Gleaston Castle Gleaston Castle is situated in a valley about 0 . 5 km north - east of the village of Gleaston , which lies between the towns of Ulverston and Barrow - in - Furness in the Furness peninsula , Cumbria , England . Structure . The castle consists of the remains four towers connected by curtain walls around a roughly rectangular courtyard . The walls are made of limestone quarried near the site , whilst details such as window and door surrounds are made of a soft red sandstone , the origins of which are uncertain although it is similar to that used in the construction of nearby Furness Abbey . The walls at the southwestern corner of the site have a clay core , as is usual in castle construction , but elsewhere the core is the same shingle mortar used to face the walls . History . The castle is first mentioned specifically in 1389 , although Sir John de Harrington , 2nd Baron Harington of Aldingham is said to have died at Gleaston in 1369 . It is generally assumed that the castle was begun by his grandfather Sir John , 1st Baron Harington at around the time he was summoned to Parliament in 1326 . It is possible that part of the structure is earlier and was built as a defence against the Scots who posed a serious threat to the area following Edward I ' s campaigns and Robert Bruce ' s assumption of the Scottish throne . The majority of the castle must surely have been built after the devastating 1316 and 1322 Scottish raids on the area as it was built quickly and poorly , with poor quality local materials , suggesting a lack of funds . The castle also lacks the usual fortification s : there was no license to crenellate granted , no gatehouse or barbican and there are no traces of a defensive ditch or moat so it could not have withstood a serious attack . The castle was the main seat of residence for the Lords of Aldingham until the death of William de Harrington , 5th Baron of Aldingham in 1457 . The estate passed to William ' s daughter Elizabeth who had married William Bonville , 1st Baron Bonville of Shute in Devon and the title of 6th Baron Harington passed to their young son William . The Bonvilles made Devon their main seat of residence and Gleaston Castle was abandoned and quickly fell into disrepair . William Bonville jnr died along with his father at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460 and the castle fell to his newborn daughter Cecily , who later married Thomas Grey , 1st Marquess of Dorset . Eventually it fell to Henry Grey , 1st Duke of Suffolk who sold the castle and its adjacent " demesne " land to his bailiff Walter Curwen before he was beheaded for treason in 1554 , by which time it was in ruins . One of the southern towers may have been inhabited in the 16th century but by 1727 a farmhouse had been built adjacent to the southeastern tower . It appears Curwen sold the site to Thomas Preston , a local landowner , whose descendant Lord George Cavendish was probably responsible for creating much of the farm that can be seen today . Gleaston Castle Farm became an important asset to the Cavendish estate after the Industrial Revolution made wheat and barley production highly lucrative . The farm was sold in 1920 to Thomas Barton Jackson of Bolton Manor , Urswick and again in 1927 . Today the castle is a scheduled monument and a Grade I listed building . The ruins can be viewed from the roadside , but it is unsafe to enter the castle due to its state of state of disrepair . As of 2010 , English Heritage considered the property to be in a very bad condition and at risk of further deterioration ; plans for remedial action were being discussed with the owners .