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 environsCathrall, William
History
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
Cathrall, William
Natural history -- England -- Shropshire; Oswestry (England) -- History
The mansion is a noble pile of building, of fine white stone, and has,
recently, under the direction of the present possessor of Wynnstay,
undergone much improvement. The interior comprises several noble
apartments, which are embellished with paintings by the first masters,
portraits of various members of the family, and busts by eminent
sculptors, of the distinguished statesmen Lord Grenville, William Pitt,
&c. The library consists of a fine collection of books, in ancient and
modern literature, with valuable MSS. illustrative of early British
history. Among the variety of plate, including elegant race-cups, &c.,
is a large silver vase, or punch-bowl, presented to the late Sir W. W.
Wynn, by his countrymen, on his return from the battle of Waterloo.
The grounds in which the house is situated are remarkable for their
sylvan beauty. The avenue leading to the mansion from Rhuabon is formed
of fine oak, elm, beech, and other trees, one of which, “The King,”
measuring thirty feet in circumference, and with its outspreading arms
appearing to bid defiance to its fellows, seems to have a just claim to
the monarchical title it bears. A fine sheet of water in front of the
house adds much to the picturesque and deeply-wooded scenery around.
Both the near and distant views from the park are distinct and
attractive, those especially towards the Berwyn chain of mountains, with
the grand breach in it beyond Llangollen, through which rolls the rapid
Dee. An obelisk or handsome free-stone column is erected in the park,
after a design by Wyatt, as a tribute of maternal affection, in memory of
Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, grandfather of the present baronet. Round the
entablature is a gallery, with a circular iron balustrade, nine feet
high, in the centre of which stands a handsome urn in bronze. The plinth
is wreathed with oak leaves descending from the beaks of eagles. A
door-way leads, by a wide stair-case, to a gallery at the top. On the
lower part of the Cenotaph is the following emphatic inscription:—
“FILIO OPTIMO.
MATER CHEU! SUPERSTES.”
Although this column cannot be seen from the house, a glimpse of it may
be caught on the left side of the railway, in passing from Rhuabon
towards Oswestry. The Nant-y-Bela Tower, in “The Dingle of the Marten,”
is another Cenotaph, erected by the late Sir W. W. Wynn, after a design
by Sir Jeffrey Wyattville, in memory of his brother officers and private
soldiers slain in Ireland during the rebellion of 1798. It stands on an
eminence, and commands a view of the Vale of Llangollen, for several
miles. The Waterloo Tower, close also to the railway, is another
ornament to the park.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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