Opening date for new Tamworth auction house confirmed

Opening date for new Tamworth auction house confirmed

TAMWORTH’S new auction house will open on Monday, October 11, it has been revealed.

Signs for Richard Winterton Auctioneers’ new saleroom went up at the former Arts Centre in Church Street last Friday and the family firm has confirmed the opening date.

“The team has been working hard behind the scenes to realise our vision of bringing the thrill of live auctions and specialist valuations to Tamworth,” said auctioneer Richard Winterton, well-known through his appearances on BBC Bargain Hunt and Dickinson’s Real Deal.

“We are now finalising our weekly timetable, with a plethora of valuations available every week, and we plan to open Monday, October 11, 9am-5pm Monday to Friday.

“We’re so excited to move into such a historic Grade II listed Tamworth building and can’t wait to start helping Tammies discover some hidden treasures.”

Signs have now gone up at the new Tamworth auction house.

Originally a 19th century music hall, the 3,700 sq ft premises will accommodate new salerooms for live specialist auctions.

Daily consignments of items to go straight under the hammer will be welcomed from 9am-4pm and the team will also be able to assist with enquiries about house clearances and downsizing solutions.

Built as a town theatre 250 years ago, the building was later used as a malt house before Sir Robert Peel loaned it to the Baptist Church, to whom he subsequently sold the building in 1872.

Fast forward a century and the Lower Gungate premises was earmarked as an “ideal location” for a town arts centre as Tamworth’s Baptist Chapel prepared to move out to Belgrave.

The Church Street premises will offer a plethora of valuations every week.

It was bought by Tamworth Borough Council and converted into a 100-seat auditorium, multi-purpose rooms and a coffee bar, opening as Tamworth Arts Centre in November 1975 and becoming a lynchpin on the town’s music scene for two decades.

More recently, Staffordshire County Council converted the building into a register office but vacated in 2020.

The Winterton family’s auctioneering heritage began at the Smithfield livestock market in Lichfield – now the site of the city’s Tesco superstore – and linked with agricultural auctions in Tamworth.

The family firm, which has been auctioneering in Staffordshire for seven generations since 1864, previously had an office just yards away from its new Tamworth premises on Colehill.

Richard Winterton surveying the new signs at the Tamworth auction house.

Now with a head office at The Lichfield Auction Centre, Fradley Park, Richard Winterton Auctioneers holds regular sales ranging from jewellery, watches and silver to pictures, furniture, toys, militaria, coins, stamps, collectables and automobilia.

All auctions are broadcast online with a live video feed allowing thousands of bidders to participate from anywhere in the world.

Email office@richardwinterton.co.uk or telephone 01543 251081.