Illustrations of Tamworth 1829
by EB Hamel
Publisher:
Tamworth Arts Advisory Council 1967
Tamworth Borough Council 1980
ISBN: n/a
Reviewed for Volume 2 Issue4 Autumn 2024
The Review
This is a delightful hardback art book containing twelve EB Hamel prints of his engravings of Tamworth from about 1829. Fortunately each print has an explanation of the scene, because even with the street viewsmost of Tamworth has change a lot in 195 years. There is also a four page introduction by Peter Edden, a local historian, on EB Hamel and the engravings which is quite illuminating.
It is both a discussion of Hemel’s life, the method of engraving and printing uses and a critique of the artworks.
The prints are:
1 North view of Tamworth (from the north looking south)
2 Church Street (From the East looking West)
3 Interior of the Church ( St Ed’s from the alter looking to the screen)
4 The Moathouse (from the south west looking over the river)
5 Cole-Hill (Looking south from the corner with Church street)
6 Tamworth from the South (from about the Castle grounds cafe looking north)
7 The Town Hall (classic view looking east on Market street, but no Peel stature)
8 The Castle from the East (roughly from where the bandstand is now)
9 Free Grammar School (now gone, it was next to Steve’s Fish and Chips)
10 Tamworth from Bole or Bole Bridge (A South East view of Tamworth from the railway arches)
11 The National School (the building is now St Editha’s Church Hall)
12 View on the River Tame (south of Tamworth looking north from the Snowdome area)
This book has no ISBN and is not in print though you can still buy it second hand but beware! There are two almost identical versions the original 1967 and the 1980 reprint. The two versions look identical other than the 1967 version has the more modern sans serif font on the cover compared to the 1980 version. Also the internal title pages are different.
We hope to be able to digitise this pamphlet for the Tamworth Digital Archive Otherwise email the Editor for a copy .
