DeFacto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Things to do
Canons Ashby
The Dryden family's Elizabethan manor house in south Northamptonshire, with painted rooms, Jacobean plasterwork and terraced gardens, beside the surviving church of a medieval priory. National Trust, north east of Banbury.
Dog-friendly
An Elizabethan house with sixteenth-century painted rooms, Jacobean plaster and a medieval church beside it. It suits people who like old houses. Check the Trust's calendar first, as the days change through the year and parts of the site can be shut in winter.
- Good: Two-pawprint dog rating, with walks in the parkland
- Good: A thirteenth-century priory church, part of the site
- Good: Family trails and a wild play area
- Worth knowing: Opening days vary through the year; check the calendar
- Worth knowing: Whole site closed Monday to Wednesday through November 2026
- Worth knowing: Step-free access inside the house only to the Great Kitchen
About
Canons Ashby is a manor house in the south Northamptonshire countryside, north of Sulgrave, and it was the seat of the Dryden family from the mid sixteenth century until it passed to the National Trust in 1981. Historic England lists it Grade I. It sits beside what remains of a medieval priory.
The house
The house grew in stages, as the listing records: mid sixteenth century with earlier origins, extended about 1590, embellished about 1632, and given a remodelled south front in 1708 to 1710. It is built of ironstone and brick, and grew from an H plan into a courtyard. Northamptonshire's historic environment record says John Dryden built it about 1550, taking in an existing farmhouse, on an estate that had belonged to the Augustinian priory of Ashby until its dissolution in 1536.
Inside, look for the sixteenth-century painted decoration in the Spencer Room, the early eighteenth-century Painted Parlour, and the Jacobean plasterwork and overmantel in the Drawing Room, which the listing calls spectacular. Sir Henry Dryden lived here from 1837 to 1899, and the house is laid out as it was in his time.
The garden and church
The terraced gardens, which the county record says Edward and Erasmus Dryden laid out in the years after 1708, are registered Grade II* by Historic England. St Mary's Church, the only part of the thirteenth-century priory left standing and the Drydens' family church, is part of the visit when open. Dogs on short leads can walk in the parkland and other outdoor spaces, and the Trust gives the site a two-pawprint rating.
The poet John Dryden's name comes up in connection with the family. The sources read for this page do not tie him to the house, so ask a room guide.
Visiting
Entry is free for National Trust members. For others the Trust charged £15 an adult and £7.50 a child in 2026, or £16.50 and £8.30 with Gift Aid. From 5 November 2026 the house opens 11am to 3.30pm, with last entry at 3pm, and the garden, park and church 10am to 4pm. The Trust says the whole site is closed Monday to Wednesday through November. Christmas displays run from 28 November to 24 December, so check the calendar for December days. HS2 works have closed some roads nearby, and the Trust asks visitors to allow extra time.
Pair it with Sulgrave Manor, the Washingtons' house, in a day of Tudor manor houses, or with Silverstone Museum. The Griffin Inn at Chipping Warden is a listed pub nearby.
Opening hours and season
From 5 November 2026: house 11am to 3.30pm, last entry 3pm; garden and church 10am to 4pm; tea room 10.30am to 3.30pm. Closed Mon to Wed in November. Check the calendar for December.
Facilities
- Car parkA five-minute walk from the house; locked at 5pm
- Stables Tea RoomIn the old stables, hot and cold meals, seats inside and out
- ToiletsOpposite the entrance to the house, with an accessible toilet and baby changing
- MobilityMobility parking and a driver-assisted buggy from the car park; wheelchairs available
- DogsOn short leads in all outdoor spaces except the Wild Play Corner
- Family trails and wild play
The details
- Time to allow
- A morning or afternoon: house, garden and church
- Features
- Garden or terrace · Café · Parking
- History
- Mid sixteenth century; given to the National Trust in 1981
- Parking
- National Trust car park off Eydon Road, a five-minute walk from the house, with mobility parking and two EV chargers. No parking on the lanes or verges. The car park is locked at 5pm. Satnav NN11 3SD.
- Without a car
- No direct public transport, the Trust says. The nearest bus is at Woodford Halse, 4 miles away, between Daventry and Banbury; Banbury station is about 12 miles. Cycle racks by reception.
Photos
The Great Hall 
The garden gateway Photo: Chris Gunns, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons 
Topiary in the garden Photo: David Merrett from Daventry, England, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons 
The National Trust tearoom Photo: Michael Garlick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Location
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- Sulgrave Manor 5.3 km away
Sights nearby
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Badby Woods
Sight · Wood · Badby
An ancient bluebell wood at Badby, Northamptonshire, on the Fawsley estate: woodland for over 700 years, a deer park from 1246 and now an SSSI. Free and private, on permissive paths. Bluebells usually peak from late April into early May, and parking is for about 12 cars.
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St Mary's Church, Canons Ashby
Sight · Church · Moreton Pinkney
All that stands of the church of an Augustinian priory at Canons Ashby: a Grade I fragment with a thirteenth-century west front, a fourteenth-century tower and the Dryden family's monuments. Part of the National Trust's Canons Ashby.