shby de la Zouch Castle was originally an unfortified manor house granted by William the Conqueror to one his followers Hugh de Grentmeisnil and consisted of a stone hall. The castle remained in the possession of the Zouche family for several hundred years during which time they built other domestic buildings around the hall. When the Zouche male family line ended in 1314 the castle then became the property of others including the Earl of Ormonde who in 1461 fought on the side of the Lancastrians and was executed after losing at the battle of Towton. The ownership of the castle then passed to the Crown and was given to William Lord Hastings by Edward IV. Hastings was granted a licence to crenellate the castle in 1474 and he set about consrtucting a new tower some 90-feet-high. The new tower, known as 'Hastings Tower' is rectangular in shape and has four floors. On one side of the tower an extra wing was added to the full height of the tower having seven floors.

During the English Civil War the castle was held by the Royalist Henry Hastings who improved the defences and may have built the tunnels that link some of the buildings, but after a siege the castle fell to the Parliamentarians and its destruction was ordered.