Oswestry

Oswestry is a market town in the Welsh Marches, close to the border between England and Wales. A Norman castle stood above the settlement, which grew beyond its defences and acquired walls and gates in the Middle Ages. The town's position brought both trade and repeated danger during conflicts along the frontier. Around 1400 forces associated with Owain Glyndŵr's Welsh revolt captured Oswestry. More than two centuries later the English Civil War brought another siege: Parliamentary troops took the Royalist stronghold in 1644, and the castle was subsequently demolished. Its earthwork remains recall the fortress around which the border town had grown.