[3] The first mention of Stockport Castle comes from 1173, when Geoffrey de Costentyn held it against Henry II during the barons' rebellion of 1173–1174.

[1] There is a local tradition that de Constentyn was the son of Henry II, Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany; in fact, de Constentyn was a local lord who not only owned the manor of Stockport, but land in Staffordshire and Ireland.

[4] The bailey would originally have been defended by a wooden palisade and earthworks; these were replaced by stone walls at the beginning of the 13th century.

[6] The ruins were levelled in 1775 by Sir George Warren, the lord of the manor, and a cotton mill built on the site.

The keep surmounting the motte was irregularly shaped, and according to plans drawn in 1775 by the Reverend John Watson, a local antiquarian, measured 31 by 60 m (102 by 197 ft).