Old Oswestry hillfort, and two adjacent sections of Wat's Dyke

Scheduled area

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History & significance

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 →

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