Conservation Management Plan - Tamworth Borough Council

Royal Visits
We know that the enhancements to the accommodation were successful as King James I visited on three occasions
in 1619, 1621 and again in 1624. There are apotropaic (evil-averting) marks on the entrance porch to the south range
to ward off witches and they may well belong to the time when James I was visiting. These marks are usually sited
around any apertures such as doors and windows where witches might slip into a building. James had taken a
particular interest in witches and witchcraft and considered himself somewhat an expert on the subject. In Scotland
in 1590 300 witches were accused of gathering to plot the murder of James. He is known to have had a morbid fear
of violent death. In 1604 he passed the Witchcraft Act.
The Castle during the Civil War
The Castle was occupied by Royalists in autumn 1642. On 23 June 1643 parliamentary troops laid siege upon the
castle and the royalists surrendered after 2 days. In the following March Royalists troops from Lichfield assembled
a force to try and retake Tamworth, but the attempt failed. In October the parliamentary garrison was ordered to
leave. Cromwell later ordered that many castles should be dismantled, but there is no tangible evidence that this
was ever carried out at Tamworth.
Sir John Ferrers V Probate inventory
The probate inventory of John Ferrers, made in 1680 is the most important document referring to the post medieval
castle, providing remarkable insight into room functions and contents at this date, as well as the overall planning
and organisation of the buildings. It is a valuable for the furnishings and decor of the domestic interiors around the
time of the restoration of Charles II.
Although the inventory was listing only moveable goods, it also names many of the rooms, and the route around
the accommodation, so it is possible to assign descriptions and functions to specific rooms.
However, there has been considerable change to the north range, since John Ferrers’ time: the attics in the north
range were taken down by the Townsends and at least one partition wall has been removed, the service rooms on
the west side of the open hall have been replaced and a partition wall has been removed from the top floor of the
storeyed entrance porch.
In the south range the top floor has been dismantled, so there is a degree of speculation about the contents of
some of the seventeenth century rooms. It is likely that some of the service buildings were sited in the bailey, and
the brief notes of the excavations by Wainwright in 1960 did refer to ‘Tudor’ buildings within the bailey.
North Range
We can identify ‘My ladyes chamber’ on the top floor of the tower, with an adjacent nursery on the floor below in
what is now described as the ‘Ferrers Room’ above the storeyed entrance porch.
The former dining room with fine bay and oriel windows looking out over the town on the north side of the castle,
was described as the ‘Guilt Leather’ room. The current municipal cream painted walls give no indication of how
warm and sumptuous this room must have been, with its walls lined with stamped and gilded leather. There are
numerous National Trust and other properties where this ‘gilt leather’ or ‘Cordovan leather’ survives and these are
illustrated and discussed in the room data sheets within the gazetteer.
Clearly at this time this room and its associated service rooms and annexes would have provided the main
accommodation suite for significant visitors such as King James.
Tamworth Castle Conservation Management Plan www.marionblockley.co.uk
Part 1
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