Places of interest:
Oswestry
Oswestry is an ancient market town located on the English/Welsh border, nestled in the foothills of the Welsh hills. Its position as a frontier town has given it a turbulent history.
This history is still visible in a very small remaining section of the encircling English and Welsh town walls and the foundations of the castle, which date back to 1086, and the town’s market which dates from 1190. The name ‘Oswestry’ is thought to be a corruption of ‘Oswald’s Tree’ or ‘Oswald’s Cross’, after the king of Northumberland who was killed in battle by the king of Mercia near Oswestry in 641AD. Most of the town centre is a designated conservation area.
There are lots of historically interesting buildings including the timber framed Llwyd Mansion, the Cambrian railway museum and St Oswald’s Church. Oswestry’s first school founded in 1407 is now the heritage and visitor information centre. The cycle routes in this leaflet start here.
There is a wide choice of places to eat, drink and stay as well as some great shops. The Cae Glas Park is beautiful to walk through when the flowers are in bloom.
Glyn Ceiriog
The village of Glyn Ceiriog sits at the heart of the stunning Ceiriog Valley. A former mining community, references to slate mining in the village date back to 1329. During the 19th century a steam tramway was built along the valley to transport slates to the Llangollen Canal.
Old Oswestry Hillfort
The site of an imposing Iron Age hillfort, one of the best preserved in Britain. The defences were built up in stages from 600BC up to the late Iron Age. It is likely that the hillfort remained in use until the Roman conquest. It is now covered by wild flowers and grazing sheep and is a lovely place for a walk with great views on a clear day.
