ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH, urban district, Leicestershire, England; on the river Mease, 21 m. N.W. of Leicester and I I 8m. from London by the London Midland and Scottish railway. Population (1931) 5,093. At the time of the Domesday survey Ashby (Essebi) formed part of the estates of Hugh de Grent maisnel, passing later by female descent to the family of la Zouch, whence it derived the adjunct to its name. In 1219 Roger la Zouch obtained a grant of a weekly market and a two days fair at the feast of St. Helen. The manor was granted in 1461 to Lord Hastings, who obtained royal licence to empark 3,00o acres and to build and fortify a castle. At this castle Mary queen of Scots was detained in 1569. During the Civil War Colonel Henry Hastings fortified and held it for the king, and it was visited by Charles in 1645. At the close of the war it was dis mantled by order of parliament. It plays a great part in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. In the i8th century Ashby was one of the best markets for horses, and had prosperous factories for woollen and cotton stockings and for hats. The church of St. Helen, a fine Perpendicular building, contains an old finger-pillory. The Ivanhoe baths, erected in 1826, are frequented for their saline waters. The springs are at Moira. three miles west. To the south of the town are the remains of Ashby Castle. There are extensive coal-mines in the neighbouring districts; e.g., at Moira, whence the Ashby-de-la-Zouch canal runs south to the Coventry canal.