Conservation Management Plan - Tamworth Borough Council

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attacker that the wall was weak at this point, but add an impressive feature to the facade (Renn 2000:136, Renn 2003:74-76, figs 8-12) He described it as a ‘parade front’. The large first floor window in the tower at Tamworth would also have made it vulnerable to attack, from the top of the wing wall. However, perhaps the large window and the highly decorative herringbone masonry of the wing wall; the architectural detailing of the shell keep, tower and wing wall, picked out in yellow sandstone quoins; were all designed to impress, drawing on the Anglo Saxon tradition of lordly display rather than primarily for defence? The Norman and Medieval Deer Park The extensive deer park was an important part of the medieval castle, yet because it is substantially destroyed, it tends to be overlooked and its importance to the Norman and Medieval castle underestimated. From Domesday Book it is clear that the countryside around Tamworth at the time of the Conquest was well wooded. Cannock Chase was a royal forest and its boundaries extended to the river Tame. So Tamworth would have been a popular place to visit. Henry I, Henry II, and his chancellor Thomas Becket, and Henry III, came to stay at Tamworth, taking Marmion hospitality at the castle. There are a number of references to the king granting deer from the royal forest at Cannock to the Marmions, perhaps in return for their hospitality when he was hunting in the royal chase of Cannock? Clearly Tamworth was well sited as a royal hunting lodge. This would imply that there must have been impressive apartments to house royalty, from an early period within the shell keep, although little survives from the later Tudor, Jacobean and Georgian developments. The castle park appears to be in two sections, a smaller park connected to and extending south east from the bailey and river Tame down to an area just south of the Snow Dome and A453 (Fig 4) and a much larger Great Park on the higher ground to the east of the flood plain of the River Tame, down to Dosthill (Fig 4 & 21). Economic significance The castle was also the centre of a much wider estate in the medieval landscape, and this also tends to be forgotten when we look at Tamworth castle today. Most think of the castle as only the structures on top of the motte, without realising that there was a bailey associated with it. The much more extensive deer park which extended south of Watling Street to Dosthill would have involved the forcible taking of a considerable area of productive land from local peasants. They would also have been excluded from this private hunting ground by a high fence or park pale (literally beyond the pale). The castle had three mills and a fishery associated with it and these would have generated a significant annual income. There was also an extensive castle orchard just beyond of the town ditch, west of Aldergate (Fig 3). Targeted excavation of the castle bailey might provide an important window into the economy of the medieval town A private pleasure ground or watery ornamental landscape? The confluence of the rivers Anker and Tame at the foot of the motte was modified to create an island and mill leet to power the corn mill. No doubt the fishery was carefully constructed, with fishponds to aid spawning, it may also have been engineered to create a suitable watery enhanced landscape setting for the castle. Over the past 20 years landscape archaeologists and historians have demonstrated many examples of managed (often watery) landscapes to enhance the setting of castles such as Kenilworth, Clun, Ravensworth, Bodiam and many others (Creighton 2002, Everson 1996 Liddiard 2005, Taylor 2000) Liddiard comments (2005: 97) ‘ the recognition of....designed’ or ornamental landscapes at castle sites has led to the appreciation that some of the structures were not constructed simply for utilitarian purposes, but had been contrived partly to improve the setting of the residential buildings. Thus features such as fishponds, mills.. and dovecotes may have been placed in specific locations around the castle in order to enhance its aesthetic appeal.’ The view of the castle from the south with Ladybridge and the Castle Mill in the foreground has long been a popular subject for landscape artists (Plates 7, 10, 12, 14, 20). It is sad that this iconic view is now ruined by the enfilade of five tower blocks and the council offices, named in honour of the Marmions. 50 Part 1 www.marionblockley.co.uk Tamworth Castle Conservation Management Plan
The Castle and the town There is no entry for Tamworth in Domesday Survey, although some of the surrounding townships did hold properties (burgages in the town). This was a common practice for late Saxon towns and shows the importance of the town at this time for its surrounding hinterland. The town and castle were in different ownerships, though the presence of the castle and its owners must have influenced the form of the development of the town. The castle and its surrounds formed a separate liberty, including a hunting park to the south, a common attachment to medieval castles. Further evidence for this is on the 18 th map of the Castle Liberty (Fig 4 & 13) which shows the historic landholdings of the castle and its associated deer park or chase and closely follows the line of the ditch around the motte at its northern boundary, not the putative outer enclosure ditch to the north (Fig 2). Bailey The bailey of the Norman castle is quite small, although some have suggested there was a short lived outer bailey to the north. Excavations at the north east corner of the bailey in 1977 demonstrated that it had originally been surrounded by a sophisticated timber-framed rampart. A small outer ditch was replaced by a much larger one at a later date (Meeson 1977). The bailey is connected to the motte by an impressive herring bone masonry causewayed wing wall. Herringbone masonry has been traditionally dated to the Anglo Saxon period. Hence earlier writers tended to ascribe the impressive herringbone masonry wing wall to the Anglo Saxon period and connect it to either Offa’s