Ashby de la Zouch Castle is a ruined fortification in the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England. The castle was built by William, Lord Hastings, a favourite of Edward IV, after 1473, accompanied by the creation of a 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) park. Constructed on the site of an older manor house, two large towers and various smaller buildings had been constructed by 1483, when Hastings was executed by Richard, Duke of Gloucester. The Hastings family used the castle as their seat for several generations, improving the gardens and hosting royal visitors.
The castle seen from the south-west, showing the Kitchen Tower (left) and the Great Tower (right)
Carved fireplace in the Great Hall, decorated with images of angels and shields
The Great Tower, slighted after the English Civil War
The castle and the sunken gardens
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, also spelled Ashby de la Zouch, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire borders. Its population at the 2021 census was 16,491. Ashby de la Zouch Castle was an important fort in the 15th to 17th centuries. During the 19th century, the town's main industries were ribbon manufacturing, coal mining, and brickmaking.
Market Street
Ashby de la Zouch Castle
Holy Trinity parish church
Methodist church