Monument Type(s):

• DITCH (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• TOWN WALL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• TOWN DEFENCES (13th century to Post Medieval - 1272 AD to 1901 AD)

Summary

The medieval Town wall and ditch. The section of the town wall adjoining the Castle, immediately north east of Christ Church, is protected by Scheduling.

Related records

Associated Finds

• FSA193 - VESSEL (13th century - 1200 AD to 1299 AD)

Associated Events

• ESA343 - 1988 survey and excavations on top and at base of motte at Oswestry Castle by Manchester University, Centre for Continuing Education
• ESA4881 - 1999 evaluation at Cae Glas Park by SCCAS
• ESA4888 - 2000 WB on tennis court construction in Cae Glas Park by SCCAS
• ESA497 - 1973 observation of length of town wall under 2-4 Welsh Walls, Oswestry by W Day
• ESA498 - 1979 excavation in Cae Glas Park by Border Counties Archaeology Group
• ESA499 - 1980 weekend excavations by Border Counties Archaeology Group in Cae Glas Park and Willow Street
• ESA501 - 1985 WB by SCC SMR
• ESA5052 - 1995 assessment of land at Central Car Park, Oswestry by Giffords
• ESA5384 - 2003 WB on groundworks during conversion of old Regal Cinema, Oswestry by Marches Archaeology (Ref: 01/11772/FUL)
• ESA5546 - 1865 observation of stonework during drainage works
• ESA5547 - 1865(?) observation of masonry during digging work
• ESA5548 - 1870-1871 observations of town ditch during construction of Wesleyan chapel
• ESA5549 - 1871 observations of stonework during demolition of the old lock up
• ESA5550 - c1907 alleged observations of town walls during redevelopment of 78/80 Willow Street
• ESA5551 - 1920s(?) observation of stonework in a garden off Welsh Walls
• ESA5552 - c1978-1979 observation of town wall during roadworks at junction of Willow Street and Welsh Walls
• ESA5553 - 1980 observation of possible tumble from town wall during GPO works
• ESA5554 - 1980 WB on sewerage works in Willow Street by BCAG
• ESA5933 - 2005 Evaluation of land off Chapel Street, Oswestry by Castlering Archaeology (Ref: 199)
• ESA5934 - c1980 observation of town wall in gas main excavations, No. 65, Willow Street, Oswestry
• ESA5935 - 1983-1984 excavations in Castle Street car park, Oswestry by BCAG
• ESA5937 - 1985 excavation in Church Street/ English Walls car park by D Hill
• ESA5938 - 1890s observations of damp waterlogged ground on the Municipal Buildings site
• ESA5939 - Undated observation of town wall under Chapel Street
• ESA6065 - 2006 Evaluation of land off Chapel Street, Oswestry by Castlering Archaeology (Ref: 240)
• ESA6589 - 2000 trial trench at rear of No 14, English Walls, Oswestry by SCCAS
• ESA4981 - 1997 evaluation of land at Coney Green, Oswestry by Giffords
• ESA4982 - 1995 DBA of land at Salop Road/ Oswald Road, Oswestry by Giffords
• ESA7988 - 2016 Site visit on English Walls, Oswestry by OBHAG

Description

A section of the Town Wall was observed in 1973 on English Walls at SJ2901 2947 [PRN 08620, ESA497]. Wall reported as 7ft thick. The Town Wall was probably built from 1277-8 when murage grants were made, but an earlier grant exists of 1257. The walls were demolished after the Civil War, but the gates survived. <2>

A deed of agreement of 1782 states that "the Towne was formerly walled round and had several strong towers ... and four gateways". <3>

The line of walling shown on the OS 1:2500 map is deduced from a plan of 1815 and is only tentative. <4>

A 1980 report by Border Counties Archaeological Group (BCAG) contains a historical assessment, comments on 19th and early 20th century observations of the walls, and excavation reports for the Group's own fieldwork. ->

