Tamworth was a small market town and was historically split
between Staffordshire and Warwickshire, with the county boundary running
through the town centre although the station was within Warwickshire. Following
the county boundary changes in 1887, the station lay just outside Warwickshire
with the approaches to the station being within the county. Tamworth's original
stations were provided first by the Birmingham & Derby Junction Railway
(B&DJR) in 1839 - absorbed in to the Midland Railway (MR) in 1844 - and
then shortly afterwards by the Trent Valley Railway (TVR), which was taken over
by the LNWR before it opened in 1847. The Midland station was situated on the
Birmingham to Derby line whilst the LNWR station was constructed at right
angles immediately beneath. Their strategic relationship to each other can be
ascertained by the construction of a connecting line joining between the two in
June 1847 whereas the TVR was opened in September 1847. Tamworth's importance
lay in the development of the Royal Mail services which with the Penny Post saw
an immense expansion in this important service.