ASHBY DE LA ZOUCH
 This
ancient market town on the borders of Leicestershire and Derbyshire
is well placed in the centre of a web of roads leading to most of
the principal towns and cities of the Midlands. It is an ideal place
to settle down in and become part of a lively community, or use
as a temporary base to visit attractions such as Calke Abbey (National
Trust Property), Staunton Harold and Park, Snibston Discovery Park
and “Conkers” from which to explore the rapidly growing
National Forest.
THE ZOUCHE How did the town get its distinctive name? ‘Ashby’
first appears in the Doomsday Book (1086) as ‘Ascebi’
which comes from two Scandinavian words - Aski’s ‘by’
or settlement. Alan la Zouch had acquired the manor by 1160 and
added his family name to distinguish it from other Midlands Ashby’s.
The Zouche held the town until 1399 but although members of the
family fought at Crecy and served their monarchs well, it remained
in the backwater of national affairs. They did improve the manor
house, building in stone a hall, solar and outbuildings, much of
which can still be seen as part of the larger castle.
THE HASTINGS FAMILY
In 1474, having been given the manor Sir William Hastings was
given royal licence to fortify the manor house and over the next
decade it was transformed into a magnificent castle - with its own
chapel, a large improved kitchen and the 90ft Great, or Hastings
Tower. The town became for a while the headquarters of the greatest
man in the kingdom after the king.
With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642 the Earl’s second
son, Henry Hastings, declared for the king. Ashby Castle became
the headquarters of his ‘Flying Army’ and a vital link
between the Royalist south-west and north. The castle itself was
strengthened with outlying earthworks. Mount House, the triangular
fort which still exists on the Leicester Road, was built to protect
the east side of the castle from direct attack. Tunnels between
this fort and the main kitchen, between the kitchen and the Hastings
Tower (and probably others) were constructed to convey food, munitions
and men when necessary. As the Royalist cause became hopeless the
castle was more closely besieged between September 1645 and its
surrender in March 1646.
In November 1648 Parliament ordered the slighting (partial demolition)
of the castle to render it useless for further defence. One wall
was mined in each of the Great Kitchen Tower and the Hastings Tower.
It was enough. The Hastings family moved their main home to Donington
Park and the castle gradually fell into ruin, not helped by Ashbeians
wishing to improve their own residences!
Luckily for the locals and tourists, Sir Walter Scott, a frequent
visitor to Sir George Beaumont’s home, Coleorton Hall, chose
to set part of this first romantic novel with an English setting
at Ashby. He placed the famous tournament, where the Black Knight
and Ivanhoe fought, a mile to the north of the town and imagined
Prince John holding ‘high revelry’ within the castle
walls. Besides bringing literary fame to Ashby, the publication
of the novel in 1820 drew attention to the forlorn state of the
castle, and the first Marquis of Hastings took steps for its greater
preservation. Today, the castle is cared for by English Heritage
and is a popular venue for special events as well as a marvellous
place to visit at any time.
|
