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  1. Home
  2. Medieval Places
  3. Tamworth Castle
Castle
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Tamworth Castle

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 County

Staffordshire, England (6 castles) 

 Categories

Motte & Bailey / Stone / Shell Keep

 Remains

Excellent remains

 Access

Only open at certain times

 Location52.6328,-1.6971 (Google Maps)
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 DirectionsDirections via Google Maps
 County

Staffordshire, England (6 castles) 

 Categories

Motte & Bailey / Stone / Shell Keep

 Remains

Excellent remains

 Access

Only open at certain times

 Location
52.6328,-1.6971
///skins.cost.vouch
 Directions
Directions via Google Maps
amworth Castle is a large motte and bailey castle built in the Norman period. The motte remains but the bailey has gone. The castle is situated near the intersection of the Tame and Anker rivers. Originally a wooden tower was build on the motte but this has been replaced by a multi-sided stone shell-keep. Part of the bailey wall exists and a path on top of it leads up the motte to the castle entrance. The wall is a good example of herring-bone stone work. The early Norman buildings inside the castle have been replaced by brick over the many years that the castle has been lived in. Robert Despencer was first granted the lands of Tamworth by William I shortly after the Conquest. When he died in around 1114 the lands were passed to Robert de Marmion who may have married Despencer's daughter or niece. The walls of the shell-keep are about seven feet thick and have enough room inside them for staircases. There is a deep well within the keep used to supply the castle with water supplies vital in case of a siege.

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Related Information

  • Why build and live in castles
  • Castle development timeline
  • Keep and bailey castles
  • Castles of William the Conqueror
  • Motte and bailey castles
  • Shell-Keeps
  • Square keeps
  • Polygonal Keeps
  • Castles of Edward I
  • Parts of a castle
  • Location of lots of castles
  • Castle construction timeline

Related Maps

  • Map of Castles

Related Episodes

Viking Invasions (click here)

Viking Invasions (click here)

Timeline

913

...

Tamworth fortified against the Danes

Aethelflaed, the Lady of the Mercians, fortified the towns of Tamworth and Stafford against attack from the Danes.  ¹

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Selection of references used:

  • 1. Richard Fletcher, Who's Who in Roman and Anglo-Saxon England, ISBN:0-85683-114-X

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    Location

    See Also

    Related Information

    • Why build and live in castles
    • Castle development timeline
    • Keep and bailey castles
    • Castles of William the Conqueror
    • Motte and bailey castles
    • Shell-Keeps
    • Square keeps
    • Polygonal Keeps
    • Castles of Edward I
    • Parts of a castle
    • Location of lots of castles
    • Castle construction timeline

    Related Maps

    • Map of Castles

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