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Bed And Breakfast In Ashby de la Zouch
Telephone: 01530 413604
Forest Court
Telephone: 0800 3289608
The Fallen Knight Hotel and Restaurant
Telephone: 01530 412780
The Queens Head Hotel
More Information About Ashby de la Zouch
Ashby de la Zouch (often shortened simply to Ashby) is a small market town and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England, within the National Forest. The castle was of importance from the 15th to the 17th century and in the 19th century the town became a spa and was connected to Burton upon Trent and Leicester by railway: until the growth of Coalville it was the chief town in north-west Leicestershire. Nearby villages include Packington, Donisthorpe, Oakthorpe, Measham, Coleorton, and Moira. History "Ashby" is a word of Anglo-Danish origins, meaning "Ash Farm". The Norman French addition dates from the years after the Norman conquest of England, when the town was given to the Zouche family in the reign of Henry II. It has a historic 15th century castle. The castle area was the setting for Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. A local high school is named after the book (Ivanhoe College, for 11 to 14-year-olds). In 1464 the town and castle came into the possession of the Hastings family. Later the town was one of the Royalists' "chief garrisons" under the control of Colonel Henry Hastings, 1st Baron Loughborough and commander of the North Midlands Army. When the town fell after a long siege in March, 1646 it was counted a great relief to the surrounding towns and villages.[1] The local upper school, Ashby School, previously Ashby Grammar School, is a mixed comprehensive school for 14 to 18-year-olds and has its roots in the 16th century (founded in 1567). There were formerly two other endowed boys' schools of 18th century foundation. Many of the buildings in Market Street, the town's main thoroughfare, have timber framing, but most of this is hidden by later brick facades. The Bull's Head pub retains the original Elizabethan half-timbering. There are also Regency buildings in this street. Bath Street has a row of Classical-style houses dating from the time that the town was a spa. The town is also often rumoured to have hosted an important archery competition held by Prince John, in which Robin Hood competed and won (described in Scott's Ivanhoe).[citation needed] Notable buildings The Parish Church of St Helen (late 15th century)is the original church of Ashby and contains interesting memorials to various members of the Hastings family and others: it also houses a rare 300 year-old finger pillory, which may have been used to punish people misbehaving in church. The Church of Holy Trinity was built in 1838-40 (architect H. I. Stevens of Derby) in the Early English style: it has galleries supported by iron columns and an ironwork chancel screen. The Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Lourdes (architect F. A. Walters) was built in 1908-15 at the expense of the 15th Duke of Norfolk whose wife had been Lady Flora Hastings. It is in a fine neo-Norman style with three apses and a tower at the south-east corner. The Congregational Chapel is in classical style (1825) and the Methodist Church of 1867-68 is Early English. The Ivanhoe Baths, a fine neo-Grecian building of the 1820s, has been demolished (1962). Recreation Willesley Park Golf Course is set in rolling countryside, partly in parkland and partly on heathland. The course was opened for play in April, 1921. The first hole is played along an avenue of lime trees which once flanked the old coach road from the old Norman castle in the town to the now demolished Willesley Hall. Ashby Town Cricket Club provides a competitive, but sociable cricket atmosphere for all players over the age of 14. The club re-formed after WWII from clubs that existed before the war. The club is in a picturesque setting on Western Park, Avenue Road, Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The club has its own website at www.ashbycricket.co.uk and plays in the Derbyshire County League. Transport The Midland Railway reached Ashby in 1845, placing the town on an important route between Leicester and Burton upon Trent. In the 20th century the passenger train service through Ashby was withdrawn. The Leicester - Burton railway continues to run through the town, but now it carries only freight. In the 1990s there was an unsuccessful plan to restore passenger services as a branch of Leicestershire's Ivanhoe Line; however, it remains within Leicestershire County Council's Structure Plan as a project awaiting funding. Before the railway there was the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal. Formerly, both the A50 Leicester to Stoke-on-Trent road and the A453 Birmingham to Nottingham road passed through the town centre. The heavy traffic which previously travelled through the town has been substantially relieved by the A42 and A511 bypasses, which replaced the A453 and A50 respectively. The nearest railway station is in Burton upon Trent, over 12.8 km (eight miles) away. Leicester railway station also provides an efficient 1hr 10 minute Midland Mainline high speed rail link to the London terminus station at St Pancras which became the home of international Eurostar trains in November 2007. Calls have been made for the Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line to be opened as part of the Ivanhoe Line. Ashby station closed in the 1960s. East Midlands Airport is 9 miles (14.5 km) north of Ashby (approx. 12 mins drive) and provides flight connections in the UK and Europe. Frequent bus routes provide an hourly direct service to Coalville (Arriva X2) and Burton-upon-Trent (Arriva Midlands 9/9A & 8) and the National Express Coach Network links to Leicester for intercity connections and a daily direct service to London. Culture Every August, Ashby holds an arts festival currently sponsored by the district council.[2] This features local artists, musicians, song writers, poets, performers and story tellers. The multiple sites around the town host exhibitions, musical performances, workshops and talks, and the town centre is decorated with flags and an outdoor gallery. The Statutes Fair is a funfair instituted by the Royal Statute held every September (originally a hiring fair when domestic servants and farmworkers would be hired for the year). Ashby is twinned with Pithiviers. On a tangential note, in April 1946 the American jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus recorded a tune called "Ashby de la Zouch" with his band, dubbed Baron Mingus and His Octet. It was issued as a single on 4 Star Records but has never been reissued in any form. Rather than having much to do with the town, the title was probably a nod to guitarist Irving Ashby's participation in the record session.
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