Ashby Manor House

Ashby Manor House stands at the heart of one of the most important villages in English history. With origins dating back over 900 years, the estate has evolved through successive generations while remaining a place of family life, hospitality and national significance.

The house is perhaps best known as the ancestral home of Robert Catesby, mastermind of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. It was within the Tudor Gatehouse, in what is now known as the Plot Room, that Catesby and his fellow conspirators met to plan one of the most infamous events in British history. Today, visitors can still stand in the very room where those secret meetings took place.

Following the Catesby family’s ownership, the estate passed through several distinguished families before being acquired in the early twentieth century by the industrialist Sir Ivor Guest, later 1st Viscount Wimborne. He commissioned the renowned architect Sir Edwin Lutyens to transform the Tudor manor into the elegant country house seen today. Lutyens created a series of beautifully proportioned reception rooms and designed the formal gardens that continue to define the landscape surrounding the house.

Throughout its history, Ashby Manor House has welcomed many notable visitors, including Prince Edward, later King Edward VIII, and Winston and Clementine Churchill, reflecting its place at the heart of British social and political life during the early twentieth century.

Today, Ashby Manor House remains the private home of the Guest family, who are undertaking an ongoing programme of restoration and conservation. From the revival of the historic walled gardens and listed summerhouse to the careful stewardship of the house’s remarkable interiors, every project seeks to preserve the estate’s rich heritage while ensuring it continues to thrive for future generations.

As a member of Historic Houses, Ashby Manor House offers visitors the rare opportunity to experience a living historic home—one where nearly a millennium of English history continues to unfold.