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The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
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Ashby De La Zouch Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Ashby Castle, Ashby de la Zouche

In the civil parish of Ashby De La Zouch.
In the historic county of Leicestershire.
Modern Authority of Leicestershire.
1974 county of Leicestershire.
Medieval County of Leicestershire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SK36111663
Latitude 52.74629° Longitude -1.46629°

Ashby De La Zouch Castle has been described as a certain Tower House.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

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.).

Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
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Sources of information, references and further reading
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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.
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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.
This record last updated 15/08/2017 15:56:48

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