We continue with the story of Oswestry’s many pubs

The TEMPERANCE movement in Oswestry had many challengers.

Despite this, the temperance supporters had quite a strong influence. Many inns fell victim to their campaigning etc.

The Coach and Dogs, which had been in business since 1660, was purchased for “benevolent reasons” in 1882 and adapted into a cocoa house.

In Salop Road, the Smithfield Inn was to become the Black Gate tearooms while the Duke of Wellington in Bailey Street was converted into a hotel of a temperance nature.

The Three Tuns, built of half-timber (Woolworths later stood on this site until its recent demise) was apparently once the most prominent in the town. It was adorned with windows that possessed engravings of coats of arms going back to the early 1600s.

Unfortunately, this public house was another casualty of temperance views and was bought by the Oswestry Public House Company and named Oswestry Castle. To make matters worse, this building was pulled down as to make way for the expanding Cross Markets in Oswestry.

Throughout the 1900s, the old inns in Oswestry were gradually diminishing mainly due to new government rules rather than the temperance movement.

During the 1930s, in Beatrice Street, the Old Swan, which had been in existence since the 1500s, was demolished.

Also ceasing to trade was the Fighting Cocks and the Woolpack, but apparently not pulled down.

Another fact was in the old days, Oswestry possessed a number of its own breweries, obviously to serve these drinking premises. Clearly, the reduction of local inns spelt the demise of these breweries in the immediate vicinity. Such a shame!

Rhyn Park Discovery

In 1975 if you lived in the Oswestry area and you desired to travel across the sea the same route Columbus sailed you would have be aboard the P&O’s flagship liner Canberra.

The local travel agent in Oswestry you would have to visit to arrange all this at that time would be Lloyd Brothers, Travel Agency Ltd, 4 Arthur Street, (off Willow Street).

Elsewhere in the world that year 13 were killed while 72 others were wounded in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem.

On a more technological note, American and Soviet spacecrafts link up in space for the very first time. Back on terra firma there is violent unrest in Afghanistan. (Nothing new there!).

As regards tennis at Wimbledon, Arthur Ashe beat Jimmy Connors in the men’s final. Concerning the British motor industry, Vauxhall launches a new model called the Chevette priced new at around £1,600.

They needed this new model to sell because the previous year it appears they were running at a loss of around £18,000,000. The car must have been a sales success because Vauxhall are still in business today!

Success albeit unexpected was what a team of Cambridge archaeologists enjoyed while flying above the parish of St Martins in July 1975.

From their aerial survey they detected the remains of a grand Roman legionary fortress overlain by a later but less significant stronghold at Rhyn Park near St Martins just within the Shropshire border.

In June 1975 Shropshire had endured its lowest rainfall count for virtually 50 years. This made conditions absolutely perfect when looking for old archaeological sites from the air.

Buried aspects such as ancient drainage waterways etc could be clearly seen through various shading in grassland and crop growing areas etc.

There was a commencement of rain in the July and this then obliterated signs on the ground of any past settlement for a while until obviously the land dried up yet again.

During the summer of 1976, which was displaying symptoms of a serious drought, a team of archaeologists from Manchester undertook a further aerial survey of the area while also checking for ancient Iron Age settlements along the Shropshire-Powys border.

As regards the early Roman fort etc at Rhyn Park, initial work began on the excavation during August into September of 1977. This was under the supervision of Professor GDB Jones.

At first the dig failed to reveal anything of any real significance as a definite connection with Chester and Wroxeter.

Other fairly local Roman forts included Leighton Atcham and Duncote. Early Roman campaigns marching in north Wales were of Ostorius Scapula (AD 48) and/or Sueton Paulinus (AD 60).

When the evidence of the once existent Roman fortress at Rhyn Park was established it called for a rethink of Roman history on the Powys-Shropshire borders etc.

Rivers obviously play an important part when setting up army camps. For example: old Roman marching camps/forts at Uffington by the Severn, the River Perry at Whittington and the one at Rhyn Park had the convenience of the River Ceiriog.

These Roman forces that also camped at Penrhos and Corwen under the command of Scapula and Paulinus were probably the armies that fought against the Deceangli tribes in areas of northern Wales or what was later known as Clwyd.

The military location at Rhyn Park enjoyed as previously mentioned an ample supply of water from the nearby river.

It also had a generous availability of firewood, fodder and pasture.

To the south of this military settlement was the heavy boulder clay and marshy depression of St Martin’s Moor. When the Roman legions wanted to march into Wales from here, which way would they go?

It would I assume be quite difficult to march over the Berwyns travelling westwards. The Horseshoe Pass could have been a somewhat practical option and maybe a shorter route. In my opinion if marching along the Dee valley they would almost certainly be easily ambushed by the Welsh defenders in the dense woodland and marshy places.

Nevertheless, old trails used by drovers can still be detected crossing the ridge of hilly area situated south of the Dee. Cefn Uchaf, Foel and Moel Ferna follow directly via Bwlch Cynwyd and the valley of the Trystion.

This route was extending to an area of the River Dee opposite one of the Roman camps situated at Penrhos.

It is interesting to note that this main upland track originating from the Bronze Age was at one time in part used by Henry II’s army on an unsuccessful raid upon Edeirion (Corwen area) from Oswestry in 1165.

The aforementioned track is still known as ‘Fford Saeson’ – the Englishman’s road or ‘Stryt Fawr’ – the main street. This is the assumed route that was most likely to have been employed by the Roman forces operating from Rhyn Park.

The fort itself extended to approximately 48 acres. Incidentally, the one at Chester was in the region of nearly 60 acres.

In the 1970s when the remains of the Rhyn Park settlement/fortress was discovered, many commented that they did not understand why one of this size and importance had been forgotten for so long.