Ashby de la Zouch Castle

Ashby de la Zouch Castle is a ruined fortification built by William, Lord Hastings, after 1473. A manor had existed in the place from at least 1086, when the location was known as Ascebi. A settlement had grown alongside the house and, by 1334, the town was probably the sixth-largest in the county. By the mid-1300s, the manor house included a hall, a chamber, a long house containing service facilities, a dovecote, an orchard a rabbit warren, and a 60-acre deer park.

The le Zouch line died out in 1399 and it’s believed to have passed to Sir Hugh Burnell, then James Butler, and finally yo William, Lord Hastings, after the Wars of the Roses.

In 1474, Edward granted William the right to crenellate, or fortify, four of his manors and by 1483, two large towers and various smaller buildings had been erected.

The Hastings family used the castle as their seat for several generations, reworking the gardens and hosting royal visitors. Henry Hastings used it to imprison Mary Queen of Scots in 1569 after she was accused of plotting against Elizabeth I.