Where is Maesbury?

A map of 'Maesbury' is surprisingly difficult to produce as the village is now in a completely different place to where it started, and the name has been used to cover wider areas with different boundaries.

The Original Maesbury was an Anglo-Saxon fortified settlement. By Domesday it had acquired five outlying estates and was the capital of the Hundred of Mersete (similar to the current Oswestry Borough). The Normans then built the town of Oswestry as their administrative centre, and Maesbury reverted to being just one of a group of small hamlets around the end of Wat's Dyke.

By the 19th Century the Oswestry District was made up of 16 'Townships', one of which was called the 'Township of Maesbury' comprising a slightly altered version of the original village plus the hamlets of Ball, Gwerny-y-Brenin, Maesbury Marsh and Newbridge; and an area around the cross-roads called 'The Chain' after the chain gate across the turnpike road.

In 1894 the 16 Townships were merged into two districts of Oswestry Town and Oswestry Rural Parish, with Maesbury (village and township) being absorbed into the latter. This Rural Parish, being very large compared with other parishes, was divided into four wards, one of which became the 'Maesbury with Aston' ward. This was loosely based on the old Maesbury, Aston, Hisland and Morton Townships, but with significant differences in the boundaries.

Meanwhile the original Maesbury village had almost disappeared after the mill closed in 1905, leaving just a few houses along the old Maesbury Road, now called Ball Lane. A new church was built in the Chain area in 1906, followed by a new school in 1923, and this came to be seen as the new Maesbury. Today all the road signs, and the OS maps, have designated the Chain area as 'Maesbury'. The old village has been left with no name. Perhaps it should be formally named 'Old Maesbury'?

The map below shows the boundaries of 'Maesbury Township' as defined in 1839, and the neighbouring townships, but imposed on a modern map. The probable site of the original Saxon settlement is outlined in red (approx. 600 -1100 AD). When the first Mill was built the village changed shape, to the area in green (approx. 1100-1905). It has now moved to the cross-roads, outlined in blue according to new road signs, and consisting of the church, school, and three dwellings.

The largest settlement in the area today is Maesbury Marsh, which didn't exist before the arrival of the canal in 1795 (see below for more...)

The map below shows the boundaries of the Maesbury and Aston Ward as it is today, with the dotted line dividing it from the rest of the Oswestry Rural Parish:
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