You’ve probably heard the name and thought it sounded like a seaside resort in the south of France. Or maybe a fictional village from a Monty Python sketch. Honestly, Ashby de la Zouch is about as far from the French Riviera as you can get without hitting the North Sea. It sits right in the landlocked heart of Leicestershire.
No beach. No palm trees. Just a lot of red brick, a shattered castle, and a name that has confused Americans and Europeans for centuries.
Most people think the "de la Zouch" part is just fancy dressing. It’s actually a 12th-century branding exercise. When the La Zouche family—nobles of Breton descent—took over the manor, they tacked their name onto the end of the existing Anglo-Danish "Ashby" (which basically just means "ash-tree farm"). It stuck.
🔗 Read more: NYS Fall Foliage Map: What Most People Get Wrong
Fast forward to today, and you’ve got a town that feels like a weird, wonderful glitch in the English Midlands. It’s a place where you can eat brunch in an old bank vault and then walk five minutes to see a "finger pillory" designed to punish 17th-century gossips.
The Castle That Politics (and Gunpowder) Killed
If you visit Ashby de la Zouch and don’t look at the castle, did you even go? Probably not. But here’s the thing: it’s not just a "ruin." It’s a crime scene of ego.
William, Lord Hastings, was the guy who built the version we see today. He was King Edward IV’s best mate and arguably the most powerful man in England. He wanted a "castle within a castle"—a massive, luxurious tower that screamed, "I have more money than God."
He was wrong.
In 1483, Richard III (the one they found under a car park in Leicester a few years ago) had Hastings hauled out of a meeting and executed on the spot. No trial. Just a block of wood and an axe. The castle was never finished.
If you climb the 98 steps of the Hastings Tower today, you can see exactly where the ambition stopped. The stonework is jagged. Why? Because during the English Civil War, the Parliamentarians got sick of the Hastings family using it as a Royalist stronghold. After a brutal siege in 1646, they didn't just capture it—they "slighted" it.
They used gunpowder to blow the faces off the towers so nobody could ever use them for defense again. It’s a permanent scar on the skyline.
Exploring the Dark Stuff
There is a genuine underground passage connecting the Hastings Tower to the Kitchen Tower.
📖 Related: Why the map of britain ireland and scotland is more confusing than you think
It’s dark. It’s damp. Most "secret tunnels" in English towns are actually just old Victorian sewers or wine cellars, but this one is the real deal. It was likely dug during that Civil War siege. Walking through it feels like you're literally stepping into a moment of 17th-century desperation.
Why Sir Walter Scott Is Partially to Blame
Ashby de la Zouch owes its 19th-century fame to a novel. When Sir Walter Scott published Ivanhoe in 1819, he set a massive jousting tournament right there at the castle.
People went nuts.
It was the "Game of Thrones" of its day. Suddenly, every Regency-era tourist wanted to see "the lists at Ashby." The town saw a business opportunity and ran with it. They discovered a saline spring in a nearby coal mine, piped the water into town, and built the Ivanhoe Baths.
They turned a gritty industrial town into a high-society spa destination.
The Ghost of the Royal Hotel
Look at the Royal Hotel on Station Road. It’s a massive, Grade II-listed Grecian building that looks like it belongs in Bath or London. It was built specifically to house the wealthy people coming to soak in the "healing" Ashby waters.
While the baths were demolished in the 60s, the hotel still stands as this weird, silent monument to a spa boom that eventually fizzled out. It’s currently closed, but it’s still the most imposing thing in town after the castle.
Modern Ashby: Not Just a History Lesson
If you walk down Market Street today, you’ll notice two things: the buildings are wonky, and the coffee is actually good.
Many of the shops are timber-framed Elizabethan structures hiding behind 18th-century brick facades. It’s a bit of an architectural lie, but it’s a pretty one. Ashby has managed to avoid the "clone town" fate that killed the soul of places like Coalville or Swadlincote nearby. It’s still packed with independent boutiques.
- Centivo Lounge: You can actually eat in the old bank vaults. It’s weirdly atmospheric.
- The Tap @ No. 76: A tiny micropub in a Tudor building. If you want to know what it felt like to drink in the 1500s (but with better hygiene), this is it.
- Lil Bo’s Deli: Tucked away in Mill Lane Mews. Honestly, their hash browns have a local cult following for a reason.
The Bear in the Cellar
There’s a local legend about a pub called The White Hart. Word is, a former landlord kept a live bear in the cellar. Why? To deal with rowdy customers at closing time.
There’s no hard evidence for the bear, but in a town that once hosted Mary Queen of Scots as a prisoner (at the castle in 1569), a cellar-dwelling bear doesn't actually seem that far-fetched.
The National Forest Effect
Ashby de la Zouch is the headquarters of the National Forest. This is one of the coolest environmental projects in the UK that nobody talks about enough.
They are basically turning 200 square miles of former coal-mining land back into woodland.
It’s not just about trees. It’s about the fact that you can walk from the town center and be in a massive nature reserve like Calke Abbey or Hicks Lodge in minutes. Hicks Lodge is a former open-cast coal mine that’s now a premier cycling center. It’s a complete 180-degree turn from the town's industrial past.
What Most People Get Wrong
People think Ashby is "posh."
💡 You might also like: Inferno on the Beach: The Wild Reality of Fire Festivals and Coastal Safety
Compared to some of its neighbors, sure, it looks the part. But it’s a working market town. It’s home to United Biscuits (KP Snacks). If the wind blows the right way, the whole town smells like McVitie's biscuits.
It’s also surprisingly "high-tech." The legendary video game developer Ultimate Play the Game (which became Rare, the creators of GoldenEye and Sea of Thieves) started right here in Ashby. They eventually moved to a bigger site in Twycross, but the DNA of some of the world's biggest games is rooted in this little Leicestershire town.
Actionable Insights for Your Visit
If you're actually going to head over, don't just wander aimlessly. Do this:
- Check the opening times for the Castle. English Heritage keeps weird hours in the winter (usually weekends only).
- Go to St Helen’s Church. Everyone looks at the castle and forgets the church next door. It’s where the Hastings family is actually buried in massive, elaborate tombs. Plus, the finger pillory is in the back—it’s a wooden board with holes for your fingers, used to shame people who talked during the service.
- Time your visit for "The Statutes." This is a massive street funfair that’s been happening every September for over 800 years. They shut down the main road for a week. It’s chaotic, loud, and brilliant.
- Walk the Ivanhoe Trail. It’s a 5.5-mile loop that takes you through the town and the surrounding countryside. It’s the best way to see how the town sits within the National Forest.
- Park at North Street. The castle doesn't have its own parking (except for disabled spots). The North Street car park is your best bet and it's a short walk through the historic core.
Ashby de la Zouch is a place of contradictions. It’s a "seaside" town without a sea, a spa town without a spa, and a castle town with a fortress that was never finished. It’s exactly those layers of failed ambition and literary fiction that make it worth the trip.