Oswestry

Oswestry (), is one of the United Kingdom's oldest border towns. It is the largest market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. Oswestry is the third largest town in Shropshire, following Telford and Shrewsbury. The 2001 Census recorded the population of the civil parish as 15,613, and the urban area as 16,660. In 2008 the latter figure was estimated to have increased to 17,116. The town is five miles (8 km) from the Welsh border, Oswestry has a mixed Welsh and English heritage. It is the home of the Shropshire libraries' Welsh Collection. 

 Name history 
The Battle of Maserfield is thought to have been fought here in 642 between Penda of Mercia and Oswald of Northumbria.John Davies, A History of Wales (London: Penguin Books, 1994), p. 63 Oswald was killed in this battle.John Marsden, Northanhymbre Saga; the History of the Anglo-Saxon Kings of Northumbria (London: Kyle Cathie Limited, 1992), p. 130 According to legend, one of his arms was carried to an ash tree by a raven.Anna Gannon, The Iconography of Early Anglo-Saxon Coinage: Sixth to Eighth Centuries (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), p. 97 Miracles were then attributed to the tree (as Oswald was considered a saint). The Welsh who held this area at the time called it Croes-Oswellt (meaning Oswald's cross).William Cathrall, The history of Oswestry (Oswestry: George Lewis, 1855), p. 3 During the Anglo-Saxon period the town was called Oswald's Tree. Later this became Oswestry.

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Category:Market towns in England
Category:Towns in Shropshire
Category:Civil parishes in Shropshire