Tamworth 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 Originally a wooden tower was built on the motte (shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066) but this has been replaced by a multi-sided stone shell-keep.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 The early Norman buildings inside the castle have been replaced by brick over the many years that the castle has been lived in.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. These sandstone walls and superb herringbone wall - all that survives of the "curtain wall" of the bailey - are believed to date from the 1180s.

Numerous additions and alterations have been made to the castle by succeeding 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.

You can read the full history of this fascinating building, which is open to the public, at the official website here: www.tamworthcastle.co.uk