A TIMELINE OF TAMWORTH HISTORY
By Tim Lambert
755-796 Offa rules the Midlands. He builds a palace at Tamworth and it becomes his de facto capital.
874 The Danes burn Tamworth
913 Tamworth is rebuilt. It is made a fortified settlement. Tamworth is also a little market town.
943 The Danes attack Tamworth again
1000 Tamworth is a flourishing market town with a mint
1319 Tamworth is given a charter giving it certain rights
1337 Tamworth is allowed 2 annual fairs
1345 Tamworth suffers a severe fire but it is soon rebuilt
1400 Tamworth has a population of about 1,200
1560 Elizabeth I grants Tamworth has another charter
1563 Plague strikes Tamworth
1579 Plague returns
1606 Plague strikes again
1626 Plague afflicts Tamworth for the last time
1678 Thomas Guy founds almshouses in Tamworth
1701 Tamworth Hall is built
1801 Tamworth has a population of just over 3,000. Even by the standards of the time its a small town.
1807 The streets of Tamworth are paved
1834 Robert Peel writes the Tamworth Manifesto, which lays out the principles of the Tory Party
1835 Tamworth gains gaslight
1847 The railway reaches Tamworth
1852 A statue of Robert Peel is erected in Tamworth Hall
1868 A newspaper, The Tamworth Herald is founded
1876 The first cemetery opens in Tamworth
1880 A hospital opens in Tamworth
1889 The boundary of the counties is changed so Tamworth is located entirely in Staffordshire
1897 The corporation buys Tamworth Castle
1900 The first council houses in Tamworth are built
1901 Tamworth has a population of about 15,000
1905 The first public library opens in Tamworth
1924 Tamworth gains an electricity supply
1980 Ankerside Shopping Centre opens
1999 Reliant stop making cars in Tamworth
2001 The population of Tamworth is about 75,000