Return of a masterpiece

A book about Oswestry first published over 80 years ago has undergone a special reprint. “Oswestry”, by Isaac Watkin, has long been out of print.

It is now available in a limited facsimile edition, published by Bridge Books of Wrexham and exclusively available from Bookworld in Oswestry.

It is hardback, with green cloth with gilt titles and impressed Oswestry seal. It has 358 pages and is complete with all the original 80 illustrations.

“We are delighted to make available again what is certainly the best known, most interesting and most reliable history of the town, full of information on the history of its buildings, businesses and families,” said a spokesman for Bookworld.

“It is essential reading for those who would like to know what Cae Glas Mansion looked like, do not know that the first copies of the Oswestry Advertizer were sold in 1850 - it had previously been a freesheet - or that Llwyd’s Mansion was, for many years, a butcher’s shop.

“All the principal houses and business premises are listed, with their then and former occupants, often going back several generations, making the book a vital source of information for family historians and a fascinating one for anybody wishing to know the history of their home or business premises.”

It costs £25 plus £2.50 postage and packaging and is available from Bookworld, 32 Beatrice Street, Oswestry SY11 1QG.