Part 2
Madog 15 Maelor 15 Marrow’s Assault 69 Marches Lordships 17 Margery Bruce 180 Markets and Fairs 97 Markets 102–3 Maserfield 7 Mathrafal 9 Maud Verdon 15 Maurice, William 231 Mayors, List of 164 Mayor’s Blunders 85 Mediolanum 259 Montgomery, Roger de 16 Morda, the 212 Morlas, the 212 Morus, Hugh 231 Monuments within the Church 139 in the Church-yard 14 in the New Church-yard 147 Morva Rhuddlan 113 Mortimers, the 31 Mount Pleasant 290 Municipal and Civil Government 158 Officers 163 Murage, the 29 Myddelton, Sir Thomas 77 Mytton, Major-General 75 Mytton, the late John, Esq. 251
National Schools 112 Natural History 205 Newport, Mr. 68 Norfolk, Duke of 15 Norman Period 14 Notabilia 235
Oakhurst 290 Offa’s Dyke 10 Old Chapel 152 Oswald’s Well 189 Oswestry Race-course 10 Castle, Burning of 72 Government of 72 As it was 92 recent History of 181 Castle Hill 177 Owain Brogyntyn 15 Oswald and Penda 2
Parliament, the Great 32 Parish Church 132 Sunday School 114 Park Hall 263 Penda, the Mercian King 8 Pengwern 9 Pentre Pant 290 Pentre Poeth 53 Penylan 290 Perry, the 212 Plague, records of 55 Plot to remove the markets 59 Poor Rate Return—Oswestry town and parish (1855) 240 Population 204 Porkington 266 Post Office 99 Powys Vadog 14 Preesgwene House 273 Primitive Methodist Chapel 157 Public Establishments and Institutions 98
Quinta, the 274
Railway Communication 194 Restoration, the 76 Review of Ancient History 7 Revolution, the 86 Reynolds, John 232 Richard II., death of 34 Rivers 209 Rhyd-y-croesau 290 Rhyd-y-croesau Church 150 Roberts, the Rev. Peter 232 Rug 15
Sacheverell, Dr. 86 Salter, Mr. Robert 234 Savings’ Bank 101 Saxon Period 9 Selattyn 269 Shrewsbury, the Battle of 37 Siarter Cwtta, the Short Charter 24 Site of the town 91 Sketches of the Environs of Oswestry 241 Social Improvement 88 Society for Bettering the Condition of the Poor 129 Spot, Dick 233 St. Martin’s 272 Stamp Office 101 Statistics 201 Streets 95 Sweeney Hall 291
Tenants’ Service 48 Theatre 104 Topographical History 90 Town Walls 184 Tre’r Cadeiriau 3 Tre’r Fesen 6 Trefaldwyn 13 Trefonen Church 149 Tre Meredydd 14 Trevor, Sir John 159 Trinity Church 144 Tyn-y-Rhos 278
Visit of Baldwin and Giraldus 25 Vicars, List of 151
Walter the Stewart 179 Watt’s Dyke 11–12–13 Welsh Cloth Market 51 Wesleyan Methodist Chapel 156 Whittington 275 William the Conqueror 10 Wood Hill Hall 291 Wynnstay 286
Young Men’s Institute 115 Zion Chapel 152
Illustrations.
THE TOWN.
Page Beatrice Gate 94 Church Gate and Avenue 136 Cross Market and Street Views (facing the Title-page) Dispensary and Public Baths 118 Free Grammar School (facing) 107 Griddle Gate 137 New Gate 93 National Schools 113 Oswestry Castle (from an ancient drawing (facing) 172 belonging to an inhabitant of Dudleston) The Old Chapel 155 Parish Church (facing) 132 Powis Market, Guildhall, and Bailey Head (facing) 103 St. Oswald’s Well 190 Trinity Church 148
THE ENVIRONS.
Brynkinalt (facing) 243 Chirk Castle (facing) 244 Halston (facing) 249 Llanymynech Church 255 Park Hall (facing) 263 Porkington (facing) 266 Selattyn Church 271 Whittington Castle (facing) 281 Wynnstay (facing) 287
History of Oswestry.
A CELEBRATED writer has said, that “History is philosophy teaching by example.” Local History was doubtless included in the reflection of the distinguished essayist, when he penned the memorable sentence, which has for years past been adopted as a national maxim. In Local History we have handed down to us facts and fiction, both grave and gay; traditions and customs illustrative of popular habits and manners; records of national edicts and social laws; municipal mandates, and parochial practice; doleful notes of superstition and ignorance, with gratifying statistics of the progress of truth and enlightenment; pleasing reports of the advancement of science and art, mechanical ingenuity, and industrial pursuits; and, speaking comprehensively, with a keen glance at the past, we descry enough, in the chequered examples of byegone times, to help us on in wisdom’s ways.
