Conservation Management Plan - Tamworth Borough Council

1.3 Assessment of significance
1.3.1 The significance of the Norman Castle
How typical is Tamworth Castle of this ubiquitous class of monument? Norman castles were a new feature in the
urban setting, representing a type of private fortification, that stood in marked contrast to the communal defensive
tradition of the late Saxon period. What effect did this new high status presence have on the urban community at
Tamworth?
Castle building in medieval England was a predominantly rural phenomenon. For complex social and political
reasons the medieval elite tended to build their defensible residences in the countryside rather than in urban
settings (Higham and Saunders 1997: 122). In England, those castles built in urban settlements, were predominantly
royal in origin. The Lords of Tamworth Castle had very close links with royalty, initially as the Chief Royal Steward
and subsequently a succession of Royal Champions.
Castles built within the urban centres of late Anglo-Saxon England form a coherent group in terms of their settings,
initial functions and the date of their foundations. These sites, including some of the most imposing mottes and
largest ringworks in Britain, were raised with very few exceptions, in the unique socio-political context of the
immediate post-Conquest years (c.1066-80), and the majority , like Tamworth, are sited in Saxon burhs (Armitage
1912:94-6; Drage 1987: 117). Almost 50% of all castles documented positively before 1100 have urban settings.
In a very short space of time, the majority of towns acting as major centres of regional administration in the first
half of the 11th century had castles imposed on them. Most of these towns had royal connections (as did Tamworth)
Robert le Despencer was the King’s main steward, hence the title ‘le Despencer’; many contained mints (as did
Tamworth) and collectively they represented the machinery for political control.
With the towns of England on the eve of Conquest containing an estimated 5-7 % of the population, William’s policy
suppressed population centres and wealthy and powerful enclaves with the potential to challenge royal authority
(Hinton 1990:115) The original Stafford castle was built in 1070, as opposed to the baronial castle, which was built
some distance from the town (Soden 2007). Most castles (like the second Stafford castle) were built to further the
aims of individual lords rather than as part of a national strategy. Urban castles were the notable exception.
The early castles, constructed under the express orders of William as tools of military conquest, and the most
‘Norman’, are paradoxically similar in concept (if not appearance) to the late Saxon burhs of Aethelfled. The
Aethelfledan burhs like Tamworth, were primarily fortified enclosures for the containment of garrisons, built to
dominate centres and control communication routes. This contrasts with the earlier burhs built by her father Alfred
in Wessex, which were planned to enclose the population and centralize the means of production. The defensive
circuit around the town of Tamworth is very similar, both in form and function, to what survives of the Tamworth
Castle bailey defences.
In the years immediately following the conquest, urban castles were not seigneurial residences in any real sense.
Built under royal control these castles were nearly always entrusted to appointed officials such as castellans,
stewards (Robert le Despencer) or sheriffs (Robert Marmion, Philip Marmion). It is only later that they emerge as the
seats of feudal baronies.
The castle was a potent symbol of the newly established Norman regime and a reminder to the indigenous
population of who held power in the new order. At the White Tower in London, the strongest, most impressive and
best maintained defences of the White Tower, built around 1078, faced towards rather than away from the Saxon
town and its resentful citizens (Vince 1990: 39).
At Tamworth the principal point of access faces the town, and the 13 th gatehouse may be on or close to the site of
Norman entrance. Invariably in an urban setting the castle gatehouse faces into the town. The exceptional height
of the motte at Tamworth, was necessary to create an elevated structure that loomed over the town and the former
palace/monastery enclosure on the higher ground to the north. The psychological impact of the massive motte,
stone shell keep with its tall tower (and display window) and massive herringbone masonry wing wall, would have
been pronounced, as it was a conspicuously elevated structure, at a time of low rise timber buildings.
Tamworth Castle Conservation Management Plan www.marionblockley.co.uk
Part 1
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