-> Oswestry was attacked and badly damaged twice in the early 13th century (in 1215, by King John in the wake of the Magna Carta; and by Llewelyn ap Gruffydd of Gwynedd in 1230). But it was not until 1257 that John FitzAlan II, lord of Owestry 1244-67, petitioned for and was granted on 28 December a muragium, or wall tax, for a period of five years to enable a wall to be built around the town. It is not certain what resulted from this, as the sum raised by a five year tax would certainly not have been sufficient to wall round the town, especially if this were originally intended to include the parish church. There may have been a simple bank and ditch surmounted by a timber palisade, as at Ruddlan or Montgomery, or, if an attempt at a stone build was made, this may have been left uncompleted. It was the later 13th century campaigns of Edward I that prompted the building of stone walls. War was declared against Llewellyn ap Gruffydd in 1276, and in 1277 a second, six-year, murage grant was made for the purpose of adequately walling the entire circuit of the town, using terminology which implies a completely new start on the wall. The wall, at least a mile in circumference (but excluding the parish church), was to be given an outer ditch which could in times of need be partially water-filled. In 1282, two serious attacks by the Welsh caused great damage to the town and the (presumably still incomplete) wall. Following these attacks, letters patent of 1283 granted a further twenty years murage, ostensibly for the repair of the town wall, but probably actually for repair and completion. Since no further murage grants are known, it is assumed that the work was actually complete by 1304. It is likely that the construction of the walls was a wholly local affair, with little sophistication of concept or execution. ->

-> Leland (c1539) mentions the walls, which were evidently still fairly intact, and specifically notes that there were no towers apart from the gates [<28>]. However, a 1602 survey complains about numerous illegal encroachments onto the ditch (the result of a combination of urban growth and relative peace), and about the plundering of both the inner (castle and bailey) defences and the town wall for building stone so that the walls were in a weak state. During the Civil War the walls proved indeed too weak to form a viable defence. Though the townspeople were ordered by the Royalist commander Lord Arthur Capell to repair them, they were probable too far gone and there is no indication that any outlying fortifications were attempted. The garrison surrendered to Parliament in 1644 but ensuing Royalist attacks further damaged the town walls. A 1652 Parliamentary Survey recommends the demolition of the walls and gates, and this seems to have taken place by 1660 in the case of the walls, though the gates were retained and only demolished in the late 18th century. ->

-> No trace of the town wall or its gateways remains above ground, there have been relatively few sightings below ground, and no historic map (except for a small scale interpretation in Price's 1815 History of Oswestry [<27>, reproduced in <15>]) shows the course of the walls (though the late demolition of the gates means that their positions are known with some exactness). Very little would have remained in situ by 1815; nor are the large amounts of worked and shaped stone evident in 16th and 17th century walls in the town are reliable indicators of the original lines. The exact line of the wall therefore remains uncertain, but is described as far as possible. Form the New Gate pillar in Church Street the wall ran SE beneath the shops and derelict cottages on the left hand side of English Walls (confirmed by a sighting in 1973 [PRN 08620, ESA497]), swinging NE at the Golden Tankard inn before running (possibly under the road) to The Bear inn, where the Black Gate straddled Salop Road/ Leg Street. From that point the course of the wall is at its most problematical and hypothetical. It is generally assumed to have run a short distance parallel to the lane to Coney Green. At the rear of the Presbyterian Chapel, Oswald Road, the wall presumably turned NW, making for the Plough inn at the top of King Street, where stood the Beatrice Gate. From here the wall continued up Plough Bank to the castle, effecting a junction with the latter's defences and those of the bailey head. West of the castle motte or mound the wall is thought to have run through the rear gardens of the houses on the left hand side of Chapel Street to Castle Street, turning westwards to the Willow Gate, which stood at the junction of Willow Street, Welsh Walls and Castle Street. From the Willow Gate the wall ran along the left hand side of Welsh Walls to somewhere near No. 27 where it turned sharply SE across Cae Glass Park, along one of several possible alignments, making for the Old Post Office and the New Gate. ->

-> The BCAG strategy identified five areas of potential. The first was between Willow Street and Welsh Walls, where it was thought that raised sections of garden might be covering wall foundations. A BCAG excavation took place in 1980 [ESA499], revealing remains not of the town wall but of a medieval building. The second was behind the Old Post Office in Church Street, and the third at Coney Green. The fourth was in Cae Glas Park. Three BCAG trenches were excavated in the park in 1979-1980 [ESA498, ESA499], and though the results were inconclusive one trench revealed a destruction level containing large dressed stones (considered to be collapsed material from the wal) with an associated area of worn paving slabs. The final area was in the car park at the junction of Willow Street and Castle Street. <5>

Excavation Dec 83/Jan 84 revealed a stretch of town wall at SJ2892 2983. 8m in length and 2m wide, it had been deliberately levelled. C13 pottery found in construction trench. It shows that the Town Wall turned S from Castle St and towards the Castle St/Chapel St car park. The wall was of sandstone ashlar blocks of regular size and bonded in good quality mortar. Part of the town ditch was also located. To the W of the wall and within its circuit were found five post holes, one housing timber uprights, and from one of them C11 pottery was recovered. This report includes a summary plan of the excavations. <6>

There was a small excavation in the English Walls car park in January 1985.Traces of what was interpreted as the ditch to the town wall were found. <7>

