Wall paintings dating back hundreds of years have been found during a £3 million 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.
National Trust conservator John Wynn-Griffiths said: “This is such an exciting and rare find.
“We are always extremely careful when peeling back layers of history but we did not expect to find these paintings at all.”
Mr Wynn-Griffiths said the surviving paintings were not in the best condition, were professionally done and were found in different parts of the castle, indicating a more extensive decorative scheme.
Lindisfarne Castle opens to visitors on April 1 after the restoration and a section of the newly found paintings in the kitchen will be visible.
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.