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Monument Types

• MANOR HOUSE (Early Medieval to Late Medieval - 1101 AD to 1470 AD)
• CASTLE (Late Medieval to Early Post-medieval - 1470 AD to 1699 AD)

Summary

The C12th manor house buildings were probably originally wood, replaced c.1150 by stone. It was converted into a 'castle' in the 1470s, partly destroyed in the Civil War, after which it was only partially lived in until 1724, when it was superseded by Ashby Place.

Additional Information

Listed building description:
Late C15 with additions. Generally stone but with some brickwork, including two isolated towers at south-east and south-west angles of outer wall. Prominent landmark in association with the church and with Manor House School.

Scheduled Monument description extract:
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 the 12th century. The site is primarily a 12th century house which was redesigned and rebuilt over a period of several centuries. Following the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century, Edward IV granted Ashby to his Lord Chamberlain, Lord Hastings who, between 1464 and 1483, undertook an extensive building programme at Ashby, whilst retaining many of the site's existing structures. Although Lord Hastings was beheaded in 1483, Ashby Castle remained in the ownership of the Hastings family until the mid 17th century. During the Civil War it was besieged and surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. Several principal buildings were slighted, rendering them untenable, and the family abandoned Ashby as a residence in favour of their seat at Donnington Park. Illustrations of the site, however, indicate that several buildings remained habitable throughout the 18th century but these are thought to have been superseded in 1724 by the construction of Ashby Place in the northern part of the site.
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 the 12th century hall and the solar are situated in the central part of the site and clearly formed the focal point of the original house. In its earliest arrangement, the hall is thought to have been of two storeys although the building has undergone several periods of rebuilding since its construction. Blocked openings in the west wall of the hall provided access into the original solar situated to the west. In c.1350 the hall was redesigned as a single storey building and stone arcades were constructed to support the roof. At the same time the arrangement of hall and solar was reversed; a new solar was erected at the eastern end of the hall while the existing solar to the west was adapted to serve as buttery and pantry. To the west of the hall are the standing remains of a kitchen building. Documentary evidence indicates that there was a kitchen here in 1347 but the standing remains suggest that the present structure was erected between 1350 and 1400. The kitchen is connected to the buttery and pantry by means of a passage.
The plan and extent of the early site is now unclear mostly due to the extensive building programme which occurred at the site during the 15th century and also due to the construction of buildings in more recent times, particularly in the northern part of the site. However, sections of medieval masonry and brickwork within the southern wall of St Helen's churchyard indicate that this wall formed the northern boundary to the site and this wall is, therefore, included in the scheduling. In the north western part of the site a break in slope which is now overlaid by a modern wall is thought to define the western boundary to the site. Approximately 42m to the north east of this wall are the remains of a further length of walling which projects northwards from the northern end of the kitchen building and, together with the northern and eastern boundary walls, formed a courtyard area immediately to the north of the hall and its adjacent buildings. The courtyard is now partly occupied by the buildings of Manor House Preparatory School, the main building of which is Listed Grade II and is excluded from the scheduling. There is no surface evidence of the various buildings, namely domestic quarters, stabling and storage buildings, which were originally situated here but their foundations will survive beneath the ground surface. Access into the site is thought to have been from the north and the remains of the gateway will survive as a buried feature in the northern part of the courtyard. A further courtyard occupied the area to the south of the hall. It was bounded to the west by a wall which projects southwards from the southern wall of the kitchen building and is thought to date from the late 14th century. There is no surface evidence for the southern and eastern boundaries to this courtyard but these will survive as buried features.
During the late 15th century the dwelling house at Ashby was granted to Lord Hastings. His ambitions evidently included a desire to build on a scale worthy of his position and in 1474 he obtained a licence to erect a fortified house at Ashby. Several new buildings were constructed at the site during this period, including a large tower house, known as the Hastings Tower, a chapel and a small courtyard of domestic buildings. The chapel is thought to be the earliest of the extensive additions which took place at the site between 1464 and 1483. It is situated to the south east of the solar building abutting its south eastern corner. An engraving of 1730 shows that the chapel had a low-pitched roof with large battlements. The entrance into the chapel, through the west wall, has similar architectural details to those visible in the Hastings Tower. Various holes within the fabric of the internal walls suggest original wooden panelling and seating and the joist holes for a first floor gallery are visible within the west wall.
Immediately to the south east of the chapel are the standing remains of a range of two storey buildings, traditionally known as the Priest's Rooms, although they are thought to have served as guest rooms. Each suite of rooms has a fireplace and a garderobe, and a staircase constructed within the north wall originally provided access to the upper floor. The scar of a roof-line is visible at the western end of the chapel's southern wall indicating that a further building range projected southwards from here; the remains of which will survive as buried features. This former building range and that to the east originally formed a small courtyard in this part of the site. In the southern part of the courtyard are the foundations of further buildings which were demolished during Hastings' building programme. These buildings are partly overlain by a wall which forms the southern boundary to the courtyard and connects the eastern range of guest rooms with the Hastings Tower to the west. Joist holes and corbels for roof timbers indicate that this wall formed the outside wall of a two-storeyed range whose foundations will survive beneath the ground surface.
The Hastings Tower was the last major addition to Ashby Castle and is thought to have been completed shortly after Lord Hastings obtained a licence to crenellate in April 1474. The tower is elaborately detailed and was evidently intended not only to make a contribution to accommodation on the site but also to reflect the importance and prestige of its builder, Lord Hastings.
The stone tower is now approximately 24m high and is thought to have originally stood some 27m high. It was crowned by a parapet with machicolation, parts of which remain visible, and there are three angle turrets within the north wall which originally rose above parapet level. The tower was originally roughly square in plan with a rectangular projection on its eastern side. The southern part of the tower, including its southern wall, was demolished by order of Parliament after the Civil War. The uneven and slightly raised ground surface to the south of the tower indicates that some of the rubble from the demolished section of the tower remains where it fell. The entrance to the tower was via a narrow doorway with a pointed arch and portcullis grooves in the northern wall. The main part of the tower was of four storeys which have been interpreted as storage room (on the ground floor), kitchen, private hall and solar or withdrawing room respectively. The first two floors of the seven storey eastern projection are also thought to have served as store rooms whilst the upper floors were probably bedrooms. The remains of a wall are visible projecting westwards from the western wall of the tower. This wall is thought to have connected with the wall which originally extended south from the kitchen building and hence formed the south and west sides of a further courtyard, known as the south courtyard. The buildings which formed the western range of this courtyard will survive as buried features.

