Conservation Management Plan - Tamworth Borough Council

understanding of the need to provide time and resources to take advantage of future repair programmes: large
scale replacement of tiles in the roof, for example, would provide invaluable opportunities for recording and
sampling this important aspect of the building. The gate house range at the base of the Norman herringbone wing
wall would yield significant information, if assessed archaeologically during repair or construction work.
Key questions include:
• Was there an outer bailey ditch, or was it part of the Saxon burh?
• The extent, degree of preservation and date of any surviving archaeological deposits in the bailey
• Are there any archaeological remains in the flower bed at the foot of the wing wall?
• Is there any evidence of Saxon deposits in the bailey?
• What buildings and activities were located in the bailey and over what period of time?
• The extent of the survival of the lodging range associated with the Medieval gate house
• What date was the perimeter pathway, might it be late-medieval in origin?
• Where was the chapel?
• Is there any further evidence of the medieval domestic apartments?
• Evidence for the medieval mills and fisheries associated with the castle?
• What evidence is there for a ditch on the south side of the motte?
It is important to use a range of different data sources for research, and adopt an interdisciplinary approach. The
urban archaeologists John Schofield and Allan Vince noted that urban castle sites have the potential to seal some
of the best undisturbed stratigraphy (Schofield and Vince 1994: 46).In Tamworth this could be the case for the
important late Saxon period.
The need for research on bailey interiors (Higham and Barker 1992: 244-325) is a national priority for earth and
timber castles. The bailey has much to tell us about the economic life of the castle and its linkages with its
hinterland. A non-destructive approach to understanding the bailey would be to undertake a geophysical survey.
Of particular importance is the possibility of further evidence for the construction of the earliest phases of the
castle, surviving beneath the present buildings, or within their walls. Opportunities for further investigation will be
provided by works to floors or drainage works, and sufficient time should be allowed to pursue research questions
and record evidence. Hidden elements of the standing structure can also be regarded as archaeological deposits
in the same way as buried remains. It might be possible to involve research students from Universities of Keele
(historical documents) and Birmingham (archaeology/historic building recording).
There are still many unanswered questions about the bailey which could perhaps be resolved by a combination
of geophysical survey, which could reveal evidence for buried walls, backfilled ditches and other features, which
could be confirmed by selective excavation. Evidence for buildings within the bailey from its earliest phases right
through to the late Tudor phase as described by Leland. the range associated with the medieval gatehouse remains
unexplored and the large flower bed adjacent to the base of the Norman causeway could reveal buried structural
remains that relate to the different phases visible in the causeway wall. This is an area of high archaeological
priority.
There are good historical sources for Tamworth and the castle and more research could be done on these to
illuminate the sometimes challenging relationship between the town and the castle.
Policies that relate to these issues:
B3; D1; D1.2; D3; D4
78 Part 2 www.marionblockley.co.uk Tamworth Castle Conservation Management Plan