With these preliminaries, let us now lead our readers pleasantly onward through the devious paths and labyrinths of Oswestry’s varied history, beguiling them, perchance, by the way, with all that is agreeable pertaining to the ANCIENT AND LOYAL BOROUGH, which, from its antiquity, its scenes of martial daring and prowess, the tranquil beauty of its surrounding landscapes, and its primitive, as well as modern relation to some of the sweetest spots of CAMBRIA, has commanded the admiration and homage of historians, painters, and poets.
Derivation of Name, &c.
The derivation of the name of the Borough is still, and perhaps ever will be, involved in obscurity. As a place of retreat for the Cymry, or early Britons, when chased from the south by the Roman invaders, it is not unlikely to have had a primitive name that has been lost in the flood of ages. Pennant, whose industry and historical research have earned for him lasting fame, dates the commencement of its history in the Saxon period, not anterior to the celebrated conflict at Oswestry, between _Oswald_, the Christian King of the Northumbrians, and _Penda_, the Pagan King of the Mercians, which occurred in the year 642. Other Welsh biographical and historical writers trace the origin of its name to a much earlier period, and contend that _Oswal_, a son of Cunedda Wledig, sovereign of the Stratclyde Britons, and who lived in the early part of the fifth century, received from his father, as a tribute for special military services, an extensive grant of land, called from him _Osweiling_, in which the present town of Oswestry is situated. The coincidence is extraordinary that two distinguished chieftains should have flourished—although upwards of two centuries had rolled between their reigns—bearing names so similar to each other, that from either, it may be presumed, the town could, not inappropriately, have derived its present designation. The evidence in favour of Oswald’s right to the sponsorship of Oswestry is, however, in our opinion, so strong, that we must accord the honour to the Northumbrian Monarch, until the Cambrian or British claim shall be more authoritatively established. In the battle between _Oswald_ and _Penda_, history informs us that the former was defeated and fell; that the barbarian victor ordered that the body of the slain monarch should be cut in pieces, and “stuck on stakes dispersed over the field as so many trophies; or, according to the ancient verses that relate the legend, his head and hands only were thus exposed:—
‘Three crosses, raised at _Penda’s_ dire command, Bore _Oswald’s_ royal head and mangled hands.’”
After this battle the Welsh, or Cymry, (who seemed to have possessed for some time the district including Oswestry,) had called it _Croes-Oswallt_ (Oswald’s Cross), in allusion to Penda’s ignominious exposure of Oswald’s slaughtered body. The spot where the battle was fought is said to have borne the name of _Maeshir_ (the long field), as marking the length and obstinacy of the conflict. In the fulness of the Saxon period the town was known as _Oswald’s Tree_, in evident reference to Oswald’s death, and subsequently, to the present day, “without let or impediment,” by the name of OSWESTRY.
Industrious and talented antiquarian writers have given to the town other names and derivations. For instance, we are told that it was termed by the Saxons _Blanc-Minster_, _White-Minster_, _Album-Monasterium_, from its “fair and white Monastery,” whilst the Cymry, or “Old Britons,” as Williams denominates them, “called the town _Tre’r Fesen_, _Tre’r Cadeiriau_, the Town of the Oak Chairs,” or, as another writer has it, “the Town of Great Oaks.” These terms bear special allusion to Oswald’s unfortunate arrival in this district; for the ancient seal of the town, cut in brass, represents King Oswald sitting in his robes on a chair, holding a sword in his right hand, and an oak branch in his left, with the words around, “_De Oswaldestre sigillum commune_.” In repeating the long and tedious catalogue of names and derivations, it will be proper to mention that one writer renders the designation _Tre’r Cadeiriau_ as follows:—“Oswestry was called by the Britons _Tre’r Cadeiriau_, literally the Town of _Chairs_, or Seats, commanding an extensive view, (as _Cadair Idris_, the chair of Idris, and others,) as there are several eminences commanding such views in the neighbourhood.”
Here is a chapter on civic nomenclature and varied derivation, very curious, perhaps, to many readers, but little edifying to those who ask with the poet, “What’s in a name?” And yet, ancient civic names, like many other ancient relics, have valuable and salutary uses. They are as finger-posts to the Past; in some instances inviting us to the honest path of truth and honour; in others deterring us from the rugged ways of ignorance and error. In almost all respects they enable us to institute comparisons and form contrasts between men and manners in ancient and modern days. Whilst looking at such names, we are too frequently reminded of times when Might overcame Right, and are gently led with thankful spirits to the Present, when, in our own happy and highly-privileged age, every Briton can sit “under his vine and under his fig-tree,” none daring to make him afraid.
REVIEW OF ANCIENT HISTORY.
The British Period.
FOR ages the site of the town, with the surrounding district, was the theatre of brutal contention, rapine, and aggrandisement. Here, as in the Border-Lands of Scotland, it was
“The good old rule, * * * the simple plan, That they should take who have the power, And they should keep who can.”
