Part 19

“That Sir Walter Scott is as indubitable an authority in early English or Welsh History as in that of his own country may not be admitted by all. According to the Welsh records Oswestry belonged to Madog, Prince of Powys, who resided at Oswestry, and built the Castle there about the year 1140. His second wife, Maud Vernon, an English lady of noble birth, on the death of Madog, married William Fitz-Alan, Lord of Clun, who in right of his wife obtained the Town and Castle of Oswestry. This William was a descendant of Alan who (says the Welsh Historian) came over with William the Conqueror, and was the first of the Fitz-Alans that was Baron of Oswestry. Again, the English historians assign to Oswestry Castle a more ancient date than 1140. They inform us that it was in being before the Norman conquest; and that Alan, a noble Norman, had the Town and Castle bestowed upon him by the Conqueror, soon after his accession. But whether Walter the Steward was the grandson of Flaald, and of Welsh descent, or whether his father came over from Normandy with the Conqueror, it may be taken as a fact that Walter, the son of Alan, the younger brother of William Fitz-Alan, went from Oswestry Castle, of which his father was Governor, into the service of David I., King of Scotland, as that monarch’s Steward, and was the founder of the house of Stewart. The following extract from _Chambers’ Journal_ is concurrent in testimony with the main features of the above, and is fraught with additional interest, as it shows how greatly Scotland was indebted to the old Town of Oswestry for its progress in civilization:—

‘During the troublous conflicts of Maud and Stephen, in their competition for the crown of England, Walter, the son of Alan, the son of Flaald, fled from the family seat at Oswestry, and settled in Scotland. David I. made him his Steward, and gave him lands to support the dignity of his office. By the charter we learn that these lands were those of “Passaleth (Paisley), Polloc, Talahee, Ketkert, le Drop, le Mutrene Egglesham, Louchwinnock, and Inverwick.” These estates in Renfrewshire (then a portion of Lanarkshire) were confirmed by Malcolm IV. in 1157, when he made the office of Steward hereditary, and granted, in addition, various other estates in the same quarter. Besides these possessions, Walter acquired the western half of Kyle, in Ayrshire, which hence was called Kyle Stewart. At this period the country was in a semi-barbarous state; but Walter the Stewart introduced new and civilized usages. He settled many of his military followers on his lands, and, founding the Abbey of Paisley, introduced a body of instructed men, who taught the ancient people domestic arts and foreign manners. By the marriage of one of these Stewarts with Margery Bruce, Robert the Stewart was born, and became, 1370–1, King of Scots.’

“The Hill which claims this unique and unquestionable honour, in defiance of all the various contradictory and exploded fables which would give it to Scotland (for no spot in England seeks to withhold it from Oswestry), has been rescued from the destruction with which it has long been threatened, both by the encroachments of time and thoughtless spoliation, having been purchased by several of the Inhabitants of Oswestry, and vested in James Thomas Jones, Esq., as their Trustee, and is now planted as an Arboretum. The panoramic view from this Hill is one of the most beautiful scenic gems in the neighbourhood; and when the shrubs which have been planted shall have overcome the obstacles to their luxuriant growth, arising from exposure to bleak winds, and a comparatively uncongenial soil, it will constitute an ornament to the Town of Oswestry, such as few localities can boast; and which, in addition to its historic interest, will render it a spot, of which the Inhabitants of the County of Salop, and of Oswestry especially, may rank among their most remarkable objects of attraction. While the Hill was being planted a small silver coin was found, which, on examination, proved to be of the reign of David I. of Scotland. This, though not a direct link in the chain of proof of the title of Oswestry Castle to the honour it claims, and defies Scotland to dispute, is a remarkable corroborative incident, most valuable, as circumstantial evidence, in support of the claim. A stone has been placed on the Hill, with the following inscription:—’A.D. MCXXXVIII., Walter, son of Alan, the progenitor of the Royal House of Stuart, left this, his ancestral castle, in the reign of Stephen, King of England, and of David I., King of Scots.’”