The site is the substantial unroofed ruin of a C12th manor house, converted into a 'castle' in the 1470s and sleighted after a siege in the English Civil War. The buildings consist of a C14th kitchen, a hall/solar/service rooms block, a chapel, a tower house and other sundry fragments. South of the castle are the earthwork remains of early post-medieval gardens with brick towers. <1-4>

In 1952 the other objects from the well (see <5>) (which according to FC was cleared down to 50') were donated to Leicestershire Museums. These consisted of a key, dagger, buckle, spur, 7 sherds and 2 boars tusks, base of pitcher, base of pitcher, pitcher, jug, pitcher. FC (undated) dates the spur to C14th/C15th, parallels the key to LMMC fig 43-8 again C15th, dates the dagger to 'evidently C15th, perhaps late C15th' (cf LMMC, 45) and says the buckle is not closely dateable. He sketches one of the vessels, evidently Midland Purple, and describes some C17th pottery (red ware, brown glaze) which is probably Cistercian ware and C15th. Sarah Bevan of the Royal Armouries dates the rondel dagger to 1450-75.

In 1992 E Jones of LAU conducted an evaluation in the grounds of Manor House School. Two trenches were dug revealing 1/2 - 1m topsoil and recent. Earlier strata containing possible 'Tudor' type brick and tile fragments and a sherd of C15th Midland Purple. North of the evaluation area were early 'Tudor' type brick walls and ashlar quoined chimney breast. Report in history file.

<1> Jones, TL, 1953, Ashby de la Zouch Castle (DOE guide) (Bibliographic reference). SLE5919.

Ashby de la Zouch Castle. The manor of Ashby was granted by William I to one of his principal followers, Hugh de Grentmeisnil, and subsequently passed by marriage to the Zouch family. The earliest remains of buildings are certain sections of the walls of the hall, buttery, and pantry, which appear to belong to the middle of the twelfth century. In the course of the next two centuries these buildings were rebuilt, and the kitchen building and solar added to them. After the Wars of the Roses, Edward IV granted Ashby to his Lord Chamberlain, William, Lord Hastings, who between the years 1474 and 1483 added the tower, which bears his name, and the chapel. These were the last additions of importance to the castle, which was `slighted' after the Civil War.

<2> Pevsner N, 1984, The Buildings of England Leicestershire and Rutland, p80-3 (Bibliographic reference). SLE4.

"Begun by the Beaumonts, Earls of Leicester, in the mid C12, the castle and manor passed to the La Zouchs, Breton noblemen, about 1160. But the most famous owner of Ashby Castle and the one most eager to build was William Lord Hastings, Edward IV's protégé and Lord Chamberlain, who was granted the manor in 1464, obtained licence to crenellate in 1474, and was beheaded by Richard II in 1483. The Hastingses became Earls of Huntingdon. The second son of the fifth Earl was the leader of the Royalists in Leicestershire during the Civil War, and the castle was slighted in 1648. Much more was however still in existence in 1730, the date of Buck's engraving, than there is today; the hall roof survived until then, its gables until 1770.
"The castle lies immediately S of the church. In the C15 and C16 it consisted of a N and S courtyard. The gatehouse must have been on the N side of the N courtyard (now the playground of the Grammar School), separated by the hall range from the S courtyard, with the garden to its S. The two surviving brick towers mark the boundary of the castle area. Standing in the courtyard one has Lord Hastings's remaining tower on the S, his other buildings on the E, and the older hall range on the N.
