Ashby de la Zouch Castle

The Event

Saturday 6th July 2024

South Street, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, LE65 1BR

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You are invited to a summer picnic at Ashby de la Zouch castle. These beautiful ruins inspired Sir Walter Scott when writing Ivanhoe, and later became a popular tourist attraction for 19th century visitors.

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The curator has offered us a reduced fee on the door for any of us arriving in costume. The discount has yet to be confirmed, but a full price adult ticket is currently £9.00

Itinerary

The site is open from 10am until 5pm, but the main Guild picnic time will be between 12-2pm. We would love it if you joined us for eating, drinking and making merry!

Dress Code

These beautiful ruins inspired Sir Walter Scott when writing Ivanhoe, and he chose to set the tournament, a pivotal event in the novel, there. The popularity of the novel, and Sir Walter Scott himself, meant the castle became a tourist attraction for visitors from 1820 onwards, but the site has a history stretching back to 1086, when the first manor is recorded there, so the dress code for this is any period within the Guild timeframe (in this case, 1086-1914).

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Do you want to be one of the original inhabitants of the manor? A Tudor lady enjoying her new gardens? Or maybe a Victorian tourist hoping to capture some of the romance you imagined when reading Ivanhoe? Take your pick.

The Venue

The site does NOT have a cafe, but there is a small shop which does sell soft drinks and ice-creams and there are some picnic tables.

There are two toilets, one unisex and one fitted for disabled access.

The site is largely flat and very accessible, although depending on any issues you may have the lower parts of the sunken garden and the castle tower may present issues. The site is also small by English Heritage standards so distances both around the site and to access facilities are far more manageable than at larger properties.

The venue welcomes well behaved dogs on leads and is family friendly, and pushchair accessible, but please bear in mind other Guild members when deciding if you want to bring pets, and the usual Guild rule of ‘No Unaccompanied Under 18s’ applies.

The site itself is up a short access road off South Street and not visible from the road, so look out for signage when you arrive!

Parking

The only parking at the site itself is a very limited number of disabled parking spaces. You may be able to drive up the access road to the site, drop people off and turn around.

Parking for visitors without a Blue Badge is available at a small charge in Ashby itself:

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South street Car Park LE65 1BH

Royal Hotel Car Park LE65 2GP

North Street Car park LE65 1HU

The closest of these is the South Street car park, which is less than five minutes walk away and charges under £3 for the whole day.

https://www.nwleics.gov.uk/pages/south_street_car_park_ashby

Other

Venue Website

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/ashby-de-la-zouch-castle/

Facilities, Access and Parking Details

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/ashby-de-la-zouch-castle/facilities/

RSVP

No RSVP required for the picnic. Just turn up on the day.