Henry Crofton, who died in 1643, was among just four English or Scottish undertakers to actually settle in Leitrim by 1622, making him something of a rarity in an era when absentee landlordism was common. Today, only fragments of his defensive compound survive: a 46-metre stretch of bawn wall extending northeast from a circular corner tower that stands 3.3 metres high with a diameter of 5 metres.

The site underwent significant changes over the centuries. By the 18th century, the Crofton family had built a five-bay, two-storey house here, though they eventually relocated to Clooncahir on the outskirts of Mohill. Their former residence found new purpose as a police station by 1837, and later served as a school. The surviving tower was reduced to its current height as recently as 1977. Archaeological testing in 2019, carried out during library extension works on Castle Street, revealed the base of a second circular tower approximately 25 metres northwest of the standing tower, suggesting the original bawn was a substantial polygonal enclosure measuring roughly 75 metres northwest to southeast and between 30 to 60 metres northeast to southwest.

The excavations also uncovered evidence that helps reconstruct the bawn’s original layout. From the newly discovered tower, the defensive wall likely ran north along what’s now Crooked Lane before turning southeast towards the original house site. The base of this second tower, preserved just one course high, now lies protected beneath the pavement outside the library; a hidden piece of plantation-era history beneath the feet of modern visitors. A later wall found during the dig appears to belong to the large post-medieval house shown on the 1835 Ordnance Survey map, demonstrating the site’s continuous occupation and adaptation through the centuries.