In 1988 the town wall at the base of the castle motte was excavated. It appeared that the town wall had been built across the earlier ditch surrounding the base of the motte (SA332), with a possible line along the inner edge of the ditch. The wall had a berm, c1.5m wide, at its base on the outside before a substantial ditch running along its length. A gap in the length of the wall exposed suggested that a postern gate gave access to the berm and ditch. <8>

Course of town walls described and mapped. Murage grant transcribed. Wall surrounded by ditch or moat. Surveyed in 1652 when "much decayed", having been damaged in 1644 during the Civil War. No documentary reference after 1652 so probably demolished at this time. The town walls had four gates, built in the early C14th [PRNs SA 00494, 00495, 00496, 00497]. These gates remained standing when the wall was demolished. Tolls were taken at the gates in the C17th. <15>

Around the walls ran watercourses. 'Under the Walls' was formed in 1849 after these had been covered. <16>

Leighton suggests town walls were still standing "almost perfect" in the 1760s. <17>

The town walls were in a poor state of repair in 1602, had been robbed for building material. <18>

CMHTS Comment: {The Record Sheet points out the contradiction between [<5>] and [<17>]}. Defined as component, and mapped using excavation data and topographic study. The tail ends of tenement plots in Willow Street and English Walls held to define alignment; defined by excavated evidence in Castle Street and Chapel Street, and by observation in King Street and Church Street. The north-eastern and south-eastern part of alignment is less certain. <19>

CMHTS Report. <20>

A 1999 watching brief on the construction of a new toilet block in Cae Glas Park encountered formerly waterlogged dumped deposits approximately on the expected line of the town ditch. However, the archaeologist was not able to say for certain whether the remains represented the ditch or, perhaps, a former pond. No other sign of the town defences was encountered in the 1999 work, nor in a further watching brief further north in Cae Glas Park the next year. <21><22>

A watching brief took place in the area just within the town wall on Leg Street (the old Regal Cinema site). It was considered possible that the wall would actually cross this piece of land, but no sign of it was seen in the grid of foundation trenches cut for the development. Instead a series of soil horizons was revealed, indicating that the land lay open until the late 18th or early 19th century <23><24>

The section of town wall excavated at the foot of the motte was included in the Scheduing of Oswestry Castle motte in 2000. Relevant part of Scheduling description: ->

-> An archaeological excavation … undertaken in 1988 revealed … in a trench dug at the base of the mound a small section of a substantial wall, thought to be part of the 13th century town defences … This wall is approximately 2m wide, aligned south west-north east, and is built of mortared rubble with its eastern side faced with dressed sandstone blocks. An opening though the wall was uncovered and is believed to mark the position of an original postern gate. The wall would appear to overlie the remains of the motte ditch and it thus post-dates the construction of the motte. This section of the town wall has been consolidated and remains have been exposed. <25>

Documentary evidence suggests murage grants were first recorded in 1220 and the town walls constructed 1277-78, during the reign of Edward I, at a time when border towns were being enclosed by circuit walls during the English campaign to conquer Wales. The town was attacked in 1215 (by King John) and by Llewellyn ap Gruffyd in 1230. In 1664 the town was the site of a minor Civil War battle, when Parliamentary forces overcame the Royalist garrison to win the town. The castle and walls seem to have been pulled down after this. The last documentary reference to the walls is in a survey of 1652, in which they are described as much decayed. <26>

The town walls of Oswestry were built in 1272 by order of King Edward I, although the first murage grant was received in 1257. They originally ran from the castle along Arthur Street, Welsh Walls, English Walls and King Street. Leland said that the walls were one mile in circumference and contained no towers, although a deed of agreement of 1782 states that "the Towne was formerly walled round and had several strong towers ... and four gateways". The walls were destroyed after the Civil War, but the gates survived. <27><27a>

A watching brief in 1984 did not expose a length of the wall, although the cellar structure exposed may have been built of stones from the Wall. <29>

An evaluation of land off Chapel Street in 2005 found detailed documentary evidence for the alignment of a 30m length of the town wall west of Chapel Street. A trench put across the predicted line of the wall encountered remains of it [PRN 08622-, together with part of a D-shaped structure [PRN 08623], apparently a tower and apparently contemporary with the town wall. This conflicts with the documentary evidence which suggests that there were no towers, and requires further investigation. <30>

In 2006 a second phase of evaluation was completed by Castlering Archaeology at a site off Chapel Street, Oswestry during the demolition of buildings before the residential development of the site. The entire length of the 19th century limestone wall was uncovered. The limestone wall was excavated to a depth of 1.27m where it was found to have been constructed on the basal remains of the 13th century wall. The width of the 13th century wall was 2.163m (7ft). The limestone wall seems to have been deliberately reduced in size and utilised to form the foundation of the back wall of the furniture showroom building. Evidence of the wall located during these excavations will be reburied for posterity. The alignment of the medieval wall will be defined in paviours to the rear of the new residential units. <31>

