THIS highly unusual image shows one of the North-East’s most recognisable landmarks in a whole new light.

Photographer Charlotte Graham took the picture through a lens ball, which creates images through the technique of refraction.

It is part of a series of pictures taken by her showing the castle, on the Northumberland coast, at sunrise and moon set.

The castle, a Grade I listed building, was originally the location of a Celtic Brittonic fort known as Din Guarie and may have been the capital of the kingdom of Bernicia from its foundation between about 420 and 547.

After passing between the Britons and the Anglo-Saxons three times, the fort came under Anglo-Saxon control in 590. The fort was destroyed by Vikings in 993, and the Normans later built a new castle on the site. After a revolt in 1095 supported by the castle’s owner, it became the property of the English monarch.

In the 17th century, financial difficulties led to the castle deteriorating, but it was restored by various owners during the 18th and 19th centuries.

It was finally bought by the Victorian era industrialist William Armstrong, who completed its restoration. The castle still belongs to the Armstrong family and is open to the public.