Unlike Peckforton Castle, a Victorian reconstruction a kilometre away, this is the real thing.
As one would expect of so obvious a defensive site, the hill has been occupied since at least 800 BCE, but the castle itself was built in 1225 by the 4th Earl of Chester, Ranulph de Blondeville. It was used 'in anger' on a number of occasions, both in the wars against the Welsh and later, during the English Civil War.