Ashby de la Zouch Castle is a ruined fortification in the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England. The castle was built by William, Lord Hastings, a favourite of Edward IV, after 1473, accompanied by the creation of a park. Constructed on the site of an older manor house, two large towers and various smaller buildings had been constructed by 1483, when Hastings was executed by Richard, Duke of Gloucester. The Hastings family used the castle as their seat for several generations, improving the gardens and hosting royal visitors.
During the English Civil War of the 1640s, Henry, a younger son in the Hastings family, became a Royalist commander in the Midlands. He based himself at the castle until he was forced to surrender it after a long siege. A fresh rebellion occurred in 1648, leading Parliament to slight the castle in order to prevent it being used militarily: the two towers were badly damaged with gunpowder and undermining. Parts of the remaining castle were turned into a new house and continued to be used by members of the Hastings family for many years, although they moved their main residence to Donington Hall.
The castle became famous after it featured in Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe in 1819, and its owner, Francis Rawdon, opened the ruins to visitors. Restoration work was carried out over the course of the next century, but by 1932 the Rawdon family could no longer afford to maintain the castle. It passed into the guardianship of the Ministry of Works, who carried out extensive repairs and opened the castle gardens. In the 21st century, the castle is managed by English Heritage as a tourist attraction, receiving 15,164 visitors in 2015. The historian John Goodall considers the site to be an "outstanding example of a late medieval castle", with its grounds forming "one of the best-preserved and most important" examples of an early Tudor garden.
History
11th–15th centuries
thumb|Carved fireplace in the Great Hall, decorated with images of angels and shields
A manor had existed at Ashby-de-la-Zouch from at least 1086, when the location was known as Ascebi. The lands were acquired by Robert de Beaumont, the Count of Meulan and later Earl of Leicester, in 1100. He established the Belmeis family there as his tenants and, after the Belmeis family line died out in 1160, the earls of Leicester reassigned the estate to the La Zouche family, from whom the manor took its later name.
At some point during this period, a manor house was constructed on the same site as the later castle, with a hall and a solar. By the mid-1300s, the manor house reportedly included a hall, a chamber, a long house containing service facilities, and was surrounded by a dovecote, orchard and a rabbit warren, accompanied by a deer park. The hall and solar were rebuilt by the le Zouches during the second half of the 14th century, but the building remained what the historian Norman Pounds has called a "rather modest manor house".
The le Zouch line died out in 1399, leaving the inheritance of the family estates uncertain. The Wars of the Roses broke out in England during 1455 between the rival supporters of the Lancastrian and Yorkist factions. James, a Lancastrian, was captured at the Battle of Towton by the Yorkist leader Edward IV in 1461 and executed; the Crown seized his estates, including the manor of Ashby de la Zouch. William acquired extensive estates across the Midlands during the wars, much of them confiscated from his enemies. His father, Sir Leonard, had maintained the family seat at nearby Kirby Muxloe, but after 1471 William began to use Ashby de la Zouch as his primary residence.
In 1474, Edward granted William the right to crenellate, or fortify, four of his manors and to build deer parks around them. William set about developing the old manorial complex at Ashby de la Zouch with new buildings, and was authorised to create a huge park around it. His intent appears to have been to construct a substantial castle, similar to the royal fortifications at Tutbury and Nottingham, with four huge towers. Work appears to have already started on the site the year before permission was formally given, although it is uncertain whether this referred to the construction of the castle's chapel, or if William had already begun work on the first tower, gambling that the King would subsequently approve it.
Edward IV died in 1483, leaving the kingdom to his young son, Edward V, but his uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, had his own ambitions for the throne. Lord Hastings was unwilling to support the deposition of Edward V and, as a consequence, Richard summarily executed him that June, ahead of his own coronation. Ashby de la Zouch Castle, only partially completed, and Lord Hastings' other estates were then restored to his widow, Katherine.
16th–17th centuries
thumb|upright|The Great Tower, [[slighting|slighted after the English Civil War]]
The castle passed to William's son, Edward Hastings, who appears to have spent little time at the property, although he hosted a visit from Henry VIII in 1503. It was then inherited by his son, George, who was a royal favourite of Henry VIII and made the Earl of Huntington in 1529, which led to him rebuilding parts of the castle in brick and redesigning the gardens. Henry Hastings inherited the castle in 1560, where he maintained a household of 77 servants. Henry Hastings used it to imprison Mary Queen of Scots in 1569 after she was accused of plotting against Elizabeth I, although he spent most of his time at York, where he led the Council of the North. The Countess of Derby was welcomed in August 1607 with the Masque at Ashby Castle. His grandson, Henry hosted James I three times between 1612 and 1617, and Charles I in 1634. The gardens were redeveloped, probably to provide a suitable venue for these royal visits. By now, however, several generations of excessive expenditure meant that the family estates had been much diminished, and the family was having trouble maintaining their lavish lifestyle and former prominence in the region.
In 1642, the English Civil War broke out between the supporters of Charles I and Parliament. Henry Hasting briefly joined the royalist cause before his death in 1643, but his eldest son Ferdinando, who inherited the family earldom, remained neutral during the conflict. Ferdinando's younger brother Henry, however, became a key Royalist commander in the Midlands. Henry used the castle as his base of operations across the region, protecting it by establishing smaller outposts near Donnington and Shardlow. Buildings in the town of Ashby de la Zouch were pulled down to provide materiel to refortify the castle and town, tunnels were dug and an "Irish fort" constructed to help protect the castle.