I bought crumbling castle loved by royals for just £1 – it was a ‘romantic ruin’ until I could cut off the padlock

A MAN who brought a crumbling castle that was once fit for a king revealed how he bagged a royal’s paradise for just £1.

Martin Higgins, 60, from Brockham in Surrey, bought Betchworth Castle for cheap after the local council refused to restore it.

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He first went inside Betchworth Castle as a child, when local kids used to trespass around the grounds.

King Edward is said to have stayed at the castle before its posh Victorian owners deliberately let it fall into “romantic ruin”.

The government blocked the local council from pulling down the castle, which is surrounded by a golf course.

But the council refused to preserve it – so history fanatic Martin made them an ambitious offer.

He told the Guardian: “I said, ‘I’ll tell you what, I’ll buy it from you for £1 and do it myself.’

“I didn’t get the keys to the castle exactly, but I did get the key to a padlock for the railings around it.

“Locally, I’m known as the man who owns the castle; people like to drop it into conversation.

“I think they found the idea of buying one for £1 ridiculous, although they’re always complimentary about my endeavour.”

Betchworth Castle was in conservation deficit, where expected repair costs exceed market value – but handing council bosses a pound coin gave Martin official ownership of it.

He later admitted to his wife that he’d spent £29,000 of his own money on repairs including restored walls and window-frames.

Near the point of collapse when Martin bought it, the castle now attracts 28,000 visitors a year.

Martin said: “When I bought Betchworth, it was at the point of collapse and attracted 7,000 visitors a year. Last year, I estimate there were 28,000.”

It comes after the 600-year-old Middleton castle opened to the public for the first time.

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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk