Friends of Tamworth Castle and Museum

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The Friends of Tamworth Castle and Museum - all rights reserved. Charity Commission for England and Wales - Registered Charity Number 1082468

Tamworth Castle -

The Great Little English Castle

Tamworth Castle is located near the centre of the Staffordshire town of Tamworth at the North-West end of the Castle Pleasure Grounds, accessible from Market Street and from the Ankerside Shopping Centre.

The Castle is a Norman motte and bailey castle set in the south-west corner of what was a Saxon burh, located to dominate the approach over the two rivers which meet below the Castle (the Anker and the Tame)..

Its sandstone walls and superb herringbone wall - all that survives of the "curtain wall" of the bailey - are believed to date from the 1180s. They replaced a palisade and wooden tower, built on the present artificial mound (“motte”) shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066.

Numerous additions and alterations have been made to the castle by successive generations of owners until, in the late 1890's, Marquis Townshend decided to sell the Castle by auction. Tamworth Corporation purchased it to mark Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The purchase price of £3000 was later raised by public subscription and the Castle was formally opened and dedicated to the public two years later.


A Short History

A Tour of the Castle

Overview

Lords of the Castle

The Castle

Castle Ghosts

A Medieval Stroll

Significant Dates

Visiting the Castle