The ruins at Stapleton are of an early 17th century house built on the site of a much earlier castle from which stone was used and incorporated. The original castle was built in the mid 12th century by Hugh Fitz Osbern, a marcher Lord whose base was at Richards Castle. He had been in posession of the castle at Presteigne (Warden) but this passed to Roger Port of Kington during the 1140's and Osbern built his new castle, as headquarters for this part of his estates. He still controlled most of the surrounding manors and farms. It would appear that there was a shell keep and a curtain wall occupying the higher S end of the hill which was cut and scarped to form the motte. A ditch surrounds it on three sides and the steep side of the hill provides good defences to the S. There is a bailey to the N also thought to have a curtain wall and some evidence of a sunken track approach to the E. The Lords of Richards Castle became the de Say family duing the late 12th century and their estates came to be controled via marriage by the Mortimers of Wigmore sometime after 1207. In 1304 after the death of Edmund Mortimer it passed to the Cornewall family who garrisoned it against the Welsh. They built the house here and occupied it until 1645, when it was defaced to avoid Parlementary capture during the civil war, it deteriorated until its purchase in 1706 by the Harley family, who repaired the house. Traces of a borough or village can be seen to the E. Access to the site is prohibited as the ruins are unstable.
