ASHBY DE LA ZOUCH MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The registry name, historical form Ashby de la Zouche, Leicestershire location, authority reference GB/NNAF/M308938, and the associated Hastings manorial records all identify the principal manor of Ashby de la Zouch, whose documented manorial centre was the medieval manor house later developed into Ashby Castle.
Representative point: 52.7463, -1.4664
Basis: documented_manor_house — Ashby Castle stands on the site of the earlier high-status manor house and is explicitly described by Historic England as having evolved from a high-status manor site. The point is derived from Historic England National Grid Reference SK 36109 16644, approximately 52.7463, -1.4664 WGS84.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Medieval to early modern; exact territorial extent not established by the located sources
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The available evidence securely locates the manor house/manorial centre but does not provide a sufficiently clear, source-backed perimeter of the historical manorial land. The scheduled-monument boundary relates to the castle and associated garden/site archaeology, not to the full manor. The manor must not be substituted with the modern parish, civil parish, town, ward, or scheduled-monument boundary.
Sources:
- Ashby Castle and associated formal garden, Ashby de la Zouch - Historic England NHLE 1013324: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1013324 — Identifies Ashby Castle as a fortified dwelling that evolved from a high-status manor site; gives the site National Grid Reference SK 36109 16644; records the descent of the manor from Hugh de Grantmesnil to the Zouch family and later Hastings ownership.
- Sources for Ashby de la Zouch Castle - English Heritage: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/ashby-de-la-zouch-castle/history/sources/ — Identifies the Hastings Manorial archive series at the Huntington Library and lists the relevant published and unpublished historical, estate-map, and archival sources for Ashby de la Zouch.
- Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs to 1516: Leicestershire - Institute of Historical Research: https://archives.history.ac.uk/gazetteer/leics.html — Confirms Ashby de la Zouche as a medieval manor and records markets and fairs held at the manor under the Zouch and Hastings lords.
- The National Archives Discovery: Ashby de la Zouch Manor, F284908: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F284908 — Registry authority record supplied for the exact manor identification, corresponding to Ashby de la Zouch Manor and authority reference GB/NNAF/M308938.
- Ancient Monuments: Ashby Castle and associated formal garden: https://ancientmonuments.uk/111539-ashby-castle-and-associated-formal-garden-ashby-de-la-zouch — Provides the approximate geographic conversion of Historic England's National Grid Reference for the documented manor-house/castle site: latitude 52.7463, longitude -1.4664.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- This result establishes a defensible representative point for the manor house/manorial centre, not the complete extent of the manor's historical land.
- No reliable polygon for the historical manorial territory was located in the available evidence; returning a parish or modern administrative boundary would be misleading.
- The scheduled-monument boundary for Ashby Castle and its formal garden is archaeological and site-specific, not the territorial boundary of Ashby de la Zouch Manor.