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Discover out Past
Ancient Capital of Mercia
The Anglo-Saxons came into
Staffordshire in the late 6th century, as groups of settlers or
tribes. Mercia or Mierce in Anglo-Saxon means boundary and Mercia
as an area grew from a number of these separate tribes. The
Mercians gradually conquered most of the other Midland tribes to
become a powerful Kingdom stretching from the Humber to the Thames.
The three man powerful kingdoms were Mercia, Northumbria and
Wessex. Tamworth was the heartland of the Mercian Kingdom
which had a royal church at Repton, a religion centre at Lichfield
and the King’s main residence at Tamworth. Certainly the Mercian
Kings spent more time at Tamworth than anywhere else. There is
believed to have been a royal place at Tamworth by the end of the
7th Century, on the site close to St. Editha’s Church. Originally
it would have been a timber hall with chapel and somewhere for
horses to be stabled. Evidence from signed charters shows that the
Mercian Royal families stayed at Tamworth far more than their other
palaces and were regularly here for the festivals of Christmas and
Easter between 751 and 857 A.D. The most well known Mercian Kings
are Penda (625-655), Wulfhere (657-674), Aethelred (674-704),
Aethelbald (716-757) and Offa (757-796) Tamworth is also known to
have been important within Mercia, because it had a water mill
which ground grain for food for the settlement and it’s livestock.
The mill is believed to be the earliest (post Roman) watermill
found in Britain. It was powered by the river Anker and used mill
stones traded to King Offa from the French King Charlemagne, in
exchange for English woollen cloaks. Mercian power began to decline
after the death of King Offa and by the 10th century it lost it’s
independence, becoming part of the Kingdom of Wessex to create the
Kingdom of England.
Today, Mercia continues to herald it’s
importance with the discovery of the Staffordshire hoard, the
largest discovery of Saxon gold ever. Found not far from the
Capital of Mercia, and very close to the old Roman Road of Watling
Street a few miles to the west of Tamworth, the hoard appears to
date from around 590 A.D. to 750 A.D. We may never know why it was
buried or who it belonged to but it will hopefully in time it will
unlock some of the secrets of the Saxon age, and Anglo-Saxon
Tamworth.
Grand Architecture
Tamworth Castle
Tamworth Castle is the number one
heritage attraction located in the town centre of Tamworth. A visit
to Tamworth Castle any time of the day or night is packed full of
fun, mystery and adventure. Six wealthy and influential families
have owned the Castle over the centuries. The Medieval motte and
bailey castle has welcomed royal visits from King Henry II, Edward
III, James I and his son Prince Charles. Most recently the castle
welcomed HRH Prince of Wales as part of the Mercian Regiment
formation in 2007. The ancient sandstone tower and shell keep still
dominate views of Tamworth today.
St Editha's Church
The Parish Church of St Editha’s is
one of the largest and oldest churches in the Midlands. It dates
back to Saxon times 1200 years ago, when Tamworth was the capital
of the Kingdom of Mercia.
With a spacious interior, grand
arcades and Norman arches, Saint Editha’s is believed to have been
built under the guidance of Robert de Marmion, the King Champion
and Lord of Tamworth Castle.
The church has a magnificent double
spiral staircase. This is a very rare example of where two flights
of stairs wind one above the other around the same central post. St
Editha’s also has a unique stained glass window designed by the
world-renowned pre- Raphaelite Sir Edward Burne-Jones.
Town Hall
Built in 1701 and funded by Thomas
Guy, the Town Hall stands in Market Street. The original design
consisted of a single room supported by 18 Tuscan style stone
pillars. A decorative exterior staircase on the east side gave
access to the first floor room, which also served as a platform for
public events and announcements. In 1771 the exterior steps were
demolished and two rooms were added to the rear on the east side.
In 1811 these were replaced by two larger rooms funded in part by
the first Sir Robert Peel.
The area beneath the hall served as
the Butter Market and later housed the town’s first fire engine.
The turret in the centre of the roof was another later addition to
the building. The domed cupola with ornate iron weathervane once
housed a lantern and also contained a bell to summon firemen.
The clock on the front of the Town
Hall was presented to the town by the then owner of Tamworth
Castle, John Robbins, in 1812.
The Town Hall is still used today for
civic events and some council meetings and is open to the public
during the National Heritage Open Day event which takes place
during the middle of September each year.
The Almshouses
Built in 1678 and funded by Thomas
Guy, the Almshouses stand on Lower Gungate. They provided housing
for seven poor women. Each resident has their own entrance and
living room and the large central garden was used to cultivate
vegetables. The facilities also included a large library that
housed the books of Reverend John Rawletts. In 1692 the Almshouses
were extended to allow men as well as women to take advantage of
the facilities.
