Ashby-de-la-Zouch, typically shortened to Ashby, is a small market town and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England, inside the National Forest. It's a sister city with Pithiviers in north-central France and is positioned near to the Derbyshire border. The civil parish contains the hamlets of Shellbrook, west of the town, and Boundary to its north-west. Nearby villages include Lount, Normanton le Heath, Smisby, Packington, Donisthorpe, Oakthorpe, Moira, Measham and Coleorton. The towns of Swadlincote, Burton-upon-Trent, Melbourne and Coalville are all within 10 miles of Ashby, with the city of Derby 11.5 miles to the north. The town is positioned at the heart of the National Forest and about 24 miles due south of the Peak District National Park. It is on the A42 national route in between Tamworth and Nottingham. The permanent resident population of the town, based on the 2001 census, was 12758, which grew to 13759 by the 2011 census. Ashby-de-la-Zouch Castle was of importance from the 15th to the 17th centuries. In the 19th century, the town became a spa town and ahead of the development of Coalville, it was the chief town in northwest Leicestershire. During the 19th century, its key industries were ribbon manufacture, coal mining and brickmaking. The town was served by the Leicester to Burton-upon-Trent Line of the Midland Railway from 1849. A lot of the buildings in Market Street, the town's principal thoroughfare, are timber framed, but most of this was hidden by later brick facades. The Bull's Head public house retains its historic Elizabethan half-timbering, although the majority of this was plastered over some years ago and can now no longer be identified from the street. For all of your property improvement work, ensure that you utilise vetted specialists in Ashby-de-la-Zouch to make sure you get the top quality service.