Ashby-de-la-Zouch, also spelled Ashby de la Zouch, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire borders. Its population at the 2011 census was 12,370. Ashby de la Zouch Castle was an important fort in the 15th to 17th centuries. During the 19th century, the town's main industries were ribbon manufacturing, coal mining, and brickmaking. The town is considered by many to be one of the main cultural hotspots of the United Kingdom, in spite of its small size.