INTRODUCTION

Among the archives in the custody of the Town Council there is a copy, made in the fifteenth century, of a charter granted in 1262 by John Fitzalan, Lord of Arundel. By this charter John granted to the Burgesses of Oswestry “full and free power and authority to ordain, make and conclude among themselves praiseworthy ordinances and agreements for their betterment and benefit” (translation from the Latin). This is the earliest indication we have of a group of people in Oswestry working together for the common good of the Town. Later royal charters, of Richard II in 1398, and Henry IV in 1407, set out in more detail the rights and privileges to be enjoyed by the Burgesses, and the extent of their jurisdiction. By 1582 disputes and misunderstandings had arisen in the Burgesses’ administration of local affairs, and constitutions were agreed that year “for the good and quiet government” of the Town. Twenty-five Burgesses were to be elected to the Common Council, who, together with the two Bailiffs they elected, would “doe and execute in everie thing according toe their best skill all that which by the said commen Counsell shallbe from tyme to tyme determyned”. It was perhaps inevitable that there would be disagreements between the Burgesses and the Lord of Oswestry about the liberties enjoyed by the former and the privileges claimed by the latter, and the doubts and ambiguities in the interpretation of previous documents resulted in the granting of a new charter by James I in 1617. Under this charter Oswestry was to be a free borough, its affairs to be administered by the Bailiffs and Burgesses, with the right to hold land, a common seal, a Guildhall, authority to make laws and impose fines. This charter remained in force for over half a century.

In 1673 the Lord of Oswestry, the Bailiffs and Burgesses petitioned for a new charter, giving as grounds for the petition the loyalty of the Town to the King during the Civil Wars of the mid-seventeenth century, and the damage suffered at the hands of the Roundheads. In the new charter, in place of the Bailiffs and twenty-five Burgesses, there was to be a Mayor, twelve Aldermen and fifteen Common Councilmen. A Town Clerk was appointed, the nomination to that office to be in future the prerogative of the Lord of Oswestry.

The 1674 charter remained in force until local government nation-wide was reorganised under the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835. Under this Act the administration of Town affairs was placed in the hands of the Mayor, six Aldermen and eighteen Councillors. Whereas under the charters the Common Councilmen had been elected by the Common Council itself, the Councillors were now elected by the ratepayers of the Town. The Mayor and Aldermen continued to be elected by the Council. The Town Clerk was appointed by the Council, as is the case today. The new style Council was a major force in developments in Oswestry in the next 130 years. Health and housing, water and electricity, the fire brigade, allotments, markets, parks, street works were all under its administration, some of these responsibilities being eventually lost in subsequent legislative changes.

In 1967 a reorganisation of local government in Shropshire resulted in the creation of the Rural Borough of Oswestry. Some of the functions of the old Borough Council were transferred to Oswestry Rural District Council, leaving the Rural Borough Council to operate in much the same way as a traditional parish council, but retaining responsibility for markets, car parks, and parks (until 1972) and open spaces in the Town. In the major reorganisation of local government in 1974 the Rural Borough Council became the Town Council, with sixteen instead of eighteen Councillors from 1975. Despite the reduction in powers in 1967 the Council still plays a major role in all aspects of the life of the community, striving, as did the early Burgesses, for the “betterment and benefit” of the Townspeople.

The Council’s archives date from 1324, when the Earl of Arundel granted two shops (‘duas schoppas’ in the Latin original) in Leg Street to the Burgesses of Oswestry. Comparatively few records survive before 1674, the year of the charter granted to the Town by King Charles II, but they include deeds and charters, and accounts and memoranda of the Bailiffs, who received the tolls and other payments due to the Town. Between 1674 and 1835 records are more plentiful, consisting of minutes of the Council, accounts of the Mayor and other Town officers, proceedings of the Quarter Sessions and Court of Record, and various correspondence and papers relating to the Guildhall, the gaol, markets and fairs, and other matters of local interest. The nineteenth century from 1835 was a period of great development in Oswestry. New markets were built in the late 1840s; reservoirs were built in the late 1860s and the late 1880s; the Guildhall was rebuilt in 1892. The voluminous minutes of the Council and its Committees, and the numerous bundles of deeds and documents which complement them, reflect these major developments as well as the more routine, and sometimes trivial aspects of the administration of Town affairs. Major and minor developments of the twentieth century are likewise documented – housing estates between the Wars; the modernisation of Powis Hall (the indoor market) in 1963; the new Smithfield in 1968; the changes brought about by local government reorganisation in 1974.

The majority of the Council’s older archives were at one time stored in Oswestry Library, which until 1959 was based in the Guildhall. The rest, and more recent records, were in scattered storage places in the Guildhall and Powis Hall. In 1985 the older archives were brought together in the Guildhall, later to be joined by the material from Powis Hall. However, three volumes of Quarter Sessions proceedings dating from 1737 to 1836 had in 1981 been transferred to Shropshire Record Office in Shrewsbury, which was at that time the repository recognised under Public Records Acts 1958 as a place of deposit for such records. The Town Council determined to do whatever was necessary to meet the requirements of the Lord Chancellor’s Department in order to gain recognition as a place of deposit, and thereby win the right to keep all the records in Oswestry. By April 1986 a room in the Guildhall had been equipped as a strongroom, with air conditioning to ensure that the right levels of temperature and humidity, so essential for long-term preservation of archives could be achieved and maintained. The provision of a properly equipped strongroom was not the only requirement to be met, however. Arrangements had to be made for the records to be catalogued, for conservation work to be done on damaged items, and for public access to the records. Consequently the services of a professional archivist were engaged, and the Archivist now attends regularly to work on the records and deal with matters arising. The Council now has an ongoing conservation programme for those books and documents in need of repair. In early 1987 the Council’s administrative staff moved into newly adapted office accommodation on the first floor of Powis Hall. One of the rooms there was used as a search room where records could be consulted by members of the public. The provisions made by the Town Council were finally approved in 1989. The Guildhall was formally appointed a place of deposit under the Public Records Act 1958, allowing the return of the Quarter Sessions records to Oswestry.

In 1999, following a successful application for a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund the Guildhall was renovated for Council and community use. An additional room was equipped for storage of archives, and improved searchroom facilities were provided. The catalogue of the archives was published to mark the re-opening of the building.