Oswestry Castle is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

castle in the town of

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough ...

, Shropshire, England. The castle has also been known as, or recorded in historical documents as: ''Album Monasterium; Blancminster; Blankmouster; Blancmustier; Croes Oswald; L'Oeuvre; L'uvre; Castle Loure; Luure; Luvre; Lvvre: Castle Philip; Oswaldestre; Meresberie''. Fragmentary remains of Oswestry Castle (Geograph 4172468 by Jaggery)

Fragmentary remains of Oswestry Castle (Geograph 4172468 by Jaggery)

The first reference to the castle in

was in 1086, when ''castelle Lurve'' (or ''castle L’oeuvre'') is recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

as being built by Rainald, Sheriff of Shropshire in the

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to d ...

of Meresberie. No town was recorded until around 1272 when references appear to the settlement of Blancminster (named after its white stone church). The Welsh were already referring to ''Croes Oswallt'' (Cross of Oswald) in 1254, regarding St Oswald, the Northumbrian king killed at the

Battle of Maserfield The Battle of Maserfield () was fought on 5 August 641 or 642 (642 according to Ward) between the Anglo-Saxon kings Oswald of Northumbria and Penda of Mercia, ending in Oswald's defeat, death, and dismemberment. The location was also known a ...

(reputed to have taken place near Oswestry) in 641 AD. After Rainald the castle passed to Alan fitz Flaad. The

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...

between

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

and

Empress Matilda Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany a ...

(1135–54) saw the

Marcher Lord A Marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales. A Marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in F ...

of Oswestry, William FitzAlan, join forces with Matilda. As a consequence he was deprived of his lands, including the castle and its area, and titles by Stephen after 1138, when he fled into exile. The castle was reclaimed by Madog ap Maredudd the Prince of Powys between 1149 and 1154, along with the lordship of the area. This was short-lived; on the accession of Henry II in 1154, William FitzAlan recovered his estates and was restored as High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1155 until his death in 1160. A period of conflict between the Welsh and the English followed and the castle was sacked numerous times. In 1165, Henry himself adopted it as a base for his unsuccessful campaign against

Owain Gwynedd Owain ap Gruffudd ( 23 or 28 November 1170) was King of Gwynedd, North Wales, from 1137 until his death in 1170, succeeding his father Gruffudd ap Cynan. He was called Owain the Great ( cy, Owain Fawr) and the first to ...

. In 1211 King John moved against

Llywelyn the Great Llywelyn the Great ( cy, Llywelyn Fawr, ; full name Llywelyn mab Iorwerth; c. 117311 April 1240) was a King of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually " Prince of the Welsh" (in 1228) and "Prince of Wales" (in 1240). By a combination of war and ...

and the castle came under attack. By 1270 the castle’s walls had been extended to embrace the town, but its military significance declined. The castle was garrisoned by

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

troops during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...

, and captured by the forces of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three ...

in 1644. It had been largely demolished by the

Roundhead Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, ...

s by 1650. The

motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

is about 12m high and 52m by 72m at its base. The collapsed remnants of the stone

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ca ...

, possibly dating to the 13th century, are in situ. The remains of the keep are a Grade II Listed Building. The internal layout of the keep is not known, but an inventory compiled in 1398 notes three chambers, hall, chapel dedicated to St Nicholas, kitchen, larder and buttery. To the south east of the keep are the remains of a

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with f ...

, largely rebuilt in the late 19th century, it is a Grade II Listed Building. The walls and the gate piers are also Grade II Listed. The castle bailey, which lies to the south of the motte, probably served as the initial focus for the development of the town. The town had grown beyond the limits of the bailey before the second half of the 13th century when the town walls were constructed. The location of the bailey is recorded in the street names Bailey Street and Bailey Head.

References

{{coord, 52.86111, N, 3.05524, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SJ29062981), display=title Oswestry Castle ruins in Wales Castles in Powys History of Powys Grade II listed buildings in Shropshire Grade II listed castles

See also

References