"The masonry of the HALL is C12 (it was apparently two-storey and originally aisled), but no details of that date survive. The buttery range, probably the solar range of the C12 house, was altered into a large gabled block in the late C16, so that most conspicuous now is a large window of four lights with two transoms. In the mid C14 the ground level of the hall was raised and the arcades were remodelled - see the bases of the columns of the arcade, richly carved but eroded corbels at each end, and the vaulting shafts on the walls, standing higher at the high table end. The tall pointed windows there were replaced c.1600 by the present round-arched ones. In the C16 a simple porch was built, and c.160 the more elaborate N porch, with some strapwork decoration, and the fireplace in the S wall. When the hall was remodelled a new two-storey SOLAR block was built at the E end. C14/15 details survive, notably a fireplace with a lintel decorated by shields in richly foliated quatrefoils. The large N window is of the later C16, of four lights with two transoms. But more interesting is the block beyond the buttery range and separated from it by a passage connecting the S with the N courtyard. This was the late C14 KITCHEN, a very large and very tall room - over 30ft high and vaulted with ribs - with windows and doorways of the later C15. On the E wall the semicircular columns which supported the intermediate bays of the vault rise from a ledge. Grotesque heads from which the ridge ribs originally sprang. Between the two separate flues of the S fireplace a recess for a cauldron, and on the r. an oven. On the E wall a serving hatch with the remains of its stone table. There was also an upper floor with several rooms above the kitchen, now with later C15 windows.
"Lord Hastings's additions are S and SE of the hall range. The most formidable of them is the KEEP or Solar Tower, as strong and self-contained as the sort built by Ralph Cromwell at Tattershall (Lincs) and South Wingfield (Derbys). It is an oblong with an E addition, both nearly 90ft tall. The tower had four storeys, the subsidiary block seven lower ones, providing private personal chambers for Hastings and his household. The whole block is machicolated (though the parapet has gone). Polygonal angle turrets with blank panel tracery. In the N wall on the ground floor a small but handsomely decorated entrance. Fine arch mouldings with foliage etc. decoration. No capitals. The doorway is set in a shallow buttress-like projection which is carried up to a considerable height and ends in a crocketed ogee arch with a shield and crest under. To the l. of the doorway is the spiral staircase and below it a small vaulted porter's room. The main tower had on the ground floor a large tunnel-vaulted room. Above it was the kitchen with a rib-vault with ridge ribs, a sink, a well, and a large fireplace in the wall, and above again the hall. In the NW turret at this level a small room, possibly the chapel, with a richly panelled ceiling. In the solar on the fourth floor a fireplace with a lintel decorated with various Hastings devices. The windows were of two lights in finely moulded surrounds.
"Of the other Hastings buildings the most impressive and earliest is the CHAPEL. Its front, with a finely moulded W doorway and a square SW stair turret, stands up high. The tracery of the tall windows - four to the S, four to the N, and a yet bigger E window - is known from the Buck engraving. At the W end, behind the facade, was a vestibule with two floors over, connecting no doubt with the domestic quarters. From the chapel a range once ran towards the tower, making of the SE part of the present S courtyard a small courtyard on its own. On its E lay a two-storeyed range, assumed to have been the living quarters of the priests serving the chapel."

