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Oswestry, Town, Council, Old, Oswestry Town Council, Hillfort, Hill, Fort, fortress, fortification, castle, ancient,
Oswestry, Town, Council, Old, Oswestry Town Council, Hillfort, Hill, Fort, fortress, fortification, castle, ancient,
Old Oswestry
This ancient fortification, situated
about half-a-mile north of the town, and in the parish of Selattyn, was
formerly known by the names of Hen Dinas (Old.City) and Caer Ogyrfan (the
Fort of Ogyrfan, or it may be translated Caer-y-GrydUfan (the Camp of
the Field of Conflict), but is now more familiarly recognised under the
modern title of Old Oswestry, in contradistinction to the new Oswestry
named after Oswald.
The hill, which stands alone, is 540 feet above sea level, and some 200 feet above the surrounding country, the line of Wat's Dyke passing over the western side, Offa's Dyke lying about two-and-a-half miles westward.
The hill, which stands alone, is 540 feet above sea level, and some 200 feet above the surrounding country, the line of Wat's Dyke passing over the western side, Offa's Dyke lying about two-and-a-half miles westward.
Nothing historical is known of
the origin of the fortress, but it may be safely ascribed to the ancient
Britons and that it was constructed at a period indefinitely remote. The
names Caer Ogyrfan and Hen Dinas are British or Welsh, by whom the site
of a congregation of human habitations was usually given the dignified
title of dines or city. John Speed, the historian, writing in 1611, says
that the Britons -
"Gave the names of Townes to certain combersome woods which they have fortified with rampires and ditches, whither they resort and retreat to eschue the invasion of their enemies. Which stand them in good stead, for when they have by felling trees mounted and fenced therewith a spacious plot of ground, there they build for themselves houses, and for their cattell set up stalls and folds, usually thatched with reeds, but those for the present use only."
Tradition, however, ascribes its construction to a giant named Ogyrfan, an unknown chieftain, co-existent with the famous king Arthur (crowned AD 516), owner for a time of the celebrated Round Table. Ogyrfan, whose possessions were in this neighbourhood, was the father of Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere), one of Arthur's three wives, and the following saying relating to her is common in Powysland:
"Gwenhwyfar, ferch Ogyrfan Gawr,
Drwg In fechan, gwaeth yn fawr.
Guinevre, Giant Ogyrfan's daughter,
Naughty young, more naughty later."
According to the Welsh Triads, this Gwenhwyfar went astray in the latter part of her married life. The Book of Taliesin treats Ogyrfan as the originator of letters and writing, and as the owner of a mysterious cauldron out of which emerge three muses. A French Chronicler, later, tells that when William the Conqueror was on his march near the Welsh borders, he came to a ruined city, believed to be Hen Dinas, and there heard a marvellous story of the Great Geomagog, whose uneasy spirit still watched over and ruled the city, and how Payn Peverel the
"Proud and courageous Knight, cousin of the King, with his shield shining with gold, on which was a cross of azure indented, took fifteen knights with him, in the midst of a tempest of thunder and lightning, and fought and completely routed the fiend, who carried a club and was guarding a treasure of oxen, cows, swans, peacocks, horses and other animals made of fine gold, and there was a golden bull which told the events which were to come."
When the ground was explored in the eighteenth century there were found a well, a pavement, pieces of warlike armour and a round shield a foot in diameter (Salopia Antiqua). The finding of a pavement indicates that the fortification must have been intended as a permanent dwelling place. As to the dwellings, nothing has been discovered, nor is it likely, for the abodes of the period consisted of rude and perishable huts made with the boughs of trees roughly interwoven and covered with mud or clay and perhaps skirted with a few stones, the timber being shaped into a conical form, an opening at the side serving as a door and window, and the uncovered point of the roof answering the purposes of a chimney. The earth served as a table and fingers as forks, at night lodging was upon the cold ground, the whole family surrounding a fire kindled in the middle of their little space of house-room, and secured from the chilling cold of midnight only by the skins which sheltered them during the day.
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"Gave the names of Townes to certain combersome woods which they have fortified with rampires and ditches, whither they resort and retreat to eschue the invasion of their enemies. Which stand them in good stead, for when they have by felling trees mounted and fenced therewith a spacious plot of ground, there they build for themselves houses, and for their cattell set up stalls and folds, usually thatched with reeds, but those for the present use only."
Tradition, however, ascribes its construction to a giant named Ogyrfan, an unknown chieftain, co-existent with the famous king Arthur (crowned AD 516), owner for a time of the celebrated Round Table. Ogyrfan, whose possessions were in this neighbourhood, was the father of Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere), one of Arthur's three wives, and the following saying relating to her is common in Powysland:
"Gwenhwyfar, ferch Ogyrfan Gawr,
Drwg In fechan, gwaeth yn fawr.
Guinevre, Giant Ogyrfan's daughter,
Naughty young, more naughty later."
According to the Welsh Triads, this Gwenhwyfar went astray in the latter part of her married life. The Book of Taliesin treats Ogyrfan as the originator of letters and writing, and as the owner of a mysterious cauldron out of which emerge three muses. A French Chronicler, later, tells that when William the Conqueror was on his march near the Welsh borders, he came to a ruined city, believed to be Hen Dinas, and there heard a marvellous story of the Great Geomagog, whose uneasy spirit still watched over and ruled the city, and how Payn Peverel the
"Proud and courageous Knight, cousin of the King, with his shield shining with gold, on which was a cross of azure indented, took fifteen knights with him, in the midst of a tempest of thunder and lightning, and fought and completely routed the fiend, who carried a club and was guarding a treasure of oxen, cows, swans, peacocks, horses and other animals made of fine gold, and there was a golden bull which told the events which were to come."
When the ground was explored in the eighteenth century there were found a well, a pavement, pieces of warlike armour and a round shield a foot in diameter (Salopia Antiqua). The finding of a pavement indicates that the fortification must have been intended as a permanent dwelling place. As to the dwellings, nothing has been discovered, nor is it likely, for the abodes of the period consisted of rude and perishable huts made with the boughs of trees roughly interwoven and covered with mud or clay and perhaps skirted with a few stones, the timber being shaped into a conical form, an opening at the side serving as a door and window, and the uncovered point of the roof answering the purposes of a chimney. The earth served as a table and fingers as forks, at night lodging was upon the cold ground, the whole family surrounding a fire kindled in the middle of their little space of house-room, and secured from the chilling cold of midnight only by the skins which sheltered them during the day.
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Taken
From Watkin's History of Oswestry