Ashby Castle and associated formal garden

Heritage listing

Details The monument is situated on the eastern outskirts of Ashby-de-la-Zouch and includes the standing, earthwork and buried remains of Ashby Castle, a fortified dwelling house, and the earthwork remains of an associated formal garden known as The Wilderness. The core of Ashby Castle, that is the standing ruins (which are Listed Grade I) and the garden remains, are in the care of the Secretary of State. 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indicate that several buildings remained habitable throughout the 18th century but these are thought to have been superseded in 1724 by the construction of Ashby Place in the northern part of the site.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

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.