Site of a medieval town gate, demolished in 1766.
Illustration shows a simple triangular-headed archway. (But is this a projected restoration?). It was demolished in 1766 and replaced by two pillars. <1a>
Part of town defences, left standing when walls demolished post 1644. The gate was demolished in 1770. South East gate with crossed roadway at bottom of Legge Strete (1885 = Salop Road). Also called Portdee <1b>
A tablet over a covered gateway between shops on the north side of Leg Street, is inscribed "Site of Black Gate (Removed 1771) in 13th Century Town Wall. Oswestry District Civic Society, 1972". To the left, an early stone tablet is inscribed "Black Gate". There are no pillars now marking the site. See ground photograph. <1c>
Black Gate poorly documented. In poor repair in 1767, it was very low due to repair to road and increase in height. Sketch shows simple gate. <2>
CMHTS Record Sheet. <3>
CMHTS Report. <4>
Marked on Price's interpretation of the Town Walls (<5a>). Reproduced in <5>
In 1766…Black Gate was removed after the Lord of the Manor, Earl Powis, gave consent. <6>
Black Gate remained standing for many years after stretches of the adjoining town wall had been demolished. It was retained to serve as convenient toll barrier. In 1771 permission was given to demolish Black Gate. <7>
Comment from NRHE: According to <1c> Black Gate was demolished in 1766 and also mentions two commemorative pillars. Both these facts are disputed by <7>. <8>
| [00] | SSA20722 - Card index: Shropshire County Council SMR. Site and Monuments Record (SMR) cards. SMR record cards. SMR Card for PRN SA 00496. |
| [01b] | SSA2128 - Article in serial: Roberts A. 1885. The Four Gateways of Oswestry. Trans Shropshire Archaeol Hist Soc. Ser 1, Vol VIII (=Vol 8). p145-186. |
| [01] | SSA2129 - Card index: Ordnance Survey. 1977. Ordnance Survey Record Card SJ22NE25.2. Ordnance Survey record cards. SJ22NE25.2. |
| [01c] | SSA31554 - Site visit report: Ordnance Survey Field Investigator. Various. NRHE: Ordnance Survey Field Investigators Comments. F1 ASP 05-OCT-79. |
| [01a] | SSA325 - Article in serial: Various. 1882. Article in the Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society. Trans Shropshire Archaeol Hist Soc. Ser 1, Vol V (=Vol 5). p163-169 (with illus). |
| [02] | SSA1554 - Monograph: Watkin I. 1920. Oswestry with an Account of its Old Houses, Shops, etc, and Some of their Occupants. p237-238. |
| [03] | SSA19971 - Record form: Dalwood Hal. 1993/ 1996. CMHTS SMR Records Shropshire: Oswestry. Central Marches Historic Towns Survey record form. Vol 8. Oswestry 496. |
| [04] | SSA12079 - Historic landscape survey report: Dalwood Hal et al. 1996. Archaeological Assessment of Oswestry, Shropshire (CMHTS). Hereford & Worcester CAS Rep. Rep 333. |
| [05a] | SSA22217 - Monograph: Price W. 1815. The History of Oswestry. |
| [05] | SSA29277 - Deskbased survey report: Frost Pat. 2016. Proposed redevelopment on land off Oswald Road, Oswestry, Shropshire: heritage assessment. Castlering Archaeol Rep. 511b. p.15; fig. 5. |
| [06] | SSA31216 - Conservation Area documentation: The Conservation Studio. 2000. Oswestry Conservation Area Appraisal. p.7. |
| [07] | SSA2115 - Archaeological fieldwork report: Pratt D. 1980. Oswestry Town Wall. Border Counties Archaeol Gp Rep. pp.4-7; pp.22-24. |
| [08] | SSA31555 - COLLECTION: Historic England. 2020 onwards. NRHE: National Record of the Historic Environment. HOB UID 65982. |