In 642 A.D. Christian King Oswald lost a battle against Pagan King Penda of Mercia. In a bid to deter any other Christian protagonists, Penda hung Oswald’s dismembered body from a tree and Oswald’s Tree became Oswestry. Legend has it that an eagle picked up a part of the dead king’s body and dropped it, whereupon a spring of water appeared, this known as Oswald’s Well.
In the 8th century King Offa created Offa’s Dyke, which runs through the area and separated Saxon Mercia from Wales, making Oswestry a frontier town that changed hands many times before being finally settled in the 1535 Act of Union.
The Normans were quick to build a castle after the Conquest of 1066 in a bid to subdue the increasing Welsh raids. The castle was all but destroyed by the Parliamentarians after the Civil War, though you can visit the site on a mound in the town.
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