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Tamworth in Stafford County England History and GeographyTAMWORTH, a parish partly in the northern and partly in the southern division of the hundred of OFFLOW, county of STAFFORD, and partly in the Tamworth division of the hundred of HEMLINGFORD, county of WARWICK, comprising the borough and market town of Tamworth, the chapelry of Wiggington, the townships of Almington with Stone-Delph, Biddescote, Bolehall with Glascote, Bonehill, and Fazely, the hamlet of Wilnecote with part of Dosthill, the liberties of Syerscote, otherwise Sterscote, and Tamworth Castle, and the extra-parochial liberty of Hopwas-Hayes, and containing 7185 inhabitants, of which number, 1636 are in the borough of Tamworth, 22 miles (S.E. by E.) from Stafford, 27 (N. by W.) from Warwick, and 112 (N.W. by N.) from London. This town is of great antiquity, being considered the most ancient in the county: its name is derived from Tame, the river on which it is situated, and Waert, or Worthidge, a water farm. At a very early period it was the site of a Mercian fortification and royal residence, and was the seat of government under Offa, Cenwulf, Beornwulf, and others, at which period it had also a mint. The town, having been nearly destroyed by the Danes, was rebuilt early in the tenth century, by Ethelfieda, daughter of Alfred the Great, who also erected a castle for its defence, which, having undergone recent repairs, is now a private residence. It stands south-west of the town, and the ancient fosse which surrounded it, called the King's Dyke, is still visible at a short distance. Tamworth, which is about equally divided between the counties of Stafford and Warwick, though commonly considered a Staffordshire town, stands near the confluence of the rivers Tame and Anker, both crossed by bridges about a mile distant from the Coventry canal: it consists of some good streets. The manufacture of lace, cotton, tapes, and patten-ties, affords employment to several persons. Many veins of coal have been found, and are worked, in the vicinity; and bricks and tiles of great durability are made from a clay which abounds here. There is a permanent library, under the direction of a respectable committee. The market is on Saturday: fairs are held by charter on May 4th, July 26th, and October 24th, for cattle and merchandise, and there are five new fairs for the sale of cattle only. The town is governed under a charter granted by Charles II., upon the surrender of a former one, which had been conferred by Elizabeth, authorising the appointment of a high steward, two bailiffs, recorder, twenty-four capital burgesses, a town clerk, and other officers: the members of the body corporate are chosen by the two bailiffs and the capital burgesses; the high steward, recorder, and town clerk, hold their offices for life; and the two bailiffs are chosen annually by the capital burgesses, from their own body. The corporation hold courts leet and baron twice a year, and are empowered also to hold a court of record, for the recovery of debts, but this right has not been exercised for many years. Quarter sessions are held regularly, but the trial of criminals has been discontinued, they being now sent to the county gaol for trial by the judges of assize. The borough returns two members to parliament: the elective franchise is in the inhabitants paying scot and lot, and not receiving alms, the number of whom is about six hundred; the bailiffs are the returning officers, and the influence of the noble family of Townshend and Sir Robert Peel, Bart., is predominant. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of Stafford, and diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, endowed with £400 private benefaction, £400 royal bounty, and £800 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of C.E. Repington, Esq. The church, dedicated to St. Edith, and situated in that part of the parish which is in the county of Stafford, is a spacious and handsome edifice, with a fine tower, in which are two remarkable spiral staircases, communicating with separate floors, their respective entrances being within and without the church: beneath the edifice is a small crypt: the building combines the decorated and later styles of English architecture. It was formerly collegiate, and occupies the site of an ancient monastery: the foundation of the college, which consisted of a dean and six prebendaries, is uncertain, but is attributed, with the greatest probability, to the Marmions, who were successively owners of the castle. Some fine tesselated pavement, now placed in front of the communion-table, was discovered a few years ago, when the church was undergoing repair. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and Unitarians. The free grammar school was refounded in the reign of Edward VI., and the stipend of £10. 13. 2¼. was confirmed to the master, and made payable from the revenues of the Crown. In the reign of Elizabeth the bailiffs were incorporated governors, and in 1677 the school-room was rebuilt: the revenue has been subsequently increased by various benefactors, and now amounts to £33. 11. 3.: from four to twelve children are instructed. Boys from this school are eligible to a scholarship at Catherine Hall, Cambridge, founded by Mr. Frankland; and a native of this town to a fellowship in St. John's College, Cambridge, on the foundation of Mr. Bailey. A free school for twelve boys and ten girls has an income of £20 per annum, partially arising from a charitable bequest; and the Sunday schools are endowed with the interest of £50, the gift of Mrs. Mary Done. In 1686, the Rev. John Rawlett bequeathed lands and houses for teaching and apprenticing poor children. An almshouse for fourteen poor men and women was endowed, in 1678, by Thomas Guy, Esq., of London, founder of Guy's Hospital in the borough of Southwark, who represented this borough in seven parliaments, and, in 1701, rebuilt the town hall. A new bridge has lately been erected at Fazely, over the Thame, along which passes the ancient Watling-street. Edward, Lord Thurlow, was also a representative of this borough until his elevation to the peerage, and recorder until his death. Tamworth confers the inferior title of viscount on Earl Ferrers. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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