Wilfred Owen’s Birthplace Placed on Market

The residence where war poet Wilfred Owen was born has been placed on the market. Owen, born in Oswestry, Shropshire, in 1893, joined the Army in 1915 and directly experienced the trench warfare of World War One. Following an injury in 1917, he was repatriated, but returned to France in 1918 as a company commander, only to be killed a week before Armistice Day. Biographers have documented how, following his death at the age of 25, he came to symbolize a generation of young men who perished in the conflict. The Poetry Foundation indicates that only five of Owen’s poems were published during his lifetime, with others appearing after his death, many included in a collection edited by fellow war poet Siegfried Sassoon. His writings depicted the horrors of inundated trenches, chemical gas, machine gun fire, and severe shelling. Dulce et Decorum Est and Anthem for Doomed Youth stand as two of his most recognized poems. Owen was born at villa Plas Wilmot, the son of Thomas Owen, a railway clerk and former seaman, and Susan Owen, daughter of former Oswestry mayor Edward Shaw. He had three siblings, and the family later relocated to Shrewsbury, where he received his education. Peter Daborn, representing Savills, the firm marketing the residence, characterized it as a “special property which is steeped in history”. Speaking during the Remembrance period, he remarked: “It is a particularly poignant time to launch such an historic property to the market.” Original features preserved within the Grade II listed Georgian property, which displays a blue plaque, encompass sash windows, a ceiling rose, cornicing, and parquet floors. Commemorative events are scheduled to take place across the West Midlands on Sunday. Services will be hosted by the cathedrals in Birmingham and Worcester, parades are planned for Coventry, Sandwell, and Wolverhampton, and remembrance gatherings are being held at the Royal Airforce Museum in Cosford, Shropshire, and at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. Connect with BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X, and Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC assumes no responsibility for the content of external sites. Further details on our approach to external linking can be found.