THE first stage of a £1.9million project to restore Tamworth Castle has been approved.
The scheme will involve urgent structural repairs to help secure the future of the historic site and the museum collections it houses.
Tamworth Borough Council was awarded £1,716,238 from Arts Council England’s Museum Estate and Development Fund in 2025 to carry out the work, with the council contributing an additional £190,695.
This comes as the historic Grade I-listed building, which dates back to the 1080s, was put on the Heritage at Risk Register in 2023.
In a recent planning committee meeting, councillors approved plans which will see a partial new lead roof to combat water ingress issues, drainage upgrades and new landscaping.
It is intended that like-for-like replacement materials are used to minimise the impact of the works.
The work is being carried out in phases to allow the castle to remain open, with visitors given opportunities to witness and support the conservation first-hand.
Speaking in March this year, Cllr Lewis Smith, Tamworth Borough Council’s portfolio holder for people services, engagement and leisure, said:
"Tamworth Castle has been cared for by generations for almost 1,000 years. In that time, it has been adapted, defended, repaired and protected. Every generation has left its mark.
"As today’s custodians of the castle, it is now our turn to decide what mark we will leave.
"Being placed on the Heritage at Risk Register signals that Tamworth Castle is worthy of saving. It’s recognising the castle’s significance as a Scheduled Monument, and one of only three surviving examples of a polygonal shell keep in Britain.
"It has also enabled us to leverage a significant amount of funding that means some of the underlying issues putting the historic building at risk can now be tackled.
"Thanks to that £1.9million in funding, we will soon be undertaking the biggest restoration of the castle in its modern history and playing our part in protecting this vital historic asset for the next 1,000 years."
More information on the project can be found at www.tamworthcastle.co.uk/caring-castle.
