Heritage in Action: Archaeology and Community Collaboration at Tamworth Castle Bailey

Tamworth, a large market town in Staffordshire, faces significant income, educational, and health inequalities, which continues to result in social fragmentation and disengagement. While reactive measures exist, a preventative approach using collaborative community archaeology projects is being trialled by Tamworth Castle given its significant cultural focus within the town. There have been multiple successes through using archaeological outreach. Previous pilot projects, undertaken by the Centre of Archaeology in collaboration with Tamworth Castle, involved over 500 participants and school groups who have shown strong local interest. Feedback has shown there to be recognised demand for continued archaeological outreach projects. Tamworth Castle’s current conservation programme and heritage-at-risk status create an urgency for research and ongoing engagement. This phase of the project aims to present the ongoing research to a wider audience whilst also sustaining partnerships already developed and connecting with the diverse community. Local community groups and schools will be used to support the introduction of new publicly accessible interpretation panels and exhibition materials. These will be designed, produced and presented with the aim of providing opportunities to take shared ownership of their cultural heritage