Tamworth
Tamworth is a historic town in Staffordshire England which has a population of around 72,000. Tamworth is located 17 miles (25km) north-east from the city of Birmingham. The town gained its name from the River Tame, which flows through the town.Tamworth is the home of a historic castle (See below), and has a minorly successful non-league football team by the name of Tamworth FC.
The town's main industries include: engineering, paper, clothing, and brick and tile manufacturing. It is also home to the Reliant car company.
Tamworth has existed since Saxon times, it was sacked by Danes in the 9th century. Defences in the form of a castle were constructed against Danish invaders by Ethelfleda Queen of the kingdom of Mercia.
In the 11th century, a Norman castle was built on the site of the Saxon one, which still exists to this day. See Tamworth Castle
The town grew rapidly in the 18th and 19th centuries. during the Industrial Revolution, due largely to the surrounding coal mines. And it also became a hub of the canal network, with the Coventry Canal and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal being built through the town.
The Victorian Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel served as the town's MP from 1830 until his death in 1850. It was in Tamworth that Robert Peel unveiled his Tamworth Manifesto in 1834 which effectively invented the modern Conservative Party.
Tamworth has grown rapidly in the post-war years due to overspill population from Birmingham. It's population has tripled since the 1940s.
Part of what is now Tamworth, was formerly in the county of Warwickshire until 1974. When the town grew and expanded outside the Staffordshire boundaries, the county boundaries were changed and Staffordshire expanded slightly to accommodate the growing town.
Tamworth is also the name of a rural city in Australia - Tamworth, Australia, Tamworth, New Hampshire,USA, and Tamworth, Virginia,USA.History
