Lettings Oswestry Tel: 01978 356 100