4 miles north of Daventry

Narrow, tree-lined roads and hills with winding paths shelter Ashby St Ledgers, a village rich in cottages of stone and thatch The village takes its name from the medieval Church of St Leodegarius, which has a fine Jacobean three-tier pulpit. The Coach and Horses Inn was originally a 16th-century farmhouse to which a Victorian façade was added in 1892.

Near by is the medieval manor house of Ashby St Ledgers, where, according to local legend, the Gunpowder Plot was hatched in 1605 in a room above the timbered gatehouse. The mansion was owned by the Catesby family, and it was Robert Catesby who encouraged a small group of Roman Catholics to try to blow up Parliament and James I, and so strike a blow against Protestantism But the plotters were informed on and the plot failed. Robert Catesby fled to Holbeache, in Staffordshire, where, three days later, he refused to surrender and was killed After this, the Catesby estates were sold and, over the centuries, they have passed from owner to owner Today, the manor house is still privately owned.

The Domesday Book entry gives the place name as Ascebi (ash tree settlement). 'St Ledgers' is a corruption of the name of St Leodegarius, the patron saint of the church, which stands at the east end of the village beside the manor house. Both buildings are of ancient foundation. The manor was gifted to Hugh de Grentemaisnil by William the Conqueror and passed to various other occupants until about 1375 when it became the principal residence of the Catesby family, and remained so for nearly 250 years. William Catesby was one of the favourites of Richard III. After the defeat of Richard by Henry Tudor at the battle of Bosworth in 1485, William was beheaded. A Robert Catesby later became one of the leading figures in the Gunpowder Plot, and the half-timbered gatehouse next to the church is reputed to be the meeting place used by the conspirators. (The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)   (Updated 1 July 1997 - Maurice Kellner)