The original Almshouses stood for 234
years, before being demolished in 1912. They were rebuilt on the
same site in the ‘Free Georgian’ architectural style of the
original. They were later amended and extended in 1928 and 1926 and
have remained unchanged since.
After being rejected as MP for
Tamworth in 1708, Guy banned the residents of Tamworth from the
Almshouses. Those able to benefit from the Almshouses were
restricted to his own relatives and people living in the outlying
villages. This restriction is still in place today, with the stone
plaque above the main entrance reading ‘Guy’s Almshouses for
relations and Hamleteers’.
Tamworth Assembly Rooms
Built in Corporation Street in 1887 to
commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. The building cost
£5,500 and was built in the ‘Italianate’ style. A venue worthy of
important occasions, the townsfolk were inspired to fill it with
numerous events. Travelling theatre companies came, crowds thronged
to hear the great political orators of the day and elegant
Edwardian parties and receptions were held.
Suffragettes protested on the steps
outside during political meetings, it was not until 1918 that the
emancipation of women was passed, but only for over 30’s, it was
1928 before age discrimination was abolished. Along came the
roaring Twenties with a different scene of Flannel Dances at
half-a-crown a time. In 1924 the Assembly Rooms had the honour of
entertaining the Duke of York (future King George VI) at a formal
luncheon when he came to open the War Memorial at the hospital.
During the General Strike of 1926 a
soup kitchen was set up but throughout the decade concerts and
operatic shows filled the hall until, again, the music changed to
solemn hymns and whistles when the Jarrow Marchers stopped here for
food and rest on their way from the stricken north to Westminster
in 1936.
England was in the grip of the world
depression which lasted throughout the Thirties. At the start of
WWII in 1939 the building was used for Civil Defence. Shannon’s
girls from the local mill, packed respirators for distribution by
the WVS and the Supper Room (now the bar area) became the Report
Centre.
In the 50’s the Assembly Rooms
witnessed the rise of Rock and Roll and hosted many of the bands
which are household names today. The Beatles played to a sell out
audience on February 1, 1963 as did The Rolling Stones on December
2 the same year.
There have been numerous changes and
modern additions to this fabulous building but still today it
remains to keep its charm and uniqueness whilst offering a venue
both adaptable and diverse.
The Moat House
This 16th Century building was once
the home of the Comberford family. Young Prince Charles, later
Charles I, was entertained here in 1619 while his father King James
I stayed at Tamworth Castle. In 1815 the building was the venue for
a lunatic asylum and presently serves as a public house and
restaurant.
Influential
People
Sir Robert Peel
Born on 5 February 1788 at Chamber
Hall near Bury in Lancashire. He was the eldest son and third of
eleven children born to Robert Peel (the first Baronet) and Ellen
Yates. Originally the Peels were Lancashire weavers and farmers but
had moved into textile manufacture and made their fortune. Sir
Robert Peel was educated at home until he was ten years old, in
1798 the family moved to Drayton Manor where he then attended a
small school in Tamworth. Between 1800 and 1804 Peel attended
Harrow and was then admitted as a gentleman-commoner to Christ
Church Oxford where he was awarded a double First in Mathematics
and Physics in 1808. In 1814 he was awarded his MA. In 1809 he
began to work towards a career in Law but later moved into his
parliamentary career that lasted until his death.
He was one of the most important men
in Britain during the Nineteenth Century. He became MP in 1809 and
became Home Secretary in 1822. He was twice Prime Minister, in
1834-35 and again in 1841-46. He dominated parliament throughout
the period 1830-50. Today he is acknowledged as one of our greatest
statesmen. He is best remembered for his ‘Tamworth Manifesto’, the
Corn Laws and the Repeal Act and as the founder of the modern
Police Force still affectionately called ‘bobbies’ derived from his
nickname, which was founded in 1829.
Peel has been seen as both the founder
and betrayer of the Conservative Party and also the real founder of
the Liberal Party.
Peel died in 1850 following a fall
from his horse on Constitution Hill, London, he is buried at the
small parish church at Drayton.
There were six baronets, all named Sir
Robert Peel, until the direct line ended in 1942.
Thomas Guy
Born in 1644 in Southwark, South-East
London, his father, Thomas Guy Senior was a Lighterman, Coalmonger
and Carpenter with a wharf on the banks of the river Thames, his
mother, Ann Vaughton, originated from Tamworth.
In 1652 Guy’s father died suddenly,
now 8 years old and the eldest of three children, his mother
returns the family to her home town of Tamworth. Guy was educated
at Tamworth’s Free Grammar School that used to stand on Lower
Gungate.
In 1660, at the age of 16, he was
apprenticed to John Clark, a bookbinder in London. Completing his 8
year apprenticeship, Gut set us business as a bookseller and
publisher, success and fortune soon followed.
