Tamworth

 town, borough

Tamworth is a town and local government borough in Staffordshire, England, located 14 miles (23 km) north-east of Birmingham city centre and 103 miles (166 km) north-west of London. For size and location of Borough within County see outline map above. The town takes its name from the River Tame, which flows through the town, as does the River Anker. At the 2001 census the town had a population of 74,531.

Tamworth has existed since Saxon times and in the reign of King Offa, was the capital of Mercia the largest of all English kingdoms of its time (see Heptarchy). It was by far the largest town in the English Midlands when today's much larger city of Birmingham was still in its infancy. This is largely because of its strategic position at the meeting point of two rivers (the Tame and the Anker), which meant the town was perfectly placed as a centre of trade and industry.

Tamworth is the home of the historic Tamworth Castle and Moat House, and has a non-league football team, Tamworth FC. The Snowdome, the UK's first full-sized real-snow indoor ski slope is located in Tamworth, and only a short distance away is Drayton Manor Theme Park. The town's main industries include logistics, engineering, clothing, brick, tile and paper manufacture. It was also home to the Reliant car company, which produced the famous three-wheeled Robin model and the Scimitar sports car for several decades.

Twinned with Bad Laasphe, Germany and Vaujours, France.

www.tamworth.gov.uk/

for more on the history of Tamworth see esp. @:
www.tamworth.gov.uk/leisure_and_tourism/local_history_a...

for on-line large-scale map @ Tamworth B.C. website (used in drawing attached polygon) see @:mapping.tamworth.gov.uk/tamworthmappingonline/MapBrowse...