CLIFFORD'S Tower will reopen to the public on Saturday after a £5 million project to conserve and transform the 800-year-old York landmark.

Staircases and hanging walkways have been created inside the tower's previously empty shell to take visitors 10 metres up to a new open roof deck.

From there, they can enjoy stunning 360 degree views of the York skyline - including the Minster, the Grand Hotel, the former Terry's factory and Holgate Windmill.

The hanging walkways also give access to hidden rooms for first time since the tower was gutted by fire in 1684, including a toilet built especially for Henry III.

Layers of background sound will also take visitors back in time, allowing them to experience the tower as it would have been at various periods in its long history.

Visitors can engage with five key moments in that history with the help of the voices of local residents who bring the stories of fictional characters to life, each representing different chapter in the tower’s past.

To improve access, additional handrails have been introduced to the steps up the mound on which the historic tower sits, and three resting points created.

Conservation work includes extensive repairs to stonework in the walls, turret stairs, arrow slits and fireplaces, which was damaged by fire more than 300 years ago and has since been exposed to the elements.

The chapel has also been re-roofed to enable the public to enter it again while carved heraldic plaques above the entrance, showing the coats of arms of Charles I and Henry Clifford, have also been conserved.

Jeremy Ashbee, Head Properties Curator at English Heritage, said the tower was one of England’s most important buildings, part of the centre of government for the North throughout the Middle Ages.

"We not only wanted to preserve this incredible building for generations to come, but also do justice to its fascinating and multi-faceted history," he said.

Kate Mavor, English Heritage’s Chief Executive, said the tower had been protected for future generations and people were being inspired to discover its stories.

A spokesperson said the new interior and roof deck was supported by four immense wooden columns, sitting on a raft foundation which spread the load without impacting on archaeological remains below.

"New interpretation will help place the tower in the context of both the historic York Castle and the city of York itself as well as introducing visitors to the tower’s long and turbulent history.

"Visitors can explore the castle’s founding by William the Conqueror, the tower’s role as the site of the tragic 1190 massacre and suicide of York’s Jewish community – one of the worst anti-Semitic episodes in English history – and the role of the castle as both a medieval royal stronghold and a garrison during the Civil War.

"A map and a timeline at the base of the mound provide interpretation while also at street level, English Heritage staff will greet visitors at a new Piaggio, a three-wheeled vehicle, providing information, tickets and guidebooks."