In 1677 Guy paid for the refurbishment
of Tamworth’s Free Grammar School. In 1678 Guy purchased land
opposite the Grammar School where he built the Almshouses. He also
funded the building of the Town Hall in 1701.
Guy stood for election to Parliament
in 1695, he served the town as MP until 1707. When the people of
Tamworth failed to re-elect him, angry at their ingratitude, he
threatens to demolish the Town hall and bans the people of Tamworth
from his Almshouses.
Rejecting Tamworth, he turned his
attention back to London where he personally financed the building
of Guy’s Hospital, Southwark in 1722.
Guy died at home on December 27, 1724
after visiting the building site, he never got to see the project
completed. He never married and left his fortune to Guy’s Hospital
which opened in 1725.
Aethelflaeda
The daughter of King Alfred the Great,
she became known as the Lady of the Mercians. Her boldness and
courage enabled the town to rise again from the destruction which
had been caused by the invading Danes. She drove back the Danes and
seizing Watling Street, established that great strategical highway
as the southern boundary of the Danelagh (the border between the
Danes and the Anglo Saxons).
To strengthen her line of
communication across England, she established a chain of fortified
posts and in 913 with her Mercians’, marched to Tamworth, and here,
at the junction of its two rivers, the Tame and the Anker
established a fortification, known today as Tamworth Castle.
Her death in 920 in Tamworth resulted
in Mercia being merged into Wessex, however, Tamworth did not lose
its royal connection.
Aethelflaeda had trained her nephew,
Athelstan, in the arts of war and kingship, she taught him to read
and gave him a jewelled dagger as a symbol of his high rank.
Athelstan succeeded to the throne of Wessex upon the death of his
father, Edward the Elder, where he continued to wage war against
the Danes and again made Tamworth a royal seat.
The Aethelflaeda Monument stands today at the foot of Tamworth
Castle just through the Gatehouse.
Editha
The sister of Athelstan, she married
the Danish leader Sihtric, King of Northumbria, in 925. Sihtric
soon broke his Christian vows and relapsing into paganism, deserted
Editha. War continued to rage and was ended temporarily upon the
death of Sihtric a year later, Editha retired into a convent which
she founded at Tamworth close to the Palace where she had reigned
as bride.
Colin Grazier
Able Seaman, Colin Grazier, was one of
three British Servicemen, whose brave actions shortened the Second
World War by as much as two years. Until recently this bravery
remained virtually unknown and uncelebrated.
Colin and a fellow seaman lost their
lives retrieving vital German codebooks from a sinking U-boat, the
third survived the war, only to die in a house fire while still a
teenager.
It was the precious documents they
seized in October, 1942 that enabled Bletchley Park’s code breakers
to crack Enigma and so win the Battle of the Atlantic. Now
recognised as a pivotal moment in world history, the mission was
cloaked in secrecy for decades and not even their families could be
told they had paved the way for peace.
Born in Tamworth and married only days before losing his life. A
memorial to Colin Grazier stands in St Editha’s Square.
Did You Know?
The ‘penny’ Offa first minted, originated from
Tamworth and was the only effective currency in England up to the
14th Century. Tamworth Castle displays examples of early coins in
circulation from 959 A.D. to 1135 A.D.
The Reliant Motor Company, was formed in 1935
when Mr T.L. Williams decided to build his own three wheeled
vehicle in his back garden at Kettlebrook, Tamworth. In 1973
Reliant introduced the most famous of their three wheelers, The
Reliant Robin. Reliant production was based in Two Gates at
Tamworth for 65 years, until December 1998 when the factory was
closed for the last time and production moved to a new purpose
built factory at Burntwood, Cannock.
The Tamworth ‘Sandyback’
pig is believed to have originated in Ireland in 1809 when
Tamworth’s famous second baronet Sir Robert Peel (1788 –1850)
discovered a breed of pig know as an ‘Irish Grazer’, and had
several of the animals imported to England to the Peel Estate at
Drayton Manor. The breeding of the pig continued in Staffordshire
after this date, until the ‘Tamworth’ was granted a separate breed
recognition at the English Royal show of 1865. The herd book was
started in 1885. You can see Sandyback pigs at Ash End House
Children’s Farm at Middleton, near Tamworth, e-mail contact@childrensfarm.co.uk,
tel: 0121 3293240.
The Borough Coat of
Arms crest sees the Tamworth Shield supported by the
crowned lion, representing Staffordshire, and the chained bear
representing Warwickshire. Tamworth was situated in both counties
until 1889. The crest is headed by a representation of Tamworth
Castle, behind crossed swords, standing for the office of Champion
of England, held by the Marmion family.