In July 2000 the Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council carried out an evaluation of a development site to the rear of 14 English Walls, Oswestry. The site lay within and immediately adjacent to the line of the town's medieval defences. However, apart from a sequence of medieval to modern yard deposits, no significant archaeological features or deposits were encountered. <32>

A desk-based assessment was carried out on land at Salop Road/Oswald Road, Oswestry in 1995 ahead of proposed development. The northern extent of the proposed development area is crossed by the line of the town defences. A feature visible on John Wood's map of 1833, and an angled property boundary on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map are suggested as perhaps representing the line of the defences to the south of Oswald Road. It was considered a significant possiblity that remains associated with this featurew would survive within the site and further evaluation was recommended. <33>

Following on from the desk-based assessment (<33>), a programme of archaeological evaluation was undertaken of land at Coney Green, Oswestry in May 1997. Previous archaeological and historical interest in Oswestry had shown that the area of proposed development flanked the Medieval ditched and walled defences of the town. ->

-> The archaeological evaluation included the excavation of a trial trench to the south of Oswald Road (Trench A) to substantiate the line of the Medieval town defences, comprising a masonry wall and ditch, projected to traverse north-east to south-west across this section of the proposed area of development. The results of the evaluation clearly establish the survival of a large ditch feature in the south-east of Trench A, from which clay pipes dated to between e. 1660-1680 were recovered. Due to health and safety constraints the depth, size and possible original date of the ditch were unable to be determined. The uppermost ditch deposits were found at 1.90m below the present ground level. ->

-> Given the discontinuation of the sixteenth century plough-soil in the south-east of Trench A it is evident that the ditch was maintained as a defensive feature during this Period. It is therefore likely that at the advent of the Civil War the ditch was extensively recut/cut to reinforce the defences of the town. However by c.1660-1680 it is evident that the ditch was full of demolition debris and no longer functioned as a defensive feature. Given that the town’s defensive Medieval walls were finally slighted in c. 1660 it appears likely that the disuse of the ditch relates to the demolition of the wall in this section of the circuit and that the upper fill of the ditch comprises the demolished fabric of the town’s defensive walls.->

-> However there are certain paradoxes associated with this interpretation. Although it appears likely that the upper fill of the sixteenth century plough-soil predates the documented demolition of the town’s Medieval defensive wall, there is no evidence to indicate either a robber trench, foundation trench, or the base of a mound in or on which a wall could have been constructed. The implication is that either the wall in this section of the circuit was already completely robbed out prior to the Civil War (which might explain the redefinition of the ditch during this period) or that the ditch is not, as assumed, Medieval in date, but part of the Civil War movement, therefore implying that the Medieval defences lie elsewhere. In addition there is a third possibility as to the apparent lack of evidence for a wall within the evaluation trench. At the border town of Bridgnorth there is evidence to suggest that the circuit of the Medieval town walls was never completed in stone and that segments of the wall remained as earthen and wooden structures until their abandonment (M Watson pers. Comm.). This may also have been the case at Oswestry and would certainly explain the complete lack of structural features normally associated with a masonry wall.->

-> After the infill of the ditch with demolition debris it appears that the site of Trench A became a water course, skirting the periphery of the growing town. Attempts to channel the water are evident in the form of an open wood-lined culvert situated on the edge of the stream. However by this time the area has become choked and stagnant through the continuous dumping of domestic waste. <34>

A section of walling more than 1m wide was reported by Oswestry and Borders History and Archaeology Group (OBHAG) members in 2016 along English Walls. It was suggested that it was similar in construction to other parts of the town wall, but this is offered as a tentative interpretation only. <35>

Discussion of the evidence for the town defences across a site along English Walls, adjacent to the site of the Black Gate (PRN 00496). A stream was known to follow the line of the former twon defences, outside the town wall. A number of references are collected by Watkin (see <15>); the watercourse appears to have been canalised in the medieval period to run around the town ditch: the supporting cartography from the CMHTS report shows its origination outside Oswestry’s built-up area to the north-west of the town, feeding into the western corner of the town ditch, flowing south under Church Street and following the town wall right around English Walls, across Salop Road, and south of Oswald Road towards the station area before running south-eastwards towards the River Morda. The implication of the mapping is that there is still an active flow in the channel, which must be culverted under the carriageway or the pavement of English Walls alongside the development site. <36>

Sources

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