An Introduction to the site
Old Oswestry was built by Iron Age people nearly 3,000 years ago and is one of the best preserved hillforts in Britain.
It was constructed and occupied during the Iron Age (800 BC to AD 43). The vast ramparts enclose a roughly diamond-shaped area that may have housed a small settlement.
During the Iron Age, Britain was divided into numerous tribal territories, and the hillfort was probably a stronghold and principal settlement for one of these territories. Old Oswestry is a fine example of a 'multi-vallate' or multiple rampart hillfort. It is one of a dense band of hillforts in eastern Wales and the Marches.
Much of the information about the site comes from excavations conducted in 1939 by William Varley, but this was not published until recently.
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