[citation needed] In 1285, Margaret de Neville was the owner and "had writ for livery" at Hornby Castle.

[3] The polygonal tower rising from this base dates from the 16th century, and was probably built for Sir Edward Stanley, 1st Baron Monteagle.

Their son William was made the fourth Baron Monteagle and became famous as the peer who was forewarned about the Gunpowder Plot in 1605.

His son Henry was a zealous Royalist at the start of the Civil War and his estates were afterwards declared forfeit and sold.

During the war itself, the castle was captured by Colonel Assheton in 1643 and occupied in 1648 by the Duke of Hamilton and his Scottish army.

[4] After a long legal battle over Marsden's will (he had died in 1826), Admiral Sandford Tatham regained control of the property in 1838 from George Wright's family.

[5][6] Dawson commissioned the Lancaster architects Sharpe and Paley to rebuild much of the structure; this was carried out between 1847 and 1850.

The architects retained the older parts, including the polygonal tower, but demolished or remodelled the section constructed for Charteris.

[1] This included rebuilding the front of the castle, adding wings and a portico, and replacing the round tower with a square one.

[4] In the middle of the 20th century, some of the rooms in the east parts of the house were removed to create a courtyard.

[2] On the southwest and southeast sides of the house is a terrace with sandstone walls dating from the 19th century.

Three flights of steps lead down from the terrace, and at the north end is a small semicircular building acting as a bastion.