Tamworth, a town on the border of Stafford and Warwick shires, at the confluence of the Tame and Anker, 110 miles by rail NW. of London, 17½ NNE. of Birmingham, and 7 SE. of Lichfield. Burned by the Danes in 911, and rebuilt by the Princess Ethelfleda, it was the seat of a castle of the Saxon kings, which was afterwards held by the
Marmion, Ferrars, and other families, and now belongs to the Marquis of Townshend. That castle, which ranges in date between Saxon and Jacobean times, crowns a knoll 130 feet high; in its noble round keep is a room where Mary Queen of Scots was a prisoner. The church of St Edith, restored since 1870 at a cost of £10,000, has some interesting monuments and a curious double tower-staircase. There are also a bronze statue of Peel (q.v.), the new Jubilee municipal buildings and assembly rooms, a town-hall (1701), a grammar-school (1588; rebuilt 1868), almshouses founded by Thomas Guy (q.v.), a cottage hospital, recreation grounds, &c. The manufactures include elastic, tape, smallwares, paper, &c.; and in the vicinity are market-gardens and coal-pits. A municipal borough, chartered by Elizabeth, Tamworth returned two members until 1885. Pop. (1851) 4059; (1881) 5778; (1891) 6614. See works by Palmer (1871-75).