Tamworth
a town on the border of Stafford and Warwick shires, England; at the confluence of the Tame and Anker; 110 miles N. W. of London. Burned by the Danes in 911, and rebuilt by the Princess Ethelfleda, it was the seat of a castle of the Saxon kings, which was afterward held by the Marmion, Ferrars, and other families, and now belongs to the Marquis of Townshend. That castle, which ranges in date between Saxon and Jacobean times, crowns a knoll 130 feet high; in its noble round keep is a room where Mary, Queen of Scots, was a prisoner. The Church of St. Edith, restored since 1870, at a cost of £10,000, has some interesting monuments and a curious a double tower staircase. There are also a bronze statue of Peel, the new Jubilee municipal buildings and assembly rooms, a town hall (1701), a grammar school (1858; rebuilt 1868), almshouses founded by Thomas Guy, a cottage hospital, recreation grounds, etc. The manufactures include elastic tape, small wares, paper, etc.; and in the vicinity are market gardens and coal pits. A municipal borough, chartered by Elizabeth, Tamworth, returned two members to Parliament till 1885. Pop. (1917) 8,000.