A CASTLE is celebrating its 600th anniversary in the middle of a multi-million pound renovation.

Grade II-listed Witton Castle, at Witton-le- Wear, was licensed by the Bishop of Durham in 1410.

It was once owned by Lord Lambton, the fifth Earl of Durham, a former Tory MP and Under-Secretary for Defence.

Two years ago the castle and its 338-acre country park was bought by the Shorewood Leisure Group which aims to make it one of the North’s top tourist destinations.

It recently completed the £1.5m first phase of an upgrade which involved botanist David Bellamy helping to create nature trails.

Castle View, a new holiday area, was also created.

It has fully serviced pitches for 100 holiday homes – either log cabins or static caravans – with car parking and landscaping.

Other improvements included a new written history of the castle which was burned down twice and re-built in the 19th century; redecorating parts of the building; and agreeing to improve trout fishing in the 21 acres of lakes operated by Bishop Auckland District Angling Club.

Work on the £1m second phase has now begun. It includes a further 100 pitches in a woodland setting, which should be completed by the end of the year.

Shorewood leisure has planning permission to increase capacity to 475 holiday homes and 186 touring caravans. It plans to spend £1m a year to achieve capacity by 2013.

The company is one of Yorkshire’s biggest leisure and tourism operators.