Mercian Palace or Aethelflaed’s burh. There is a monument to Aethelflaed erected in 913 at the foot of the motte, to commemorate the millennium of ‘her’ castle. However herringbone masonry is also well attested from early Norman castles (Colchester, Peveril, Brough etc) and is used both as a structurally sound technique for walls on steep slopes and across ditches and also for its decorative qualities as an impressive architectural statement on the wall facing the former centre of Mercian power. No defences survive on south side of bailey, either they were demolished or there never were stone defences on the river side. Stone defences overlooking town may have been constructed as much for display and prestige as for defence. Excavations by Tom Mc Neil in 1974 (1989) uncovered the twin towers of a 13 th century gatehouse, which protected the main entrance to the castle. Again this lay on the north, town side of the castle, and was no doubt designed to impress as much as to defend. The Medieval castle was obviously a significant building and hosted royal visits in 1157, 1257, and 1325. It may also have been slighted by on the King’s orders in 1215, and was besieged by the inhabitants of Tamworth, who cut off supplies for sometime during the plague of 1384. Much of the medieval fabric within the shell keep does not survive, having been replaced by late medieval, Tudor, Jacobean and Georgian phases. For example we do not know where the chapel was sited within the shell keep. Post-Medieval Castle c.1540-1700 The castle continued to be the principal residence of the Ferrers family from the late medieval/Tudor period to the early 17 th . Between 1550-1620 and they undertook a lavish building programme within the shell keep on top of motte. The principal elements were the refurbishment of the north range, construction of the south range and storeyed porch adjoining the Norman tower. Full advantage was taken of the opportunities for display presented by the elevated site, especially the north side looking out over the town. No expense was spared in fitting out the elaborate interior, as is clear from the 1680 inventory. At the outbreak of the Civil War in (1642-51) the head of the Ferrers family, John Ferrers V was still a minor. The family still supported the king and the castle was garrisoned by royalist forces in the autumn of 1642. It was besieged by parliamentary forces in June 1643 and forced to surrender. An attempt by royalists to regain the castle in 1644 failed, but the parliamentary garrison was ordered to leave the castle in Oct 1644. Cromwell subsequently ordered that many castles should be dismantled, but there is no evidence that this order was carried out at Tamworth. Tamworth Castle Conservation Management Plan www.marionblockley.co.uk Part 1 51
Page 1 and 2: Tamworth Castle Conservation Manage
Page 3 and 4: Plate 20. Romantic Watercolour of T
Page 5 and 6: Conservation Policies (Vol. 1) Afte
Page 7 and 8: Polices for the Conservation of Tam
Page 9 and 10: F Engagement Policy F1: Re-engage w
Page 11 and 12: J Site Management Policy J 1: Meet
Page 13 and 14: Introduction The Brief The Tamworth
Page 15 and 16: This document takes account of the
Page 17 and 18: Cabinet members were given an eveni
Page 19 and 20: Understanding and Significance (Vol
Page 21 and 22: 1.2 Historical Overview 1.2.1 Topog
Page 23 and 24: From the place name evidence the la
Page 25 and 26: An alternative theory is postulated
Page 27 and 28: A widely promulgated theory is that
Page 29 and 30: It formed the main approach to the
Page 31 and 32: Phase 5 The Tudor and Jacobean Cast
Page 33 and 34: Royal Visits We know that the enhan
Page 35 and 36: Holloway Lodge was built as a suita
Page 37 and 38: The modernist concrete bridge over
Page 39 and 40: The setting of the Castle, dominate
Page 41 and 42: However, on the accession of Edward
Page 43 and 44: Name Born Acquired castle Died Robe
Page 45 and 46: 1.2.6 The Castle Collections The Ca
Page 47 and 48: 1.3 Assessment of significance 1.3.
Page 49: the claim to power of new regime. A
Page 53 and 54: It is important to note that the el
Page 55 and 56: 1.3.4.1 Significance of the Medieva
Page 57 and 58: 1.3.5 Contemporary Significance Bec
Page 59: The horse chestnut tree at the foot
Page 62 and 63: Introduction The second part of the
Page 64 and 65: 2.3 Issues affecting significance T
Page 66 and 67: Assessing the implications of chang
Page 68 and 69: 2.3.4 Monitoring structural crackin
Page 70 and 71: Likewise the plaster ceilings of ro
Page 72 and 73: 2.3.13 Collation of information on
Page 74 and 75: 2.3.18 Presentation of the motte an
Page 76 and 77: 2.3.22 Park Management/ protecting
Page 78 and 79: understanding of the need to provid
Page 80 and 81: 2.3.28 Ecological Potential The eco
Page 82 and 83: It is clear that some items held wi
Page 84 and 85: The current entrance up the Norman
Page 86 and 87: The roof of the tower provides an e
Page 88 and 89: This could be activated by blue too
Page 90 and 91: 2.3.47 Systems to safeguard the col
Page 92 and 93: Items on display are not stored in
Page 94 and 95: 2.3.52 Documentation and Collection
Page 96 and 97: Key risk areas: • Areas where cat
Page 98 and 99: The Policies A principles and appro
Page 100 and 101:
Policy B3.6 An archive documenting
Page 102 and 103:
Policy C3 To observe effective regi
Page 104 and 105:
Policy C6 Understand and protect th
Page 106 and 107:
F Policies Engagement Policy F1: Re
Page 108 and 109:
Policy G12: Develop Tamworth Castle
Page 110 and 111:
Policy H4.7 A brief annual monitori
Page 112 and 113:
J Policies Site Management These po
Page 114 and 115:
Costed 10 year Action Plan • Arra
Page 116 and 117:
Sources Technical Baker, Shepherd,
Page 118 and 119:
Rahtz P and Meeson R 1992 An Anglo-
Page 120 and 121:
Appendix 1 120 Part 2 www.marionblo
Page 122 and 123:
122 Part 2 www.marionblockley.co.uk
Page 124 and 125:
Tamworth Castle Conservation Manage
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130:
Appendix 3 A map of that part of th
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Conservation Management Plan - Tamworth Borough Council

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