WALL paintings dating back hundreds of years have been found during a £3m restoration of Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island.

The discovery sheds new light on the history of the 16th Century castle which started as a fort above the North Sea, was renovated by Lutyens in the early 1900s and is now run by the National Trust. As part of a programme of works, conservation experts found what originally seemed to be a series of butterfly motifs after carefully removing layers of paint and plaster in the kitchen and the west bedroom. But further study showed the paintings were a stylised flower motif, likely to date to the mid to late 17th Century. The National Trust’s John Wynn-Griffiths said: “This is such an exciting and rare find.”

The decoration suggests the building may have been more than just a base for soldiers.

Lindisfarne Castle opens to visitors on April 1.

The building work will take some time to dry out, so the castle will be unfurnished for visitors.

Construction began in 1550 and it underwent significant changes over the next two centuries and was used as a fort until the mid-1800s.

It fell into disrepair by the start of the 20th Century until Country Life owner Edward Hudson commissioned architect Edwin Lutyens to develop it into a stately home.

It passed to the National Trust in 1944.