Situated on the outskirts of Leicestershire (and a mere 12 miles from Derby), lies the manor of Ashby which is home to none other than Ashby Castle!
A guide book is available for a couple of quid and an audio guide is already included in your admission so everyone is taken care of.
You begin your tour by starting off outside the shop where you soon enter the large kitchen! Such a large kitchen is a rareity for a building of this type and its grandure was remarked upon by many the castles guests over the years.
As you would expect, the Pantry and Buttery is situated close by. This would of housed all the meats, ales, butters and all sorts of other food stuffs that were used within the castle. The person who used to be in charge of this room also ran chores for the Lord and his family and this role was later known as being a Buttler, which (as I am sure you can see) takes its name from this type of room (the Buttery).
Other places you pass through are The Hall, The Solar (the private appartments), Chapel, Priests Room and the Wilderness!
The centre piece of this attraction has to be the Hastings Tower! In 1474 Lord Hastings obtained a licence to crenellate (the technical term for fortifying) his castle. As part of the fortification of the site, the Hastings Tower was constructed.
Originally the tower rose 90ft but now it only stands 80ft tall. Most of the tower is now long gone, not due to dereliction or weathering as you might expect, but due to willfull destruction…
Ashby Castle played a part in the Civil War and thanks to some improvements made around 1644 (and the fact it was home at the time to some Irish Troops), the castle became to strong to be taken by force!
Due to the outbreak of The Plague and a lack of food, they were finally forced to surrender in February 1646. As such, parliament ordered the ‘slighting’ of the castle by using gunpowder to blow up the various walls of the castle which included most of the Hastings Tower.
Although not much of the tower remains today, you can still climb the 98 steps to the top to enjoy the surrounding views!
And last (but not least), don’t forget to take a wander along the secret passage underground that goes from the remains of the Hastings Tower to the cellar next to the Kitchen…
