Traces of a prehistoric camp have been found here, but in 1754, Randle Wilbraham of nearby Rode Hall built an elaborate summerhouse looking like a medieval fortress and round tower.
In 1807, Mow Cop was the venue for a 14-hour meeting, called by Hugh Bourne of Stoke-on-Trent and William Clowes from Burslem, which started the Primitive Methodism movement.
The Castle was given to the National Trust in 1937, and to mark the occasion, over ten thousand Methodists met on the hill.