Services A-Z
The Bath Grounds Heritage Trail and Guide
The Bath Grounds Heritage Trail comprises a series of heritage interpretation boards, numbered waymarkers and community created mosaics installed on a circular route around the Grounds
You can download the Heritage Trail Guide and print it out at home. It includes a map of the Trail, gives a taster of the information on the interpretation boards and provides useful information on how to find the Bath Grounds, the Friends of Ashby Bath Grounds and this Heritage Lottery Funded Project.
Bath Grounds History
Ashby’s historic Bath Grounds is an area of parkland close to the town centre. Situated between the Grade 2 listed Royal Hotel and Ashby Castle, they are an ideal spot for a stroll or picnic.
Formally laid out for the benefit of visitors to the Ivanhoe Baths between the Royal Hotel and Rawdon Terrace, the Bath Grounds have been enjoyed by both residents and visitors alike for more than 200 years.
They included a carriage drive and footpaths for ‘sedate and genteel recreation’.
Castle Fish Ponds
The Giliwiskaw Brook (now culverted), which provided fresh water to the settlement of Ashby and its castle, ran through the Bath Grounds.
It was also a source of water to castle fish ponds within the grounds.
The ponds were used to breed fish as a sustainable medieval food supply.
The Ivanhoe Baths
Between 1800 – 1917 following the discovery of a saline spring at Moira’s ‘Bath Pit’ a couple of miles from Ashby, the Rawdon Hastings family established a small scale baths in Moira.
In 1818 – 1819, the lack of inns and lodgings in Moira together with the proximity of mine shaft led to the decision to transfer the brine waters to Ashby de la Zouch.
In 1822 funding by the town and Francis Rawdon Hastings Esq allowed the building of the Ivanhoe baths. The Baths designed by the architect Robert Chaplin were built for the princely sum of £16,000.
Originally transported by canal and later by rail to the new Ivanhoe Baths, the mineral water was stored in an underground brick Reservoir cable of filling 2000 baths.
In Ashby you could ‘take the waters’ as a medicinal drink or ’be totally immersed in water or sponged in the problem area.’
Application of the water was either ‘as a flow, in the steam bath, through a tube directing it to a particular spot on the bather’s person’ or ‘as rain, in the shower bath, where its activity is thrilling and diffusive over the head and shoulders.’
Ashby failed to gain the fashionable status needed to succeed as a spa town and the baths closed in the 1870s due to a lack of patronage. The end came in 1962 when the beautiful neoclassical building was finally demolished.
Ashby Hastings Cricket Club
Situated in the historic market town of Ashby de la Zouch in North West Leicestershire, Ashby Hastings is one of the oldest cricket clubs in the Midlands, dating back prior to 1831.
Ashby Hastings members enjoy playing on one of the finest grounds in the region, located in the beautiful setting of The Bath Grounds in Ashby.
The club runs 2 Saturday League teams and 1 Development side on a Sunday along with a Junior Section that includes sides at Under 19, Under 17, Under 15, Under 13, Under 11 age groups as well as a Girls Under 12 team. We also have Dynamos (8-11) and All Stars (5-8).
Senior practice sessions take place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings on The Bath Grounds.
Junior coaching sessions for the Under 15’s take place on a Tuesday evening, Under 13’s on a Monday evening and the Under 11’s are on Wednesday evenings. The 8-11 “Dynamos” sessions take place on Sunday afternoons and the 5-8 “All Stars” go ahead on a Friday evenings. For more information on Junior Cricket please visit our website – www.pitchero.com/clubs/ashbyhastingscricketclub
Out of season “Winter Net” sessions run between February and the start of the new season every year, and take place at Castle Rock School on a Friday evening between 6pm and 7pm.
Ashby Hastings are always on the lookout for new players of all abilities.
If you are interested in finding out more about Ashby Hastings Cricket Club or would like to join, then please contact the Club Secretary – ahcc_chairman@outlook.com
Ashby Bowls Club
A brief history of Ashby Bowls Club
(A full history can be seen on the Club’s website)
1889 Men’s Club founded
1905 Club was affiliated to the English Bowling Association
1924 Owners of the Royal Hotel increased the rent as a result of which
1927 Club moved to Hood Park, adjacent to Ashby Ladies Bowls Club, but it had to be open for use by the general public which caused problems on match days.
1934 Club moved back to the Bath Grounds
1979 New pavilion purchased from Ratcliffe College
1980 New pavilion formally opened
2002 Men’s and Ladies’ Clubs amalgamated
2014 125th Anniversary. Ashby Mayor and Town Clerk attended opening of the green for the new season
2021 Club entered and won the Bowls Leicestershire Unbadged competition. Membership increased following Ashby Sports Fun Day
2022 Membership increased again following Ashby Sports Fun Day, now at 90