Ashby St Ledgers is a village in the West Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England. The post town is Rugby in Warwickshire. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 173. The Manor House is famous for being a location for the planning of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. Location The nearest large towns are Rugby, north west, and Daventry, south. The A5 road, following the course of the Roman Watling Street, passes about a mile east. Rugby has the nearest railway station on the West Coast Main Line, with trains to London Euston and several other parts of the country. It is about north via the A5 to the M1 London to Yorkshire motorway junction 18 and about south to junction 16. History Ashby St Ledgers was first mentioned in the Domesday Book, which gave the place name as Ascebi ("ash tree settlement"). In Norman times, a church was erected on the site, dedicated to Saint Leodegarius, from whom the modern-day name is derived. Notable buildings Manor House The manor was given as a gift to Hugh de Grandmesnil by William the Conqueror and passed to various other occupants until 1375, when it passed into the Catesby family and became their principal residence. The manor was briefly confiscated after the attainder and execution of William Catesby, one of Richard III's counsellors, after the defeat at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, but was later returned to his son, George. It passed down the male line to Robert Catesby's father, Sir William Catesby, who managed to hold on to the property in spite of massive debts caused by recusancy fines and years of imprisonment for his brave adherence to the Roman Catholic faith. The manor's central location was convenient to the houses of the Catesbys' many friends and relations, which supposedly made Ashby St Ledgers a type of 'Command Centre' during the planning of the Gunpowder Plot. In the room above the Gatehouse, with its privacy from the main house and clear view of the surrounding area, Robert Catesby, his servant Thomas Bates and the other conspirators are said to have planned a great deal of the Gunpowder Plot. Catesby was killed with some other plotters at Holbeche House, whereas his servant was executed in the following January. Following Robert Catesby's death in 1605, the manor was confiscated by the crown as the property of a traitor. However,