The more recent history of the Castle may be given in a few words. In the sixth of Henry II., Guy le Strange, Sheriff of Shropshire, accounted in the exchequer for salaries paid out of the king’s revenues to the wardens in the Castle of Blancminster (Oswestry), the inheritance of William Fitz-Alan, then lately deceased. In the fifteenth of John, the nephew (John) of the Earl of Pembroke, guardian of the Marches of Wales, was made Governor of Blancminster. In Henry III., John Fitz-Alan, as heir to Hugh de Albany, Earl of Arundel, had upon the death of that Earl, assigned for his _purpatry_, the Castle of Arundel, and upon paying £1000 fine was admitted to the possession of Oswestry Castle. In the twenty-fourth of Henry III., on the death of John Fitz-Alan, John le Strange had a grant of the custody of the lands of John, his son (then a minor), with an allowance of 300 marks per annum, for guarding Blancminster and other places. In the first of Edward I., John de Oxinden had the custody of the Castle of Blancminster, upon the death of John, Earl of Arundel. In the third of Edward I., Bogo de Knovil was Sheriff of the county, and Keeper of the Castle of Blancminster. In the eighth of Edward I., Isabel, mother of Richard, Earl of Arundel, had the custody of the Castle of Blancminster, and also of the hundred of _Oswaldster_ during the minority of her son; but two years afterwards her brother, Edmund de Mortimer, supplanted her, and got the grant to himself. In the eighteenth of Edward I., Adam de Montgomery died Governor of the Castle. In the twenty-seventh of Edward I., Peter Meuvesine de Berwicke, _juxta Akinton_, died in the same office. In the twenty-seventh of Edward II., after the attainder of Edmund, Earl of Arundel, Roger Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore, had a grant of the Castle. In the twenty-first of Richard II., Richard, Earl of Arundel, being attainted or executed, the king seized upon his lands and manors, and granted them to William Scrope, Earl of Wiltshire. In the seventh of Henry IV., Thomas, son of the attainted Earl, after he was restored in blood, freed the burgesses from many impositions of the Constable of the Castle. Amongst the names of subsequent Governors of the Castle we find those of John Trevor, Vaughan, Jeffrey Kyffyn; and in the twenty-fifth of James I., Thomas, Earl of Suffolk, his wife, Lord Walden, Sir Arnold Herbert, and William Herbert, “grant to the Lady Craven, Sir William Whitmore, George Whitmore, and their heirs, the lordship, manor, and Castle of Oswestry.” The state of the Castle in the Civil Wars has already been described.

