ONE of the most significant and largest castles in the county will soon be open to the public following a year of restoration work.

Snodhill Castle looks over the Golden Valley and due to decades of neglect had started to collapse and was lost from view.

After years of negotiation Historic England bought the castle and last year transferred the ownership to the newly established Snodhill Castle Preservation Trust (SCPT).

Thanks to a grant of £474,000 from Historic England, work to stabilise the castle walls and ensure they were standing for years to come started last November, with the project managed by SCPT.

The scaffolding has come down and it is hoped the public will be able to explore the grounds from spring.

Chairman of the trust, Garry Crook, said: "It has become apparent that Snodhill is one of the most important castles in Herefordshire which is a revelation to everyone.

"They didn't realise its significance. It is one of the largest castles in Herefordshire."

The castle, when it was intact would have covered 20 acres which Mr Crook said puts it on the same scale as Windsor Castle.

He added: "The keep is a 12-sided tower which is completely and entirely unique. I don't think there is anything else in the world like it."

Another interesting feature to the tower is a twin-turreted entrance.

The view from the castle looks down over a medieval landscape, as shown by the curved hedges which were shaped that way as a result of the ploughing technique they used.

There is also what appears to be an enormous north tower which would also be very unique as it would mean the castle had two keeps.

Next year the trust hopes to secure grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and other sources to carry out excavation work at the castle.

Mr Crook said: "There is so much more to discover. We don't know where the gate house is. How they got in, we don't know, despite all of the archaeology which happened this year."

He thinks it was probably built in 1068 and last occupied in the 16th or 17th century.

Historic England project team leader, Sarah Lewis, said: "The castle has been on our heritage at risk register since 1998. We have got a very high percentage of castles on the register compared to other parts of the country.

"We chose Snodhill because so little is known about it and it has never been excavated and there was also a really brilliant opportunity to work with a local community to establish a new trust."

The castle is near to Dorstone and Peterchurch. The restoration work has been done by Sally Strachey Historic Conservation.