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Oswestry, Town, Council, Parish, church, St, Oswald, Shropshire, Oswestry Town Council, Shropshire
Oswestry Parish Church

Oswestry Parish Church - St Oswalds - is of ancient foundation, but although the Tower is thought to have dated from about 1085 - probably attached to a Church building erected for worship - nobody can be precise as to the actual date. Some authorities hold that its dedication was at some time to St. Mary the Virgin, but a reference in a 19th century History of the Diocese of St Asaph (in which the Deanery of Oswestry lay until disestablishment of the Welsh Dioceses in the late 1920's) suggests there was in Oswestry a Church of St. Oswald, quoting the year 1086.
The present Church contains little of antiquity, although it possesses Tudor and Stuart Communion Plate. A small piece of wooden panelling, stolen from the Church in 1998, was from the Tudor appointments. A memorial to the Yale Family, showing figures in c. 1590's dress, bore an inscription (which has now virtually disappeared) to a generation of the family who died in the early years of 17th century. One of the Fonts in the Church (there are two!) dates from 1662, a gift from Edward Lloyd, Governor of Oswestry Castle, in thanksgiving for the restoration of the Church following the end of the Commonwealth Period.

The Civil War was to change much. However how many stages the early building or buildings had gone through is unclear, and whatever the chequered history of the worshipping congregation, the beginning of the Civil War saw Oswestry in Royalist hands and we learn that in 1640 the King's forces decided to remove the Steeple of the Church, and much of the Church itself. First the Town fell to the Parliamentary troops; subsequently the King's forces retook the Church, which happened to be outside the Town Walls (in an economy measure when the Wall was built) but eventually Cromwell's Army prevailed and the ruins of the Nave became a stabling post for the Parliamentary Forces' horses. A Chest in the Church's possession today might well have been used as a corn-bin for these horses. Following the Civil War the Church was rebuilt in stages, possibly using some of the old walls, and at great cost, which took an immense effort to raise, and included a levy on many other Churches around Material and workmanship seems to have been of mean quality (for economy reasons presumably) and by 1870 the Church had again become pretty ruinous. The Victorians carried out an extensive improvement in 1872-4, raising the pillars, arches and roofs by 9 feet, and clearing the over-cluttered interior.

So today, the Church would appear to be Victorian in its internal ordering.

It is said to be one of the five widest Churches in England and Wales, and, before pews were removed over the past shiny years for various aesthetic improvements, there were sittings for more than a thousand people. The Lady Chapel, with its carved Reredos of the Annunciation of Our Lord to the Blessed Virgin Mary surrounded by four locally connected women saints, is especially beautiful. The large 3-manual Hill Organ is one of the most important in the region, and a strong musical tradition has existed for most of the present century. Eight Bells hang in the Tower and sound forth regularly. The atmosphere of the Church itself is pervaded by a feeling of holy prayer - indeed the very stones seem to sing out and testify to the prayers of the saints through the generations that have worshipped here.
Today the Church seeks to serve and minister to the people of its parish in the various stages of their lives. Worship is centred upon the Holy Eucharist - the recalling of Christ's Passion, Death and Resurrection Each year many visitors to the Town enter the building for whatever purposes. Remarks in the Visitors' Book testify to their feelings of peace and quietness, the sense of wonder in the beauty of the building, and the impression of an oasis of refreshment in a busy life and world. The very age of the building (including the Victorian contribution) testifies that God has been alive and active here in nearly every part of its history, and whilst the Dedication reminds us of the commitment of the Christian King of Northumbria who lost his life in battle defending his Kingdom only a few yards away from the Church in AD642, the presence of the building stands as silent witness to the ongoing and ever active Spirit of God encouraging and supporting the people of Oswestry from generation to generation, and that Emmanuel, God-is-with-us, is present in every age.
Piece Written By Rev. David Crowhurst