Initially taking the form of an "H"-plan design built around a central hall, around 1500 a three-storey stone pele tower was added, providing both additional security and acting as a status symbol for the family.

The Wyberghs were able to retain Clifton Hall, despite the challenges of the English Civil War, but the house was caught up in the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745.

[4] The tower was probably built in response to the security situation along the troubled Anglo-Scottish border at the time, but it would also have made a social statement about the status and wealth of the Wybergh family, and would have provided additional accommodation.

[5] He was fined by Parliament as a Royalist "delinquent" in 1652, and mortgaged the surrounding manor to Sir John Lowther for £846, but not the hall itself or the lands immediately to the north.

[5] In 1715, William Wybergh, the owner, was abducted by Scottish soldiers, and in 1745, shortly before the Clifton Moor Skirmish, it was occupied and looted by the rebel forces.

[15] In 1973 the Lonsdale Estate, who owned Hall Farm, placed the tower into the guardianship of the Department of the Environment, who decided to open it to the public.

[23] The first floor formed the principal chamber in the tower, accessed from stairs in the hall; it had a fireplace, a garderobe and its walls would have been plastered and painted, with wood panelling.

[27] The original roof would have resembled that at nearby Yanwath Hall, but was replaced at a later date with the current hipped-roof design, probably during the late 16th or the 17th century.