Education had not spread her benign wings over the people, to hush them into peace; and too commonly they who possessed the strongest physical power and the wildest barbarism became, in turns, “Lords of the Ascendant.” There is no record extant that the Roman invaders of Britain pitched their tents within the Oswestrian district; and yet it is more than probable that part of the legion, which traversed from the south of our island, actually touched at Llanymynech Hill (a Roman settlement beyond doubt), and most likely constituted a portion of the army which, under Suetonius, found its way along the mountain-passes of North Wales into Anglesey, may have halted there, if the ground was pre-occupied by the invaded Britons, or the ancient encampment, _Hen Dinas_, had then stood. We can produce nothing more than conjectural evidence of such a visit. There is no Roman architecture in the town, to mark the presence of the invaders, nor are there Roman relics rich as those discovered at Llanymynech. If the Britons occupied _Hen Dinas_ during the Roman visit to the district, the destruction of that encampment may have been accomplished by the Roman marauders; and yet it is believed by some that the Britons possessed Oswestry, intact, from before the death of Oswald to the invasion of Offa. A Roman invasion of Oswestry, and the real history of Hen Dinas (or Old Oswestry, as it is termed,) are therefore alike still involved in mystery.
On this “vexed question” we may add the following:—“Remarking to a _gentleman_,” says Mr. Hutton, “that I had gleaned some anecdotes relative to Oswald, he asked me if I had seen Old Oswestry, where, he assured me, the town had formerly stood. I smiled, and answered him in the negative. He then told me, ‘that the town had _travelled_ three quarters of a mile to the place where it had taken up its present abode.’ This belief, I found had been adopted by others with whom I conversed.”
The earliest sovereign possession of Oswestry, noted in the Welsh historic page, was in the beginning of the fifth century, as already referred to. Oswal, son of Cunedda Wledig, is there represented to have been its first monarch. The Welsh Chroniclers, however, furnish no details of his reign; and no event connected with the town is subsequently recorded, till the memorable one of King Oswald’s attack upon the Mercian King Penda, August 5th, A.D. 642. Oswald and Oswy were sons of Adelfrid, the seventh King of Northumberland. These young Princes had been driven out of the kingdom of their father by Cadwallawn, who had before been expelled from Wales, his rightful possession, by Edwin. Oswald, after seventeen years’ exile in Scotland, was restored to his kingdom by the overthrow and death of Cadwallawn. During his exile Oswald is said to have been baptized in a Christian church. He brought with him from Scotland a Christian bishop, Aidan, who preached Christianity to the people, and Oswald assisted him in his ministrations. The young Northumbrian King appears to have been zealous in the Christian cause, both in the pulpit and the field. Penda was a pagan prince, and had united with Cadwallawn in laying Northumbria waste. Oswald’s Christianity was not strong enough, it would seem, to subdue his revenge against Penda. The two monarchs at length met, a bloody conflict ensued, and Oswald was slain. The site of the closing scene of this memorable battle is said to have been a field called _Cae Nef_ (Heaven’s Field), “situated on the left of the turnpike road leading to the Free School.” The writer from whom we quote mentions, that “Oswald approached with his army to what is called Maes-y-llan, or Church Field, then open.” “About four hundred yards west of the church,” he adds, “is a rising ground, where the battle began. The assailant appears to have driven Penda’s forces to a field nearer the town, called _Cae Nef_. Here Oswald fell.” These minute particulars give increased interest to the combat; but the writer does not state any authority for the details. We suppose it must have been merely traditionary. At the present time the sites of _Cae Nef_, and _Church_ or _Chapel Field_, are well known to most of the inhabitants of the town. Oswald’s remains were first interred in the monastery of Bradney, in Lincolnshire, and afterwards, in 909, removed to St. Oswald’s, in Gloucestershire. The memory of the deceased King seems to have been held in great veneration, for churches, in various parts of the kingdom, still bear his name, as patron saint. Speed, in his “_History of Great Britaine_,” with his accustomed quaintness and minute graphic description, sums up Oswald’s closing scene in the following language:—
“But as the sunne hath his shadow, and the highest tide her ebbe, so _Oswald_, how holy soeuer, or gouernment how good, had emulators that sought his life, and his Countries mine: for wicked _Penda_ the Pagan Mercian, enuying the greatnesse that King _Oswald_ bare, raised warres against him, and at a place then called _Maserfeild_, in _Shrop-shire_, in a bloudie and sore fought battle slew him; and not therewith satisfied, in barbarous and brutish immanitie, did teare him in peeces, the first day of August, and yeere of Christ Iesus six hundred forty two, being the ninth of his raigne, and the thirty eighth of his age: whereupon the said place of his death is called to this day _Oswaldstree_, a faire Market Towne in the same Countie. The dismembred limmes of his body were first buried in the Monastery of _Bradney_, in _Lincolnshire_, shrined with his standard of Gold and Purple erected ouer his Tombe, at the industry and cost of his neece _Offryd_, Queene of _Mercia_, wife vnto king _Ethelred_, and daughter to _Oswyn_ that succeeded him. From hence his bones were afterwards remooued to _Glocester_, and there in the north side of the vpper end of the Quire in the Cathedrall Church, continueth a faire Monument of him, with a Chapell set betwixt two pillers in the same Church.”