Visit Oswestry
Pen-y-Dyffryn Hotel, near Oswestry, is peacefully set in the surrounding Shropshire Border Hills. In fact the Welsh border runs right through the hotel grounds!
Oswestry is a small and pretty town in Shropshire, with a long and embattled history. But today Oswestry has the air of a bustling Victorian market town, with an unmistakeable air of “Welshness” about it.
The town has more than its fair share of small independent shops. So it is perfect for browsing for curios and gifts. It holds the biggest street market in Shropshire on a Wednesday and Saturday, and you are just as likely to hear Welsh spoken in the town as English. But all the locals do speak English!
There is much to see and do in and around the town as the whole area is beautiful and positively breathes history. See here for more visitor information
History of Oswestry
Right on the edge of the Welsh hills, Oswestry saw many battles during the Middle Ages in the border wars between the English and the Welsh. Nearby Offa’s Dyke marks out the historical border between these two great nations. The many remnants of these more turbulent times show that Oswestry was once a strategically vital frontier town.
The origins of the town are uncertain although the town’s market dates back to 1190. The name Oswestry is thought to be a corruption of ‘Oswald’s Tree’ and the legend that Oswald the Christian King of Northumbria fought a great battle against the pagan King of Mercia – Penda. Oswald was defeated and killed in the battle. Penda – as a warning to others who might challenge his rule – dismembered Oswald’s body and hung his limbs on the branches of a tree – hence the name ‘Oswald’s Tree’.
An ancient hill-fort called Old Oswestry, one of the biggest in Europe, said to be the birthplace of Queen Guinevere, stands above the town.
The nearby Montgomery Canal is another part of the town’s past, as is the excellent Railway Museum, both worth a visit during your stay. Ellesmere, Shropshire’s Lake District, is close by and boat rides and fishing are available. There are six excellent golf courses close by including Oswestry Golf Club, Ian Woosnam’s home course.
Unusually for such a small town Oswestry also has one of the world’s leading Orthopaedic hospitals – The Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, just on the edge of town.
