An unfinished castle village
Kirby Muxloe
A flat Leicestershire village where a moated brick gatehouse, two distinctive pubs and organised walks sit five miles west of Leicester.
- Best for
- Late-medieval history and easy walking
- Give it
- A half-day around the castle, church and pubs
- Don't miss
- The castle's moat and brick gatehouse
The Fox verdict
A village still shaped by an unfinished castle
Kirby Muxloe pairs a moated English Heritage ruin with two contrasting Main Street pubs, a medieval parish church and easy group walks.
Lord Hastings began the brick-built, moated castle in 1480. Work slowed after his execution in 1483 and ended in 1484, leaving the gatehouse and a corner tower as the village's historic focus. The Castle Hotel, Royal Oak and St Bartholomew's add reasons to linger.
Where to go
Places in Kirby Muxloe
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesKirby Muxloe Castle
English Heritage's Grade I listed, moated brick castle was begun for William, Lord Hastings in 1480 and left unfinished after his execution in 1483.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 1 hour
- Locality
- on the edge of the village
- Access
- Guided tours take place on selected dates.
Royal Oak
An Everards pub run by independent business owners, serving seasonal food made with locally sourced produce, with a deli counter for cheese, charcuterie, bread, olives and antipasti.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 1 hour 30 minutes
- Locality
- Main Street
Kirby Muxloe Library Weekly Walk
A weekly one-hour group walk meeting at Kirby Muxloe Library on Station Road.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 1 hour
- Locality
- Kirby Muxloe Library, Station Rd
Food & drink
1 placeCastle Hotel
A Grade II listed 18th-century farmhouse now serving as a Chef & Brewer pub, restaurant and hotel, with classic pub dishes and accommodation.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 1 hour 30 minutes
- Locality
- Main Street overlooking the castle moat
Walks & outdoors
1 placeWalking in Good Company
A monthly four-to-five-mile group walk from the Free Church car park.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 3 hours
- Locality
- Free Church car park
- Access
- A shorter group sometimes joins.
History & heritage
1 placeSt Bartholomew's Church
Kirby Muxloe's medieval parish church is Grade II* listed; an organ was installed during the village's 19th-century history.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 30 minutes
- Locality
- Kirby Muxloe
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Three ways to explore Kirby Muxloe
Signature outings
See the Unfinished Castle
Take in the wide moat and roofless brick gatehouse of the castle Lord Hastings began in 1480 and never completed.
Pause at St Bartholomew's
Notice the early-13th-century church and the later medieval changes to its south tower.
Settle into the Castle Hotel
Look for zig-zag gable verges on the 18th-century building before settling in.
The village story
Kirby Muxloe Village Guide
An unfinished moated castle, two distinctive pubs and an easy-walking village five miles west of Leicester.
First Impressions and the Unfinished Castle
Five miles west of Leicester and just off the M1, Kirby Muxloe has a broad moat, two Main Street pubs and the everyday shops of a busy village. The low-lying landscape makes its centre easy to explore on foot.
Kirby Muxloe Castle begins with its moat: a wide rectangle of water around an unfinished brick gatehouse and a surviving corner tower. William, Lord Hastings began the grand residence in 1480. Work slowed after Richard III had him executed in 1483, then ceased in 1484. The Grade I listed remains are cared for by English Heritage and lie a short walk from the village centre.
Two Pubs on Main Street
The Castle Hotel overlooks the moat from Main Street. Its Grade II listed farmhouse dates from around 1760 to 1770, with zig-zag brickwork along the gables. Now a Greene King Chef & Brewer pub and hotel, it serves pub classics and has rooms for an overnight stay.
The Royal Oak is run by independent business owners in partnership with Everards. First licensed in 1810, it was acquired by Everards in 1901, rebuilt as the Spanish Blade around 1970 and renamed in 1981. Seasonal food draws on local produce, while the deli offers cheese, charcuterie, bread, olives and antipasti.
Shops, School and Church
Main Street has a convenience store, post office, hairdressers and a pharmacy. A A Moore and Son began as a greengrocer and is now a florist and mini garden centre. Parsons Farewell, the former school and schoolmaster’s house on Ratby Lane, is Grade II listed.
St Bartholomew's is a Grade II* listed parish church with early thirteenth-century origins and later medieval alterations to its south tower. An organ was added during the village's later history. Jeremy Irons married Julie Hallam here in 1970.
Walking and the Village Story
A weekly group walk meets at Kirby Muxloe Library on Station Road. Walking in Good Company is a monthly four-to-five-mile outing from the Free Church car park; a shorter group sometimes joins. An earlier church building on that site was destroyed in a 1940 bombing raid. The flat ground at the western edge of the Leicestershire Plain makes for gentle walking.
Domesday surveyors recorded the settlement as Carbi in 1086, with eight working people. Its name recalls Caeri, a Danish settler associated with the community's early beginnings. A railway line reached the village in 1849 and a passenger station followed in 1859; buses still connect it with Leicester.
A Castle Still Unfinished
The moat remains the village's defining view. Brick walls rise above the water, still showing the scale of a grand fifteenth-century plan that was never completed.
Stay around Leicestershire
Make a longer stay of it
Travel Fox holiday homes around Leicestershire, linked directly to their property pages.
Syston
Tilly's Townhouse with Parking
- Sleeps 4
- 2 bedrooms
Leicester
Rachel's House with Parking!
- Sleeps 12
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Leicester
Upperton House - Central 5 Bedroom
- Sleeps 9
- 5 bedrooms
Rearsby
Vanessa's Haven - with hot tub and free parking for 3 cars!!
- Sleeps 5
- 3 bedrooms
Charnwood
UnPoplar House - Free in House Chris
- Sleeps 6
- 3 bedrooms
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A guide with a point of view
Written from research. Edited for real journeys.
Use the Official site links for live practical details, then use this guide for context, ideas and room to explore.
Sources
Every place on this page is checked against a published source. Each entry links the record we used and names who publishes it.
- Kirby Muxloe Castle — english-heritage.org.uk national body or asset manager
- Castle Hotel — chefandbrewer.com other published source
- Royal Oak — royaloakkirbymuxloe.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- St Bartholomew's Church — historicengland.org.uk statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Kirby Muxloe Library Weekly Walk — kirbymuxloelibrary.org operator, sector body or destination organisation record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Walking in Good Company — kirbyfree.org other published source