Tamworth Castle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tamworth Castle

Tamworth Castle is a fortress from Norman times on the banks of the River Tame in Tamworth in the English county of Staffordshire . English Heritage has listed the well-preserved castle as a historical building of the first degree.

The area over the River Tame had been fortified since Anglo-Saxon times. At that time, Æthelflæd , the Queen of Mercian , had a burh built to defend himself against the Vikings . It served as a residence for the Mercian kings. The fortress was rebuilt by the Normans and is now one of the best preserved moths in England.

The castle has the second largest mound in England after that of Windsor Castle .

history

Tamworth Castle over The Lady Bridge and the confluence of the River Anker and River Tame

There is an old legend that Æthelflæd, queen of the Mercians, built the castle in Tamworth in 913. In fact, however, she had a burh built, a kind of Anglo-Saxon defense system to defend Tamworth.

The actual castle was built by the Norman invaders in the 1080s in the southwest part of the former Burh . The buildings visible today date mainly from the 11th and 12th centuries and belong to a typical Norman moth. After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, William the Conqueror gave Tamworth a fief to his steward Robert Despenser . Dispenser died childless and so the castle fell to the daughters of his brother Urse d'Abetot , one of whom, Matilida Robert Marmion, married. The Marmion family from Fontenay-le-Marmion in Normandy held the castle for six generations from around 1100 to 1294. The family were hereditary champions of the Dukes of Normandy and then the new Kings of England . In this role, they had to offer a ceremonial competition to those who opposed the king in the coronation ceremony.

Robert Marmion, 3rd Baron Marmion of Tamworth (1185-1218), also known as Robert the Justice , was appointed Head of the Itinerant by King Henry II , an office that was equivalent to that of a mobile "Lord Chief Justice" . In 1215, during a campaign in France, Robert Marmion deserted from King John Ohneland's army and supported the French king. In revenge for this, King John ordered Robert's son Geoffrey to be captured, confiscated all of the unfaithful vassal's lands and ordered the destruction of Tamworth Castle.

“Go straight to Tamworth Castle and take it. With all possessions, horses, weapons and harness, so that it perishes instantly. ”- King John of England

The castle was at least partially destroyed, but after King John's death in 1216, Robert Marmion's son was able to regain his father's lands.

The last Marmion to own Tamworth Castle was Philip Marmion, 5th Baron Marmion of Tamworth , (1241–1291). He was a close supporter of King Henry III. and received great gifts in return for his loyalty to the king during the War of the Barons. Henry III. is said to have visited the castle in 1257. Philip Marmion had no legitimate sons and so after his death the castle fell to his daughter. But in 1294 she died without any descendants and the castle fell to her niece (the daughter of another daughter of Philip Marmion), Joan , the wife of Sir Alexander Freville .

The family Freville (or De Freville ), originally from Cambridgeshire came, held the castle until 1423. Baldwin de Freville died, leaving a 2 year old son and three daughters. His son died at a young age and so fell to his eldest daughter, Elisabeth , and her husband, Thomas Ferrers of Groby , in 1423 .

View of the donjon, the stage for the band and the flower terraces of the castle's recreation park

In the following centuries the castle was expanded many times, especially during the Jacobean period . The shell Donjon includes a gate tower of the 12th century and later residential building H-shaped layout consisting of a three-storey north wing of the 13th century and also three-story south wing of the 17th century, by a Ritter room with oak trim to that of 15th century connected.

During the English Civil War , after a brief siege, the castle was captured by parliamentary forces and '' Waldyre Willington '' was named its governor. In July 1645 the garrison consisted of ten officers and 77 soldiers under the command of Governor Willington. The report of a drafting of the garrison on May 28, 1646 names only 23 soldiers, whereby “the rest of the soldiers, about fifty, with Lt. Ensigne, a sergeant, a corporal and a drummer in Lichfield Lequer are on duty ”. Hence, the castle escaped razing , a fate that struck many castles during the Civil War.

In 1668 the castle fell to the Shirleys of Chartley and then to the Comptons in 1715 when Elizabeth Ferrers married the 5th Earl of Northampton . The castle fell into disrepair during the Compton era, but in 1751 married Charlotte Compton , the great niece of 1st Earl Ferrers' George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend . The townshends moved into the castle and it was extensively renovated in 1781.

In the 19th century, the castle was mostly leased to tenants, e. B. to Robert Peel and 1869-1891 to Thomas Cooke . After Cooke's death, Det Marquess Townshend put the castle up for sale and the Tamworth Corporation acquired it.

The castle is also depicted in a painting by William Turner simply titled Tamworth Castle.

Royal visitors

Royal visitors after the Norman conquest of England were:

Individual evidence

  1. a b Tamworth Castle . Heritage Gateway.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.heritagegateway.org.uk  
  2. Tamworth Castle Moth Makeover . Tamworth Borough Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund. ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tamworth.gov.uk
  3. RA Meeson: Tenth Tamworth Excavation Report, 1977: The Norman Bailey Defenses of the Castle in South Staffordshire Archaeological & Historical Society Transactions . Issue 20 (1978-1979). ISBN 0-86061-015-2 . S, 15.
  4. RA Meeson: Tenth Tamworth Excavation Report, 1977: The Norman Bailey Defenses of the Castle in South Staffordshire Archaeological & Historical Society Transactions . Issue 20 (1978-1979). ISBN 0-86061-015-2 . S, 15-17.
  5. Tamworth Castle . Pastscape. Historic England. English Heritage. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
  6. a b c d e f g www.tamworth.gov.uk/castlehome/medieval.aspx Tamworth Castle History . Tamworth Borough Council. ( Memento of the original from December 31, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tamworth.gov.uk
  7. a b c d e Tamworth Castle . (Castle guide). Tamworth Borough Council, Tamworth 2006 (1993)
  8. ^ Charles Ferrers Raymund Palmer: The History of the Town and Castle of Tamworth: In the Counties of Stafford & Warwick . J. Thompson. Pp. 131-136. 1845.
  9. Sample SP 28 / 122-3.
  10. a b c d Five Kings Who Stayed at Tamworth Castle . Tamworth Herald, May 24, 2013. ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 20, 2016. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tamworthherald.co.uk

Web links

Commons : Tamworth Castle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 52 ° 37 '58 "  N , 1 ° 41' 48"  W.