In a record of the Inquisition, 21 Richard II., 1398, preserved in the Tower of London, there is a curious inventory of articles contained in Oswestry Castle on the attainder of Richard, Earl of Arundel, taken by order of the King. The Jurors consisted of inhabitants of the town and district. The record states, that “the Castle, Vill, and Lordship of Oswaldestre, in the Marches of Wales, is worth yearly, with its customs and appurtenances, besides the fees of all the officers there, and besides all reprizes made there, one year with another, £252, 16s. 2d.” * * * * “That the said Earl was seized as of fee of one messuage in the Vill of Oswaldestre, by his deed enfeoffed one John ap Wyllym, to have to him and his heirs for ever, worth yearly beyond reprizes, 6s. 8d. Also, that the said Earl was seized as of fee of the advowson of the free Chapel of St. Nicholas, within the Castle of Oswaldestre, worth 46s. 8d. Also, that the said Earl of Arundel had within the Castle of Oswaldestre, on the 18th day of July last past, and afterwards, the following goods and chattels, that is to say,—in the _Wardrobe_ there, 5 yew bows, 4 elm bows, 20 sheaves of arrows, 6 cross-bows, lances, with 6 heads, 1 gun, 1 barrel of gunpowder, 200 quirells, 3 pol-axes, 2 sparthes, 3 broken jacks, 3 pair of gauntlets, 3 pallets, 1 banderich for a cross-bow, 1 table, 1 pair of stakes, 3 pair of fetters, 6 pair of iron handcuffs, with iron bolts, 1 coler, with 2 iron shakylls, 1 file, 1 hammer. In the _Great Chamber_, 1 cupboard, 2 tables, 4 forms. In the _Middle Chamber_, 3 chests, 2 forms, 1 table. In the _High Chamber_, 1 hand-mill, panel of a certain trefreget. In the _Constable’s Hall_, 3 tables, four tressels, 3 forms, 1 bason, with a laver, 1 small chest. In the _Butlery_, 1 chest, broken at the top, 1 bucket, with an iron chain, 1 barrel for weapons, 31 keys of different locks. In the _Chapel_, 1 vessel for the holy water, 1 missal, 1 gilt chalice, 2 linen towels, with a frontal, 2 surplices, 2 chessibles, with accompaniments, 1 hand-mill for grinding corn. In the _Kitchen_, 1 stone mortar, with a pile of wood. In the _Larder_, 2 broken oxheads, with 6 bushels of salt; which said artillery, arms, goods and chattels, are put into the custody of Madog Lloid, the Deputy of Robert Legh, Chivaler Constable of the Castle aforesaid, for the defence of the same.” After enumerating several other articles, the Inquisition record adds, “and in a certain house in the Vill of Oswaldestre (the said Earl possessed) 601 fleeces of wool, weighing 2 sacks, and ⅛th of a sack, at per sack 100s.; 50 gallons of honey, at 7s. a gallon. Also the said Earl had on the 18th day of July aforesaid, and afterwards, in the said Castle, 1 white stallion, price £10; 1 race-horse, called _Young Sorrell_, price £13 6s. 8d. And in the Park of Oswaldestre Superior, 16 horse colts, 13 of which are 3 years old, and 3 of them 2 years old: price in the whole, £66 13s. 4d.” The record further adds, that the said “Earl had after the 18th of July, £720 in money, and that one Thomas Harlyng, late Receiver-General of the said Earl, took and carried away the same, whereof he is answerable to the King.” A great number of articles, with monies, cattle, &c., are stated to have been taken away by various persons named, who are made answerable to the King for the same.—This document is curious, inasmuch as it throws some light upon the military weapons in use at the period, on the plain and scanty domestic articles in the Castle, and on the low value of farming stock, &c. The record presents no account of the Earl’s apartments, or those of his servants, or of the furniture there used. Probably all the valuable property which he possessed in the fortress was carried away and disposed of before the Earl was attainted. The entire record furnishes evidence of nothing polished or luxurious; on the contrary, it is a catalogue of mere rudeness, discomfort, and barbarity; giving no marks whatever of vice-regal grandeur or princely state.

As an additional fact it is proper to mention, that the _Bailey-Head_ was the original _ballium_, or quadrangle of the Castle; that the mount in the Castle-field, known by the name of the _Cripple-bank_, or _gathe_, was also the site of the ancient _Barbican_, or outer gate, at which the poor and diseased received relief. Of the free chapel, dedicated to St. Nicholas, _infra Castrum de Oswaldestre_, the advowson of which belonged to the Arundel family, there is not a trace left to mark its situation.

The sketch of Oswestry Castle which forms one of our illustrations shows that, in its pristine state, it was a formidable structure, of great strength and stateliness. The architecture seems to be of the Saxon order.

THE WALLS.

The ancient Walls of the town were the work of Edward I., and no doubt were well and firmly built; but scarcely a vestige of them remains. Their circumvallation is, however, correctly marked in most of the old books, and old inhabitants of the present day point out various sites on which portions of the walls stood. Edward was generally successful in giving strength and endurance to his military buildings. Caernarvon, Conway, and Rhuddlan Castles, all designed and erected under his superintendence, are noble fortresses in the present age, notwithstanding the dilapidations they have suffered from military attack and “Time’s effacing fingers.” The Walls of Oswestry must have suffered much injury during the period of the Commonwealth; and perhaps private encroachments since that time have been the principal cause of their entire disappearance.

ANCIENT HOUSES.

There are still remaining several ancient timber houses, to mark the architecture of bye-gone times. Among these are, the _Three Tuns_ public-house, in Bailey-Street, and an antique edifice forming the angle of Bailey-Street and Cross-Street, in front of which is the figure of a spread eagle, raised on the plaster, and supposed to have been the residence of the Lloyds, of Trenewydd, who bore the eagle in their coat of arms. The _Three Tuns_ was a popular house in former days, and was the resort of most of the drapers who visited the fairs and markets of the borough. Among the other old timber buildings are Miss Holbrooke’s, in Salop-Road, the most attractive of any in the town, from the neatness in which it is kept, the _Coach and Dogs_, and the _Fighting Cocks_ public-houses. These relics of past days may not be allowed to remain much longer, now that improvement in the town is likely to become so rapid in its strides.