<3> Nichols J, The History and Antiquities of Leicestershire, Vol 3 pt 2 (1804) (Bibliographic reference). SLE7.

<4> Wood, Margaret, 1965, The English Medieval House (Bibliographic reference). SLE5920.

<5> Antiquaries Journal, Vol 18 (1938), p178 (Journal). SLE5.

Pre-1938 HM Office of Works cleared out 'the well… in front of the main entry to the Great Tower which was built for the first Lord Hastings in 1476. It may, therefore, be safely assumed that the well was connected with the earlier buildings and was filled in during the building of the tower". From in the well is a bronze ewer with 3 legs and a zoomorphic spout 8.2" high, tentatively dated C14th, and a 6-sided pewter vessel with a zoomorphic spout, perhaps a cruet used for holding water or wine at mass. It has THOMAS HUNTE on one side and HONORIFIC ALIBIUT on the other. Perhaps C15th and French. The script appears to be C15th. In the V&A.

<6> Butler A., 1999, An archaeological desk-based assessment for Manor house School, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire (Unpublished document). SLE1805.

<7> Smith, D & Hayward, R, 2004, Ashby de la Zouch Conservation Area: Historic Building Archaeological Survey, p35-6 (Unpublished document). SLE625.

There are early engravings of the north and south views of the castle published in 1730 by Samuel and Nathaniel Buck. The Hon. John Byng visited in 1789 and described the castle. Throsby published a plan of the castle in 1790. An engraving of JMW Turner is dated 1830.
Byng described a 'long timber'd building' on the eastern side of the castle, apparently situated on the eastern side of the solar and pulled down in 1830 prior to the building of the Manor House. The second tower was also pulled down in December 1830.

<8> Newsome, S; Canti, M; Leary, J; Martin, L & Pattison, P, 2008, Ashby de la Zouch Castle, Leicestershire: A Multidisciplinary Investigation of the Castle Garden (Serial). SLE1514.

Report is in ADS Library: 10.5284/1033638 - http://dx.doi.org/10.5284/1033638

<9> Patrick, J, 2008, An archaeological watching brief at Ashby de la Zouch Castle (Unpublished document). SLE1042.

