A sunshine filled stroll through this old Shropshire Market Town
Parish Church of St Oswald, King and Martyr in Oswestry, Shropshire, 3rd August 2022 (Author’s Collection).
After having now lived for over two decades in the somewhat sleepy and very picturesque county of Shropshire in the heart of England, the market town of Oswestry continued in a rich vein of other nearby market towns (such as Shrewsbury or Ludlow) of being places I regularly passed or travelled through, rather than making it my final destination. Today that changed and only because I took a cliched “chance”, trusted to luck and to fate and, rather than travelling past and onto my actual final destination of a sun filled day, I relaxed for an hour around the Tudor architecture so typical of Shropshire market towns and had a beautiful hour long whistle stop tour.
So I chalked off yet more castle ruins within Shropshire (although there isn’t much to see!), yet another beautiful church and for the most part, I simply ambled around a communal public park that was busy with the human family simply enjoying the rays of some quite beautiful sunshine. As you’ll see for yourself, from young to old, the content and peaceful to the frenetic and youthful, a town park in a sleepy small town full of the quiet and respectful and the youthful exuberance of throwing down some shirts and jumpers for makeshift goals and a free for all game of football.
I rather enjoyed my hour or so in Oswestry and the simple act of typing the above couple of paragraphs have brought back many smiles and many memories. I therefore hope the following pictorial roll of images convey some of this enjoyment and that you find them thought and travel provoking as well as interesting and enjoyable too.
*All images captured by me on Wednesday 3rd August 2022*
At the foot of the entrance steps that lead to the steep climb to the castle “mound” of Oswestry and its minimal remaining ruins.
Recorded in the “Domesday Book” (Doomsday Book) and part of the “Great Survey” of 1086, legend states the remaining ruins date back to the 13th Century.
The fragmentary ruins of Oswestry Castle atop the castle mound that afford fantastic views across the town and beyond. This medieval castle (I know it’s a stretch!) is also recorded as a Grade II listed building.
(1) The sun shining on the righteous and on “Christ Church” in Oswestry which sits adjacent to the entrance to the castle ruins.
(2) The sun shining on the righteous and on “Christ Church” in Oswestry which sits adjacent to the entrance to the castle ruins.
The main entrance gates of Cae Glas Park in central Oswestry and a commemoration to World War I or “The Great War”. A similar commemoration to World War II can be found on the reverse side as you leave.
The beautiful view that greets you as you enter the busy public park of Oswestry.
A reverse view as if you were leaving the park and back into central Oswestry.
Harold Whitfield was awarded the “Victoria Cross” for bravery in World War I and further commemorated here in a centenary remembrance of the war in 2018.
The bronze statue of Wilfred Owen, locally born poet tragically killed just a week before the end of World War I. Awarded the “George Cross” for bravery, his family considered Oswestry their “spiritual home”.
As with the statue above, this was also unveiled during a centenary commemoration of World War I in 2018.
“Jumpers for Goalposts” was an oft refrain of my younger years before it became a widely mimicked phrase of the late 1990’s as an affectionate reflection of an innocent game of football. I simply sat on the “Bandstand” that dominates the middle of Cae Glas Park and enjoyed five minutes of joyous youthful football in some glorious sunshine. Bliss.
“Holy Trinity Church” and the second of three magnificent churches seen in Oswestry in just over an hour. But the very best was left to the very last.
A lucky seven set of images follow from the magnificent St Oswald Church or to give the church it’s full title, The Parish Church of St Oswald, King and Martyr.
A Celtic Cross monument and commemoration for the Shropshire Regiment from Oswestry who lost their lives in the Second Boer War of South Africa.
The clock strikes 3 and the bells they did chime!
The magnificent St Oswald’s Church or The Parish Church of St Oswald, King and Martyr.
Another Celtic Cross and this time with the “Old School House” as a backdrop and demonstration of the Tudor period architecture that dominates every Shropshire market town.
Doorway with inscribed lintel reading “John Owen, Thomas Brown, William Jones, Edward Wolfe — 1692”.
A final view of the Grade II listed building that is home to St Oswald’s Church or The Parish Church of St Oswald, King and Martyr.
Your humble narrator in beautiful Gnosall beside the Shropshire Union Canal, end of July 2022.
Thanks for reading. There are numerous pictorial articles such as these within my archives or please see the links below to my three most recently published travel articles to date:
