Kirby Muxloe Castle in October 1480, under the direction of Roger Bowlott, who was Lord Hasting's steward and became the clerk of works for the project. Most of the existing manor house was protected during the work, and probably continued in use while the new castle was built around it. A workshop able to make up to 100,000 bricks a week was constructed by Antony Yzebrond from Flanders. A brook was redirected to feed the new moat and a garden was established alongside the castle. Work intensified in early 1481, with the stonework being supervised by John Cowper, a master mason. The work progressed at speed and, at peak periods, over 40 men were working on the site. It is uncertain exactly how much of the castle was constructed, although at least one corner tower had been nearly completed by 1483 and the ground floor of the gatehouse laid down. Edward IV died in 1483, leaving the kingdom to his young son, Edward V, but his uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, had his own ambitions for the throne. Lord Hastings was unwilling to support the deposition of Edward V and, as a consequence, Richard summarily executed him that June, ahead of his own coronation. Kirby Muxloe and Lord Hastings' other estates were then restored to his widow, Katherine. After a short pause, Katherine continued some work on the site until the summer of 1484, focusing on making the corner tower and partially finished gatehouse habitable, before the project was finally halted. By this point around £1,000 had been spent on the works, including the laying of 1.3 million bricks. At least initially, some parts of the castle were occupied, possibly including the remains of the original manor house. The castle continued to be owned by the Hastings family until around 1630, when it was purchased by Sir Robert Banaster, and then by William Wollaston. Over the course of the rest of the century, Kirby Muxloe Castle was abandoned; it was robbed for its building materials, and became used for agricultural purposes. 18th–21st centuries The castle was purchased from the Wollaston family in 1788 by Clement Winstanley. In 1790, the remains of the north tower were still standing, albeit in very poor condition. Clement Winstanley reportedly wanted to pull the northern ruins down, intending to reuse the bricks to make a barn, but his son, also called Clement, intervened, and subsequently