Whilst perhaps not being the grandest in the land, Kirby Muxloe Castle is at least unusual in that it remains today much as it was in the fifteenth century - unfinished ! Commissioned in the 1480's by William, Lord Hastings, interest in completing the building waned somewhat when he was executed by Richard III soon after coming to the throne.

Strictly, it is more correctly described as a fortified manor house, although the moat, drawbridge and portcullis were designed to give it all the airs of a traditional castle. It is now owned by English Heritage and occasionally hosts civil war re-enactments.

The castle gun-ports are amongst the earliest in England. They are circular and have above them a vertical slit for sighting.

William Hastings was a fervent Yorkist and follower of Richard, Duke of York, father of Edward IV. His considerable wealth came in no small measure from forfeited Lancastrian estates. He also married well and acquired "foreign pensions", particularly from Louis XI of France.