A watching brief on new display boards in 2008 revealed archaeological remains in two areas. In the kitchen area a rubble layer was recorded, which may be a demolition/collapse layer from the kitchen wall. In 'The Hall' a linear feature of unknown extent and function was recorded.
Report is in ADS Library: 10.5284/1011071 - http://dx.doi.org/10.5284/1011071

<10> Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society, 2009, Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society, Volume 83, Vol 83 (2009), p251 (Journal). SLE5365.

The 2008 watching brief was noted in Transactions.

<11> Elkin, Kathleen (ed), 2015, Medieval Leicestershire: Recent Research on the Medieval Archaeology of Leicestershire, p130, "Medieval fortified sites of Leics & Rutland", Richard Knox (Bibliographic reference). SLE5149.

"A 13th or 14th century manor house extensively refurbished and enlarged, and then fortified between 1472 and 1476 by William, Lord Hastings. He was licensed to crenellate in 1474. By 1483 it comprised a chapel, a domestic block with a great hall, solar and service rooms, two towers, one containing a large kitchen on the ground floor and the other tower Lord Hasting's private apartments, and a curtain wall. The gardens were remodelled after a siege during the English Civil War and the main towers were blown up in 1648."

<12> Hartley R F, 1984, The Medieval Earthworks of North West Leicestershire, p6, p8 (Bibliographic reference). SLE326.

"The existing manor house was converted into a castle by Lord Hastings in the 1470s, the most notable feature being the great tower house which was partly demolished after siege during the Civil War."

<13> 2016, National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) accessioning (Website). SLE4981.

SUMMARY: "The standing remains of Ashby de la Zouch Castle, a fortified house on the eastern outskirts of Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The site is primarily a 12th century house which was redesigned and rebuilt over a period of several centuries. 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 the 12th century 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. Between 1464 and 1483 Lord Hastings undertook an extensive building programme at Ashby and obtained a licence to erect a fortified house there in 1474. Several new buildings were constructed on the site during this period including a large tower house, known as the Hastings Tower, a chapel and a small courtyard of domestic buildings. During these building works he also retained many of the site's existing structures. In the Civil War the site was besieged and surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. Several principal buildings were slighted, rendering them untenable, however some in the northern part of the site were repaired in 1724 and renamed Ashby Place. By 1830 Ashby Place had become neglected and was in use as a House of Industry for poor relief. Five years Ashby Place had been replaced by 'Ashby Manor' which survives as a school. The ruins of Ashby de la Zouch castle were placed in state guardianship in 1911 and have been in the care of English Heritage since 1983. In 2006 excavations were carried out in the castle's gardens and historical research was undertaken to enhance understanding of its history."
URL: 'https://nrhe-to-her.esdm.co.uk/NRHE/RecordDetail.aspx?pageid=45&he_uid=312919', accessioned 11/01/2024.

<14> Ordnance Survey 1:2500 (25") historic maps, 1923 (Map). SLE7284.

(SK 3611 1663) Castle (G.T) (In ruins)

<15> Field Investigators Comments, J Baird/03-JUL-1972 (Website). SLE3488.

The remains of the castle are in a good state of repair, and the M.O.W. are still proceeding with restoration. Apart from some minor alterations the published 25" survey is correct.

<16> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, North West Leicestershire, 29-SEP-1977 (Index). SLE7285.

Castle Ruins (Including 2 isolated towers at south-east and south-west angles of outer wall). Grade I. Late C15 with additions. Generally stone but with some brickwork including 2 isolated towers at south-east and south-west angles of outer wall. Prominent landmark in association with the church and with Manor House School.

<17> Field Investigators Comments, Yvonne Boutwood/09-JUN-1993 (Website). SLE3488.

As part of the RCHME's National Forest Project the castle was mapped using good quality air photographs. It was seen and recorded as a polygonal enclosure, 190m by 140m, defined by a stone foundation on 8 sides.
Centred at:-SK 3611 1665
Additional NGR's:
SK 3604 1670
SK 3608 1654
SK 3620 1659
(Morph No. FR.136.1.1)
See SK 31 NE 77 for associated Post Medieval garden features.

