Ashby De La Zouch Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Description

The standing remains of Ashby Castle, a fortified house cum castle on the eastern outskirts of Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The manor of Ashby was granted by William I to Hugh de Grantmesnil and subsequently passed by marriage to the Zouch family towards the end of C12. The site is primarily a C12 house which was redesigned and rebuilt over a period of several centuries. Between 1464 and 1483 Lord Hastings undertook an extensive building programme at Ashby, whilst retaining many of the site's existing structures. During the Civil War it was besieged and surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. Several principal buildings were slighted, rendering them untenable, and Ashby was abandoned as a dwelling. The buildings of the early Norman house are thought originally to have been timber structures which were replaced after 1150 by ones built of stone. The standing remains of C12 hall and solar are situated in the central part of the site. In circa 1350 the hall was redesigned as a single storey building and stone arcades were constructed to support the roof. At the same time a new solar was built and the existing solar was used as a pantry and buttery. To the west of the hall are the standing remains of a kitchen building erected between 1350 and 1400. To the north and south of the castle are two courtyard areas with the northern courtyard retaining the buried remains of the gatehouse to the site. In 1474 Lord Hastings obtained a licence to erect a fortified house at Ashby. Several new buildings were constructed including a large tower house, known as the Hastings Tower, a chapel and a small courtyard of domestic buildings. (PastScape)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1474 April 17 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1013324, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 17121
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1073591
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 312919.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MLE15050.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- English Heritage official site
  CastlesFortsBattle.co.uk
  CastleUK.net
  Charles Taylor's ecastles
  Abaroth's World
Books
- Knox, Richard, 2015, 'The medieval fortified sites of Leicestershire and Rutland' in Medieval Leicestershire: Recent research on the Medieval Archaeology of Leicester (Liecestershire Fieldworks 3) p. 123-42
  Goodall, John, 2011, The English Castle 1066-1650 (Yale University Press) passim
  Cantor, Leonard, 2003, The Scheduled Ancient Monument of Leicestershire and Rutland (Leicester: Kairos Press) p. 30
  Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 30-3
  Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 2 East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 211
  Cooper, Nicholas, 1999, Houses of the Gentry, 1480-1680 (Yale University Press) p. 65
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 137-8
  Pevsner, Nikolaus; revised by Elizabeth Williamson with Geoffrey K Brandwood, 1984, Buildings of England: Leicestershire and Rutland (Harmondsworth)
  Smith, Michael E., 1992, Castles and Manor Houses in and around Derbyshire (Derby)
  Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p. 23-6
  Furtado, Peter et al (eds), 1988, Ordnance Survey guide to castles in Britain (London) p. 133
  Hartley, R. F., 1984, The Mediaeval Earthworks of North West Leicestershire, A survey (Leicester)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 252-3
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 180
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co) p. 184-6
  Scott, 1907, Story of Ashby De La Zouch (Ashby De La Zouch) p. 185-214
  Poynton, 1902, Romance of Ashby De La Zouch Castle (Birmingham) (poor) online copy
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 1 p. 409-10 online copy
  Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol. 2 (London) p. 341-2 online copy
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 236 online copy
  Anon, 1852, The History and Description of Ashby-de-la-Zouch (Ashby-de-la-Zouch)
  Flower, J., 18225, Views of ancient buildings in the town and county of Leicester (Leicester: W.Day) online copy
  Buck, Samuel and Nathaniel, 1774, Buck's Antiquities (London) Vol. 1 p. 156-7
  Grose, Francis, 1785 (new edn orig 1756), Antiquities of England and Wales (London) Vol. 3 p. 126-7 online copy
  Pedley, n.d., Antiquities of Ashby De La Zouch Castle (Birmingham) (drawings only)
Periodical Articles
- Creighton, O.H., 2010, 'Room with a View: Framing Castles Landscapes' Château Gaillard Vol. 24 p. 37-49 (slight)
  Twigs Way, 2007, 'Ashby de la Zouch Castle' Castle Studies Group Journal Vol. 20 p. 144-6 (summery of landscape investigation)
  Newsome, S., 2006, 'Investigating a Tudor garden' The Archaeologist Vol. 63 p. 18-19
  Pattison, P. et al, 2006, 'A late medieval/renaissance garden at Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire' Research News Vol. 5 p. 40-4 online copy
  Anon, 2004, 'Ashby de al Zouche Castle conservation scheme complete' Castle Studies Group Newsletter Vol. 6 p. 2
  McWhirr, A., 1997, 'Brickmaking in Leicestershire before about 1710' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol. 71 p. 37-59 esp 40 online copy
  Cantor, Leonard, 1977-8, 'The Medieval Castles of Leicestershire' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol. 53 p. 34 online copy
  Faulkner, P.A., 1958, 'Domestic Planning from the Twelfth to the Fourteenth Centuries' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 115 p. 150-83 online copy
  Simpson, W.D., 1939, 'The Castles of Dudley and Ashby de la Zouche' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 96 p. 141-54 online copy
  Simms, R., 1938, 'Pewter vessel from Ashby-de-la-Zouch Castle' Antiquaries Journal Vol. 18 p. 178
  Herbert, Anthony, 1932-4, 'Ashby Castle' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol. 17 p. 198-203 online copy
  Fosbrooke, 1911, Reports and Papers of the Associated Architectural Societies Vol. 31 p. 181-224 (reprinted as Ashby De La Zouch Castle)
  Kerry, C., 1888, '(Ashby-de-la-Zouch) manor and castle (in Report of the Hon. Secretary)' Derbyshire Archaeological Journal Vol. 10 p. xx-xxvi online copy
Guidebooks
- Goodall, J., 2015 (revised reprint), Ashby de la Zouch Castle and Kirby Muxloe Castle (London: English Heritage)
  Goodall, J., 2011 (revised 2edn), Ashby de la Zouch Castle and Kirby Muxloe Castle (London: English Heritage)
  Goodall, J., 2007, Ashby de la Zouch Castle and Kirby Muxloe Castle (London: English Heritage)
  Jones, T.L., 1984, Ashby de la Zouch Castle, Leicestershire (London: English Heritage)
  Jones, T.L., 1953, Ashby de la Zouch Castle, Leicestershire (HMSO)
  Hill, 1931, (Ashby)
  Fosbrooke, n.d. (c. 1911), Ashby De La Zouch Castle
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1927, Calendar of Charter Rolls 5 Henry VI - 8 Henry VIII, AD 1427-1516, with an appendix, 1215-1288 Vol. 6. (HMSO) p. 242 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Newsome, S., Canti, M., Leary, J., Martin, L. and Pattison, P., 2008, Ashby de la Zouch Castle, Leicestershire: A Multidisciplinary Investigation of the Castle Garden (English Heritage Research Department Report Series 52/2008) online copy
  Creighton, O.H., 1998, Castles and Landscapes: An Archaeological Survey of Yorkshire and the East Midlands (PhD Thesis University of Leicester) p. 380 online copy

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

Data >	PastScape	County HER	Scheduling	Listing	I. O. E.
Maps >	Streetmap	NLS maps	Where's the path	Old-Maps
Data/Maps >	Magic	V. O. B.	Geology	LiDAR	Open Domesday
Air Photos >	Bing Maps	Google Maps	Getmapping	ZoomEarth
Photos >	CastleFacts	Geograph	Flickr	Panoramio