The home for several centuries of the Mackworth family, it was at some point reduced to the ruins of a gatehouse suggestive of a grand castle.

Charles Kerry of the Derbyshire Archaeological Society questions whether the castle had already begun to decline before its purchase by Curzon, noting that, "Had Mackworth Castle been a place suitable for the reception of the Queen of Scots, Sir Ralph Sadler would not have overlooked it when en route with his charge for Tutbury.

[5] Some understanding of the layout of the rest of the building can be derived from the rectangular spaces on the west of the gatehouse, which once formed courtyards.

[9] Emery writes that "[t]he gateway was no more than a display structure, a very early example of that hankering for a world of chivalry and romance that had already passed.

"[9] Mackworth Castle is the scene of events that take place in the 1954 movie The Black Shield of Falworth, starring Tony Curtis, which itself is based on the 19th century historical novel Men of Iron by the American author Howard Pyle.