There are few houses in England with a story like this one. In 1605, Robert Catesby and his fellow conspirators, among them Guy Fawkes, gathered at Ashby Manor House to plan the Gunpowder Plot. The Catesby family had held the manor since 1375, and today it is available to one party at a time: a historic house of many periods, beautifully restored, on the edge of the Northamptonshire countryside and only 23 miles from the north-eastern edge of the Cotswolds.
The house itself is a patchwork of centuries, drawn together in the early twentieth century by the great architect Sir Edwin Lutyens for Ivor Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne. Panelled halls, open fires and deep, comfortable rooms sit alongside lakes, a walled garden and a swimming pool — a house for gathering, with a past worth telling over dinner.
THE HOUSE OF THE GUNPOWDER PLOT
The Catesby family lived at Ashby St Ledgers for more than two centuries. In 1605 the plotters met in the Plot Room, set apart from the main house so as not to implicate Catesby’s mother, who lived there. After the plot failed, Catesby is said to have waved to her at the gate as he rode on towards his last stand. Stay here and you sleep in a house that has been quietly part of English history for nearly a thousand years: it is recorded in the Domesday Book, and it appears in the accounts of Bosworth, the Tudors and the Stuarts.
LUTYENS & THE HOUSE TODAY
Between 1904 and 1938, Lutyens and Viscount Wimborne reshaped the house, creating the Stone Hall, the Lutyens Hall and Dining Room, the Music Room and the Canal Garden. One wing has a stranger story still: the Ipswich Wing was shown at the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition in London, bought by Viscount Wimborne, and carried to Ashby St Ledgers by steam engine. Today it houses bedrooms. The house was lovingly restored from 1998 and remains in the Guest family.
ROOMS TO GATHER
The Lutyens Dining Room is a grand pine-panelled room with a high ceiling and a large open fire, seating from eight to twenty-two. Around it are the Stone Hall, the Music Room, the Library, the Billiard Room, the Card Room and Viscount Wimborne’s Study, each with its own character. For a large party, there is always somewhere to retreat to, and always somewhere to meet again.
WHERE EVERYONE SLEEPS
Ashby Manor House sleeps up to twenty, but it suits ten adults with children best. Its ten bedrooms are a mix of suites and family rooms, so it works beautifully for a family or friends with a younger generation in tow, and for ten adults with room to spare. Bedrooms are individual and well-loved, from the Oak Room and the Viscount Wimborne Suite to the Catesby Room, three Senhouse rooms and two Ipswich rooms, as well as Lady Wimborne’s Boudoir. The Ipswich Suite has a superking bed dressed in Fermoie linens, with views towards the Lutyens Bridge and the lakes, and shares a bathroom with the Ipswich Bedroom, so works well for families.
GOOD TO KNOW
Like many period houses, Ashby Manor House has fewer bathrooms than bedrooms: five bathrooms for ten bedrooms, two of them with showers, with a further shower in the poolhouse. Four bedrooms on the top floor share a single bathroom, which has a bath rather than a shower. It is a small compromise in a house of this character, and it is why we recommend it for ten adults or fewer, with children in the rest of the rooms. For a larger group of adults, or guests who prefer a shower on waking, please talk to our team and we will help you decide whether it is the right house for you.
LAKES, WALLED GARDEN & POOL
Outside, the grounds unfold into the Lutyens Garden, the Statue Garden, a walled garden, a summer house and a courtyard, with the Lutyens Bridge crossing the lakes. There is a swimming pool with its own poolhouse and a tennis court — plenty to keep a house party busy between long lunches.
CHRISTMAS & CELEBRATIONS
Ashby Manor House is made for Christmas and New Year: roaring log fires, a table long enough for everyone, sofas for the afternoon after, and winter walks through the grounds. It is just as suited to a milestone birthday, an anniversary or a family reunion — and our concierge team can arrange private chefs and experiences to suit.
BEYOND THE GATES
The house sits in the village of Ashby St Ledgers, with Rugby, Daventry and Stratford-upon-Avon within easy reach. Silverstone is nearby for motorsport fans, and the north-eastern edge of the Cotswolds is only 23 miles away, making it a perfect base for a trip that combines history with the finest of the English countryside.
