Ashby-de-la-Zouch, frequently shortened to Ashby, is a little market town and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England, within the National Forest. It's a sister city with Pithiviers in north-central France and is situated close to the Derbyshire border. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Shellbrook, west of the town, and Boundary to its north-west. Some nearly villages are 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 ten miles of Ashby, with the city of Derby 11.5 miles north. The town is positioned at the heart of the National Forest and approximately 24 miles 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, in line with the 2001 census, was 12758, which increased to 13759 by the 2011 census. Ashby-de-la-Zouch Castle was important in the 15th to the 17th centuries. In the 19th century, the town became a spa town and before the growth of Coalville, it was the chief town in northwest Leicestershire. During the 19th century, its major 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 main thoroughfare, are timber framed, but most of this was hidden by later brick facades. The Bull's Head public house retains its original Elizabethan half-timbering, although the majority of this was plastered over some years ago and can now no longer be seen from the street. For all your home improvement projects, be sure that you pick reputable specialists in Ashby-de-la-Zouch to make sure you get the best quality service.