The History of Oswestry / Comprising the British, Saxon, Norman, and English eras; the topography of the borough; and its ecclesiastical and civic history; with notices of botany, geology, statistics, angling, and biography: to which are added sketches of the environs

by William Cathrall

OSWALD’S WELL

Is one of the most interesting objects of the town. It is beautifully situated to the west of the Free Grammar School, and has easy and pleasant approaches to it from Upper Brook-Street and from Willow-Street. The Well is supplied by a spring flowing from the elevated ground beyond it. It is inclosed in a small square basin, in a recess made of stone, and arched over. At the back there is a sculptured head of King Oswald, once “banded by a royal fillet,” and formerly the front of the Well was secured by an iron grate. Tradition and superstition have invested the Well with much interest, but the purity of the water it sends forth should have secured to it a far higher celebrity. We are told that Oswald’s remains were interred near the spring; that a tree was planted there to mark the spot; that when Oswald was slain, in the battle with Penda, an eagle tore one of the arms from the body, and, flying off with it, fell down and perished on the spot from which the waters burst forth, and have continued to flow ever since, as miraculously as the waters of St. Winifred’s Well, in Flintshire. A later writer on Border History has ventured to inform us, that so recently as the year 1780 King Oswald’s “skull was found in digging the pool just below the Well.” How the skull was identified the writer does not state, probably from the great difficulty he must have had in establishing such an important identification. Setting aside all this mystification and nonsense, we are glad to put on record, that the water from this Well is justly entitled to the appellation of pure aqua fontana; and from the analysis of Sir James Murray, which we subjoin, its medicinal properties are of no mean order:—“Thermometer at 470 Fahrenheit, the water consisting of sulphate of lime (gypsum), carbonate of lime, muriate of soda (common salt), muriate of magnesia, and sulphate of magnesia.—June 6th, 1822.”

It is generally admitted, from the records of the ancient historical writers, that on the spot where Oswald was slain a Monastery was founded, dedicated to him in the character of a Saint. It was called Blanc-Minster, or the White Monastery, and was situated according to Leland, “on the south side of the town.” The time of the foundation or dissolution is not known, but its situation is fixed near the site of the parish church, as some remains of the building are said to have been discovered in digging graves in the churchyard. A spot of ground near the church, still called Erw-Myneich, or Monk’s Acre, would indicate that Blanc-Minster was contiguous to it. In the reign of Henry VIII., as we have already stated, Leland visited Oswestry, and noted that at that period “the cloister only was standing within the memory of persons then living.”

Before closing this notice we would recommend all visitors to Oswestry to make a pilgrimage to Oswald’s Well. The scenery around it is replete with beauty; and if the day be fine and warm, a draught of the water, which constantly bubbles up in freshness and pellucid clearness, will cheer and not inebriate. The inhabitants possess in this Well a valuable natural treasure which it is their duty to preserve, for their common benefit, free from all impurities and contaminations.