The railway extension, from Oswestry to Welshpool and Newtown, will effect important changes in most parts of the borough; and as the antique relics to which we have been alluding are comparatively useless in a social point of view, their sites may soon be covered with buildings better adapted to the comforts and requirements of the present day.

ANCIENT RELICS.

A ball found many years ago near the Cross in Oswestry, and now in the possession of W. Ormsby Gore, Esq., is considered to be one of the weights used at the end of beams in what was called _Auncel Weight_, practised in the reign of Edward I. It is ornamented with a shield, bearing the arms of England simply, which dates it before the 15th of Edward, as in that year he claimed the crown of France, and immediately, on obtaining it, placed the arms of that kingdom in the first quarter of his shield. On the second shield appears the bearing of the Fitz-Alans, a lion rampant. The third shield has an eagle displayed, most probably of the gentleman who at that period filled the office of Steward.

Some further antiquities require a brief notice. The field known by the name of _Croft-y-Spytty_, that is, _the Croft of the Hospitallers_, intimates that the Knight Hospitallers had once some establishment in the town. The field known as _Erw-Spiridion_, _the Acre of Sprudion_, or _Spiridion_, would lead to the conclusion that a church or chapel, or the ground itself, had been dedicated to the supposed Saint ycleped _Spiridion_. In a former part of this volume we have referred to _Maes-y-garreg-llwyd_, that is, _the Plain or Field of the Sacred Stone_. That plain is now divided into fields, situated on the Shrewsbury road, contiguous to Gallows-tree turnpike-gate. In the field nearest to the town there stands a STONE PILLAR, about seven feet in height, and twelve in circumference; and in the field farthest from the town, there is a similar Pillar. The late Rev. Peter Roberts, the learned antiquarian, was of opinion that all the fields at that end of the town formed a large plain when these pillars were erected, and bore the name already mentioned, of _Maes-y-garreg-llwyd_. _Llwyd_ was an epithet of the Deity, as in the expression “_Duw llwyd_,” the Sacred GOD. Between these two pillars there is still visible part of a ditch, called _the Devil’s Ditch_; and adjacent to the farthest field was another called “_Caerychain Bannog_,” or _the Field of __the bossed Oxen_. Mr. Roberts adds,

“According to a tradition common in Wales, these oxen were twins, and employed by _Hu Gadarn_, a hero of antiquity, to draw a monster out of a lake, by which means he saved the country from being inundated. The popular tradition of the _Devil’s Ditch_ is, that an evil spirit formed it, in order to convey water to deluge the country, and that the ditch was in one night carried as far as Wynnstay, but that when the said evil spirit had carried it so far, the cock crew, he was obliged to desist, and it was left unfinished. Absurd, however, as these traditions may appear, they lead to the true origin, namely, that this ground and the pillars had some reference to the Deluge, and it may reasonably be presumed, that in the space included between these pillars some druidical rites were performed, in commemoration of the Deluge. The setting-up of a pillar, and consecrating it to the Deity, was a memorial of reverence to HIM in the time of the Patriarchs, as we read in Genesis that Jacob set up a stone pillar, and consecrated it, in memory of his devoting himself to the worship of the true GOD. And hence it may be concluded, that these and such Pillars were in like manner the memorials—rude indeed, but durable—of Pagan tradition.”

