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ashby de la zouch |
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| ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH , fourteen miles northwest of Leicester, takes its
fanciful name from two sources - the town's first Norman overlord was
Alain de Parrhoet la Souche and the rest means "place by the ash trees".
Nowadays, Ashby is far from rustic, but it's an amiable little place and
just off Market Street, the main drag, stands its principal attraction,
the Castle (April-Oct daily 10am-6pm; Nov-March Wed-Sun 10am-4pm; £2.75;
EH), whose rambling ruins mostly date from the fifteenth century. The
star turn is the hundred-foot-high Hastings Tower , a self-contained
four-storey stronghold, which, dating to the 1470s, represented the
latest thinking in castle design. It provided a secure inner fastness
and it also provided much better accommodation than was previously
available. Improved living quarters reflecting the power and pride of
the nobility were built all over England at this time and this is a rare
survivor - witness the substantial rooms with large windows on the top
floors, accessible via the tower's well-worn spiral staircase. |
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