<18> Scheduled Monument List/Amendment, March 1994 (Scheduling record). SLE7368.

SK 361 166. Ashby-de-la-Zouch Castle. Scheduled.

<19> Scheduled Monument List/Amendment, 13-Nov-95 (Scheduling record). SLE7368.

Scheduled (RSM) No 17121.

<20> Cathcart King, DJ, 1982, Castellarium Anglicanum: an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the Islands. Vol I: Anglesey to Montgomery, p252 (Bibliographic reference). SLE4995.

Listed by Cathcart King.

<21> Furtado, Peter (ed), 1988, Ordnance Survey Guide to Castles in Britain, p133 (Bibliographic reference). SLE7331.

The standing remains of Ashby Castle, a fortified house 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 the 12th century. The site is primarily a 12th century house which was redesigned and rebuilt over a period of several centuries. 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 the 12th century 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. Between 1464 and 1483 Lord Hastings undertook an extensive building programme at Ashby and obtained a licence to erect a fortified house there in 1474. Several new buildings were constructed on the site during this period including a large tower house, known as the Hastings Tower, a chapel and a small courtyard of domestic buildings. During these building works he also retained many of the site's existing structures. In the Civil War the site was besieged and surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. Several principal buildings were slighted, rendering them untenable, and Ashby was abandoned as a dwelling at this time. Illustrations of the site, however, indicate that several buildings remained habitable throughout the 18th century but these are thought to have been superseded in 1724 by the construction of Ashby Place in the northern part of the site. 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.
[May not be from this source - unclear on NRHE record.]

<22> Goodall, John, 2007, Ashby de la Zouch Castle and Kirby Muxloe Castle, p30-32 (Bibliographic reference). SLE7489.

The buildings which survived the Civil War were repaired and called Ashby Place and used as a dower house by widowed countesses of Huntingdon. In 1789 the last Hastings earl of Huntingdon died and his estate passed to Francis Rawdon, earl of Moira.
In 1819 Ashby featured in the novel Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, prompting an influx of visitors to the ruins. By 1830 Ashby Place had become neglected and was in use as a House of Industry for poor relief. Five years Ashby Place had been replaced by 'Ashby Manor' which survives as a school.
The ruins of Ashby de la Zouch castle were placed in state guardianship in 1911 and have been in the care of English Heritage since 1983. In 2006 excavations were carried out in the castle's gardens and historical research was undertaken to enhance understanding of its history.
See source for photographs, plans, illustrations and paintings which relate to the castle's history.

<23> Jarvis, W, 2002, An archaeological watching brief at Ashby de la Zouch Castle, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire (Unpublished document). SLE1808.

<24> 2004, Ashby de la Zouch Conservation Area: Historic Building Archaeological Survey (Unpublished document). SLE7490.

<25> Walls, SM and Walford, KJ (eds), 1998, Gazetteer of archaeological investigations in England, Archaeological Investigations Project 1990-1994 (Index). SLE7491.

1992 watching brief.

Sources

Associated Finds

• JUG (Medieval - 1067 AD to 1539 AD)
• BUCKLE (Late Medieval - 1350 AD to 1539 AD)
• KEY (LOCKING) (Late Medieval - 1350 AD to 1539 AD)
• SHERD (Late Medieval - 1350 AD to 1539 AD)
• SPUR (Late Medieval - 1350 AD to 1539 AD)
• VESSEL (Late Medieval - 1401 AD? to 1500 AD?)
• DAGGER (Late Medieval - 1450 AD to 1475 AD)

Designations

• Conservation Area: Ashby de la Zouch
• Listed Building (I) 1073591: CASTLE RUINS, SOUTH STREET (SOUTH SIDE), ASHBY DE LA ZOUCH
• Scheduled Monument 1013324: ASHBY CASTLE AND ASSOCIATED FORMAL GARDEN

Associated Images

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