In the _Shrewsbury Chronicle_ of March 16th, 1832, there appeared the following paragraph:—

“As some workmen were digging in a field near Oswestry, last week, they turned up the hilt and part of the blade of an elegant antique sword. The blade is in two pieces, completely encrusted with rust, and very much corroded, but upon cleaning and grinding a part of it, the steel was found to be of excellent temper. The handle is apparently of ebony, or some similar wood, but encrusted with the oxyde which has passed from the steel inserted in it, and worked its way through the pores of the wood, so as to make it resemble buck’s horn. The part of the sword which is attached to the hilt (about four inches in length) remains in the scabbard, and, what is very remarkable, the canvass of which the scabbard is composed is still visible. The scabbard and hilt are mounted with highly-chased silver, as perfect as when it came out of the hands of the graver. On the end of the hilt is an eagle, pouncing on its prey, and a representation of Jupiter and Leda. On each side of the guard is a full-length figure, and on the sides of the sword end of the hilt are the figures of a spread eagle, and of a doe _couchant regardant_. The latter appears as a crest. On the silver plate which covers the opening of the scabbard is the representation of an Arcadian Shepherd scene. The sword is of the description of those which were worn by the Cavaliers, and there can be no reasonable doubt but that it was dropped by one of them in the route to which the Royalist army was put by Sir Thomas Myddelton, when they made an attempt to regain possession of Oswestry, on the 2nd of July, 1644, after its capture by the Parliament forces. ‘They had taken the passage of water,’ says Sir Thomas Myddelton, ‘near to Whittington, and very furiously assaulted and charged us, but were repulsed and forced to retyre, through the courage of our horse, who most courageously entertained the enemy. Three several times the skirmish was doubtful, either side being forced so often to retreat; but in the end, our foot forces coming up, relieved the horse, beat back the enemy, and pursued them with such force, that they put them to an absolute flight, in which we pursued them five miles towards Shrewsbury, to a place called Felton Heath, and where we likewise remained after their flight again, masters of the field. In the skirmish with the enemy, and in the pursuite we lost several of our horse, some of our troopers, but never a footman which I am yet informed of. As for the enemy, they lost many stout men; had many of them taken prisoners, some of them being of great quality, as the Lord Newport’s eldest son, and besides in their flight, such was their haste, that we found in our pursuite, the highway as it were strewed with ammunition, &c.’ As this relic was found in the line of this pursuit, the road having passed through the field, there can be scarcely a doubt of its having belonged to one of the officers of Charles’s army.”

The sword is in the possession of Mr. Sabine, in whose field it was found.

In March, 1811, two urns were dug out of part of the Coney Green, belonging to the late Mr. Thomas Hilditch, of Oswestry. They were both of the same composition, but the larger one of a finer and more symmetrical form. In the smaller urn were found the remains of bones, but whether of the human form could not be ascertained.

A piece of marble, of an oblong form, and resembling an ancient club, was dug out of the ground at Broom Hall, in Oct., 1836, about five feet below the surface, in a bed of clay. It was one inch in thickness, but tapered to an edge all round, the broad edge being very sharp. It is supposed to have been a weapon of defence in the early British period.

OSWALD’S WELL

Is one of the most interesting objects of the town. It is beautifully situated to the west of the Free Grammar School, and has easy and pleasant approaches to it from Upper Brook-Street and from Willow-Street. The Well is supplied by a spring flowing from the elevated ground beyond it. It is inclosed in a small square basin, in a recess made of stone, and arched over. At the back there is a sculptured head of King Oswald, once “banded by a royal fillet,” and formerly the front of the Well was secured by an iron grate. Tradition and superstition have invested the Well with much interest, but the purity of the water it sends forth should have secured to it a far higher celebrity. We are told that Oswald’s remains were interred near the spring; that a tree was planted there to mark the spot; that when Oswald was slain, in the battle with Penda, an eagle tore one of the arms from the body, and, flying off with it, fell down and perished on the spot from which the waters burst forth, and have continued to flow ever since, as miraculously as the waters of St. Winifred’s Well, in Flintshire. A later writer on Border History has ventured to inform us, that so recently as the year 1780 King Oswald’s “skull was found in digging the pool just below the Well.” How the skull was identified the writer does not state, probably from the great difficulty he must have had in establishing such an important identification. Setting aside all this mystification and nonsense, we are glad to put on record, that the water from this Well is justly entitled to the appellation of pure _aqua fontana_; and from the analysis of Sir James Murray, which we subjoin, its medicinal properties are of no mean order:—“Thermometer at 470 Fahrenheit, the water consisting of sulphate of lime (gypsum), carbonate of lime, muriate of soda (common salt), muriate of magnesia, and sulphate of magnesia.—June 6th, 1822.”

[Picture: St. Oswald’s Well]