Ashby-de-la-Zouch, often called 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 lies near to the Derbyshire border. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Shellbrook, to the 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, while the city of Derby is 11.5 miles to the north. The town is located at the heart of the National Forest and roughly 24 miles due south of the Peak District National Park. It lies on the A42 national route in between Tamworth and Nottingham. The permanent resident population of the town, according to the 2001 census, was 12758, which grew to 13759 in 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 principal 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. Lots of the buildings in Market Street, the town's major thoroughfare, are timber framed, but most of this was hidden by later brick facades. The Bull's Head public house still has its original Elizabethan half-timbering, though the majority of this was plastered over some years ago and can now no longer be seen from the street. For all of your home improvement projects, make sure that you employ reputable specialists in Ashby-de-la-Zouch to make sure you get the top quality service.