OSWESTRY, municipal borough, Shropshire, England, situ ated near the Welsh border in the north-west corner of the county. Pop. 9,754. The town is placed where valleys open from the Berwyn mountains, and is a market town between hill and plain as well as a route centre. There are various accounts of the early history of the settlement (Trey Cadeirau). The pres ent name comes from Oswald's Tree (alternative Oswald's Cross, Welsh Cross Oswalt t) and is said to refer to the death of Oswald, king of Northumbria, in a battle fought here against Penda, the ruler of Mercia. The heavily fortified encampment of "Old Os westry," about a mile from the town, suggests early border war fare. The town was twice burnt by Welsh invaders in the middle ages. In the Domesday Survey it is included in the manor of Maesbury. Richard II., by a charter dated 1398, granted all the privileges which belonged to Shrewsbury. In 1582 Elizabeth incorporated the town and her charter was confirmed by James I.
in 1616.
In the 15th and 16th centuries a weekly market was held at Oswestry for the sale of woollen goods manufactured in the adjoining parts of Wales. but the drapers of Shrewsbury, a rival centre, ruined the trade by refusing to buy cloth there. In 1642 it was garrisoned for Charles I., but two years later surrendered to the parliamentary forces. The church of St. Oswald, originally conventual, is Early English and Decorated, but has been much restored. The grammar school, founded in the reign of Henry IV., occupies modern buildings. During the World War Oswestry benefited greatly by the presence of thousands of troops at Park Hall camp. The Cambrian railway had its headquarters in the town but the engine and carriage works were in part removed by the G.W.R. after 1922. Oswestry is governed by a mayor, six aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 1,887 ac.