The castle was built in 1490 for the first Earl of Derby, Thomas Stanley, father of Sir Edward Stanley, Lord Monteagle, of Hornby Castle. Only one tower remains, as Greenhalgh Castle was dismantled in 1650 (or 1646, according to a different source) after the English Civil War. Despite being bombarded, it had been one of the last two Royalist strongholds in Lancashire to hold out against Parliamentary forces, apparently. Its stones were recycled into local buildings, including the nearby Castle Farm.