Call for Oswestry monument to poet Wilfred Owen
A monument to Shropshire poet Wilfred Owen could be created in Oswestry after residents called for the town's heritage to be celebrated. A monument to Shropshire poet Wilfred Owen could be created in Oswestry after residents called for the town's heritage to be celebrated. Members of the public have approached the town council with a request for a monument to be created in the town. It follows a successful Oswestry and Beyond event to celebrate heritage sites in the area. Now council officials are calling on the public to send in letters of suggestions for what kind of memorial could be created and where they think it should be. Read more in today's Shropshire Star
A monument to Shropshire poet Wilfred Owen could be created in Oswestry after residents called for the town's heritage to be celebrated.
Members of the public have approached the town council with a request for a monument to be created in the town.
It follows a successful Oswestry and Beyond event to celebrate heritage sites in the area.
Now council officials are calling on the public to send in letters of suggestions for what kind of memorial could be created and where they think it should be.
Glyn Davies, facility manager for Oswestry Town Council, said: "I think we don't make enough of our heritage.
"We could have a monument to Wilfred Owen or King Oswald.
"People have suggested it to me. It would be good for the town and we would be behind that."
The idea will have to be formally put to the town council's amenities meeting in October before it can come to fruition.
There is no budget for a monument but Mrs Davies said a fundraising initiative could be established to generate cash.
It is thought the monument could be placed on the town green or on Bailey Head.
Wilfred Owen, the celebrated war poet, was born in Oswestry in 1893 and his work has become standard reading for school children all over the world.
The poet was killed on the battlefield in 1918.
He spent his final days in Ors, France, at the Forester's house which is now being turned into a visitor centre.
Meanwhile town councillors have recommended Oswestry's £170,000 town green, on Gobowen Road, be named after Wilfred Owen.
It is hoped the change of name will help put Oswestry on the map internationally.
The town green site was bought several years ago with plans to site a primary care centre there.
But a legal bid to designate the land as a town green was successful, blocking the move, and Advantage West Midlands handed the land to Shropshire Council.
National grants have helped put together a scheme to turn the land into a mix of play areas and leisure and wildlife areas.
By Chrissy Symmons
