Buckton is one of the earliest stone castles in North West England and only survives as buried remains overgrown with heather and peat.

Buckton Vale Quarry is close to the east of the castle, while the town of Stalybridge is about four kilometres (2 mi) south-west of the site.

[4] According to the archaeologist Rachel Swallow, hilltop castles in the area, which include Buckton, Beeston, Halton and Mold, are "predominantly a symbol of significant offensive and elite personal power in these landscapes".

[11] Buckton Castle was probably built in the 12th century and there are three identifiable periods of medieval activity at the site: the initial construction phase, in which the ditch was dug and the curtain wall and gatehouse built; the re-cutting of the ditch and further building work behind the curtain wall; and finally deliberate demolition (slighting).

Little datable material has been recovered from the site – four sherds of Pennine Gritty Ware pottery broadly date to the late 12th century.

The construction of the castle may have been prompted by the earls' involvement in the Anarchy, a civil war during King Stephen's reign in the middle of the 12th century, or the Revolt of 1173–74 against Henry II.

[14] During the Anarchy, David I of Scotland gained control of most of northern England, including the parts of Lancashire, prompting the construction of Buckton Castle to serve as a safeguard for Cheshire.

[19] The site of the castle may have been used as a beacon in the 16th century, first during the Pilgrimage of Grace of 1536–37, and later in the 1580s when the country was under threat of invasion from Spain, particularly with the Spanish Armada in 1588.

[2] The archaeologists D. J. Cathcart King and Leslie Alcock suggested that the castle was a ringwork – a type of fortification where earthworks formed an integral part of the defence.

[5] This was before excavation established that the first phase of the castle was a curtain wall and the earthworks seen today are the result of the collapse of the structure and accumulation of soil on top.

Across three seasons – 2007, 2008, and 2010 – trenches were opened across the ditch, the northern entrance, the gap in the circuit of earthworks on the south side, the interior, and the curtain wall.

Clitheroe was also built on a rocky peak and the small size of its great tower may be due to its naturally defensible position and location in an economically deprived area.

They are broadly similar in size, and take the form of a gate passage piercing a single tower with rooms in the floors above.

A plan created by the Saddleworth Geological Society in 1842 recorded a ruined structure within the castle's south-east area in addition to the well Percival noted.

[22] Trenches in the castle's interior did not reveal the structures on the plans from the 18th and 19th centuries, although the discovery of a posthole indicates there was activity in this area.

[39] The gap in the southern part of the curtain wall – not evident in the 1842 plan by the Saddleworth Geological Society – was probably created in the 19th century.

Nothing remains of Buckton Castle above ground today, and until the late 20th century, vegetation obscured the existence of a stone structure.