A beacon is to be lit at Old Oswestry hillfort as part of national Armistice Day commemorations marking 100 years since the end of World War One.
Preparations are underway by community group, Oswestry Heritage Gateway, for residents of the town and area to pay tribute to fallen WW1 soldiers as thousands of beacons are lit across the country at 7pm on November 11.
The community has been stepping up to support the event with funding, equipment and volunteers, including Oswestry Town Council, Griffiths Tool Hire and Oswestry Cambrian Rotary. Stewards will be present on the night, which is set to feature a procession of light with participants bringing LED candles and lanterns (no naked flames).
The hillfort beacon forms part of ‘Battle’s Over’ tributes being held locally on Armistice Day as well as the current festival programme dedicated to war poet and son of Oswestry, Wilfred Owen.
The 3,000-year-old hillfort has poignant connections with the Great War. A system of practice trenches dug into the top of the earthwork, which survive intact though buried today, were used to prepare troops from the nearby Park Hall military camp for action on the Western Front. On what would be his final visit to his place of birth, Wilfred Owen was stationed at Park Hall in October 1916 around the time he wrote the poem ‘Storm’.
For more information, search Old Oswestry on Facebook or go to www.oldoswestryhillfort.co.uk
Western entrance of Old Oswestry hillfort looking towards Oswestry (Credit Graham Mitchell)
