Tamworth Castle
TAMWORTH CASTLE, HOLLOWAY
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1197020
- Date first listed:
- 11-May-1950
- List Entry Name:
- Tamworth Castle
- Statutory Address:
- TAMWORTH CASTLE, HOLLOWAY
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 1999-10-31
- Reference:
- IOE01/01327/33
- Rights:
- © Ms Kaz Diller. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1197020
- Date first listed:
- 11-May-1950
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 28-Feb-1992
- List Entry Name:
- Tamworth Castle
- Statutory Address 1:
- TAMWORTH CASTLE, HOLLOWAY
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- TAMWORTH CASTLE, HOLLOWAY
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Staffordshire
- District:
- Tamworth (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SK 20613 03913
Details
TAMWORTH
SK2003NE HOLLOWAY 670-1/9/75 (East side) 11/05/50 Tamworth Castle (Formerly Listed as: TAMWORTH The Castle)
GV I
Castle, now museum. Late C11 motte and bailey castle; rebuilt C12,early C13 repairs or reconstruction; C12-C13 north wing, probably with 1st floor hall; early C15 hall range; C16 warder's lodge; early C17 south wing; c1800 alterations. Stone rubble with ashlar and brick with ashlar dressings; tile and flat lead roofs. Shell keep with north-east tower with warden's lodge to south, and later ranges forming H-plan house. Curtain walls have embattled parapets. Tower has battered base, flat buttresses and rounded turrets; C14 two-light traceried window and top window with label mould over 3 round-headed lights with transom. Warder's house to left has C14 pointed entrance in canted bay under gable; late C16 double-chamfered-mullioned windows of 3 and 4 lights. South wing has c1800 facade; ashlar; ground floor windows of 3 pointed lights; 5- and 7-light 1st floor windows with transoms, similar 3-light windows to 2nd floor. North range has 2 square projections forming bases of bay windows demolished c1800; 3-light transomed windows in splayed surrounds with brattishing; 6-light and 3-light windows above; similar windows to right, with French window, and to left, over corbelled base to oriel. Inner court has warder's lodge to south east: 2 storeys with attic; renewed double-chamfered-mullioned windows with leaded glazing; coped gable with kneelers. South range: brick with ashlar dressings; 2 storeys; 2-window range; quoins, plinth, platt bands and C19 embattled parapet; entrance to right in doorcase with 4-centred head, remains of paired pilasters to entablature with cresting and armorial panel; ground floor has 3-light windows with pegged casements; 1st floor 4-light transomed ovolo-mullioned windows; 2nd floor has 3-light double-chamfered-mullioned windows. Hall has brick plinth, exposed wall post and large C17 wood-mullioned and transomed windows with leaded glazing, forming glazed wall; stair turret to right has 2-light hollow-chamfered-mullioned windows; east end of north range mostly brick; blocked 1st floor door to west end. INTERIOR: hall has tie beam and double collar trusses with struts and wind braces, ovolo-mouldings with fillets to posts and soffits of trusses; enriched doorcases and fireplace with Mannerist detail, moved from house in Kent, c1822. Tudor-headed main entrance with studded door. Closed-well stair to north wing, which has 3 rooms with fireplace and doorcases from house in Kent. South wing has two 1st floor rooms with C17 panelling and contemporary fireplaces with pilasters and entablatures and enriched overmantels, one with flanking figures and relief carving of biblical scenes; armorial panels, c1800. Warder's house has similar 1st floor room with panelling and fireplace overmantel. Tower has stair with strapwork panels and top splat balusters; room with panelling and Tudor-arched fireplace. The castle has been inhabited since the Norman conquest, with a break in the mid C19, when it was used in connection with the nearby mills (dem); it was bought by the local council in 1897 and opened to the public. James I stayed at the castle; Sir Walter Scott referred to it in his poem Marmion. (Ballard E: Tamworth Castle Museum: Tamworth: 1987-; The Archaeological Journal: Meeson R: The Timber Frame of the Hall at Tamworth Castle, Staffs: London: 1983-; Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Staffordshire: London: 1974-: P. 277-8).
Listing NGR: SK2061303913
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 386500
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Ballard, E, Tamworth Castle Museum, (1987)
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Staffordshire, (1974), 277-8
Archaeological Journal in Archaeological Journal, (1983)
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 10-Jun-2026 at 11:22:51.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.