Bath Grounds
The Bath Grounds is a historic recreational ground and cricket ground based in the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. It is home to Ashby Hastings Cricket Club and Ashby Bowls Club. The grounds are subject to conservation area protection. and are designated a "sensitive area" in retained policy E1 of the most recent Local Plan. Heritage The Bath Grounds get their name from the Ivanhoe Baths, a Neo-classical Spa building designed by Robert Chaplin and built by the 1st Marquis of Hastings. The spa opened in 1822 and was named after the Sir Walter Scott novel Ivanhoe which mentions the local area. The land to the east of the Baths was laid out as an area of fashionable ‘greensward’ for the benefit of visitors to the Baths. This landscaped area consisted of a carriage drive and walks, used for sedate and genteel recreation. By the turn of the century a more formal organisation of recreation was reflected in the establishment of tennis courts, a croquet lawn and a bowls green and use of the area by the Ivanhoe Archery club and Deer’s Leap Gun Club. By 1926 the Grounds had become an established venue for hockey and cricket clubs. The adjacent