ASHBY (CASTLE), a parish in the hundred of WYMERSLEY, county of NORTHAMPTON, 7 miles (E. by S.) from Northampton, containing 128 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Northampton, and diocese of Peterborough, rated in the king's books at £17- 9. 7., and in the patronage of the Marquis of Northampton. The church is dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene. The castle, formerly the princely mansion of the Comptons, Earls of Northampton, is situated near the northern extremity of Yardley Chase, through which is a wide avenue, extending above three miles from the south front; it is built in the form of a quadrangle, having on the south side a screen of two stories, from a design by Inigo Jones, and, at the northeast and south-west angles, two lofty octangular towers.