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Old Oswestry is a hillfort located near Oswestry in Shropshire, England, situated on high ground commanding views across the surrounding landscape. The site consists of multiple concentric ramparts and ditches, characteristic of Iron Age defensive construction, though it may have been occupied or refortified during later periods. Wat's Dyke, the linear earthwork which runs adjacent to the hillfort, is a substantial defensive bank and ditch of medieval date, traditionally attributed to Offa of Mercia or his successors in the eighth century, though its exact chronology remains debated among scholars. The proximity of these two monuments reflects the strategic importance of this location across different periods of British history, with the earlier Iron Age hillfort and the later Anglo-Saxon linear frontier work occupying the same general area of the Shropshire–Welsh border landscape.
Old Oswestry hillfort, and two adjacent sections of Wat's Dyke is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1014899. View the official record →
Old Oswestry is a hillfort located near Oswestry in Shropshire, England, situated on high ground commanding views across the surrounding landscape. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1014899.
Old Oswestry hillfort, and two adjacent sections of Wat's Dyke is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1014899.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Offa's Dyke: section 200yds (180m) long, S of The Royal Oak Inn (6.9 km), Offa's Dyke: section 330yds (300m) S from Treflach Wood (7.2 km), Motte castle adjacent to St Michael's Church (7.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Old Oswestry hillfort, and two adjacent sections of Wat's Dyke's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Old Oswestry hillfort, and two adjacent sections of Wat's Dyke stands on Warwickshire Group, bedrock that formed in the Early Permian. The rock here is siltstone and sandstone with subordinate mudstone.