Centre Dan Hipkiss wins his first international call-up after a fantastic season with the club, while there is also an England re-call for experienced second row Ben Kay.
Hipkiss and Kay are joined by Tigers captain Martin Corry, Lewis Moody, Louis Deacon, George Chuter and Julian White as Ashton assesses his options ahead of England's defence of their world crown.
The squad begin their World Cup preparations on Monday, June 25 when they meet up to prepare for a 12-day training camp in Portugal. They then face Wales at Twickenham on August 4, before taking on France on successive weekends on August 11 and 18, first at home and then away in Marseilles. Ashton is then due to name his final 30-man squad on August 14.
England RWC 2007 Preliminary Training Squad (47)
Forwards (24)
Steve Borthwick (Bath Rugby)
George Chuter (Leicester Tigers)
Martin Corry (Leicester Tigers)
Lawrence Dallaglio (London Wasps)
Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)
Nick Easter (NEC Harlequins)
Perry Freshwater (Perpignan)
James Haskell (London Wasps)
Andrew Hazell (Gloucester Rugby)
Ben Kay (Leicester Tigers)
Magnus Lund (Sale Sharks)
Lee Mears (Bath Rugby)
Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Palmer (London Wasps)
Tom Rees (London Wasps)
Mark Regan (Bristol Rugby)
Simon Shaw (London Wasps)
Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks)
Matt Stevens (Bath Rugby)
Phil Vickery (London Wasps)
Dan Ward-Smith (Bristol Rugby)
Julian White (Leicester Tigers)
Joe Worsley (London Wasps)
Kevin Yates (Saracens)
Backs (23)
Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)
Olly Barkley (Bath Rugby)
Mike Catt (London Irish)
Danny Cipriani (London Wasps)
Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
Andrew Farrell (Saracens)
Toby Flood (Newcastle Falcons)
Shane Geraghty (London Irish)
Andrew Gomarsall (NEC Harlequins)
Dan Hipkiss (Leicester Tigers)
Charlie Hodgson (Sale Sharks)
Josh Lewsey (London Wasps)
Olly Morgan (Gloucester Rugby)
Jamie Noon (Newcastle Falcons)
Shaun Perry (Bristol Rugby)
Peter Richards (Gloucester Rugby)
Jason Robinson (Sale Sharks)
Paul Sackey (London Wasps)
David Strettle (NEC Harlequins)
Mathew Tait (Newcastle Falcons)
Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby)
Fraser Waters (London Wasps)
Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle Falcons)
