To celebrate the completion of the newly restored Clavell Tower at Kimmeridge Bay it will be open to the public on Sunday 31 August and Monday 1 September between 10am and 4pm.

The Landmark Trust started to dismantle the historic Grade II listed folly in September 2006 and has since rebuilt it 25 metres back from the eroding cliff edge. It will now be available as a place to stay and visit.

Peter Pearce, Director at the Landmark Trust, said, “This is an exciting day for the Landmark Trust and for Kimmeridge Bay. The tower’s future is secure and it can now resume its role as sentinel on this stretch of coastline, its familiar silhouette will continue to welcome the many thousands of people who visit and walk in Kimmeridge Bay each year. Our grateful thanks go to everyone who has supported this project - the Heritage Lottery Fund, our generous donors, the local media, the Smedmore estate and local residents, the contractors and everyone who backed the campaign the save the tower.”

The project has cost £898,000 which was raised through generous grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Country Houses Foundation and Dorset County Council as well as many private individuals and grant making trusts.

Adrian Tinniswood, Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s South West committee, said “The Clavell Tower defines the local landscape and coastline. We at the Heritage Lottery Fund are proud to have helped to save this iconic building for future generations to enjoy. At the same time, this project has created opportunities for local communities and young people to be involved in the preservation work and to be able to access and learn about this wonderful heritage asset.”

In 2006 the tower was in imminent danger of being lost forever. By moving it 25 metres inland it has remained within the historic landscape of the World Heritage Site and it will be safe from further coastal erosion for the foreseeable future.

From 2 September it will join the Landmark Trust’s 187 other historic buildings that are let for short stays and its rental income will pay for its future on-going maintenance. The accommodation for two people is arranged over four floors - a bathroom in the basement leading to a kitchen, double bedroom and finally a sitting room on the top floor with 360° views of the surrounding coast and countryside. The tower will also be available to visit by appointment and on public open days and information boards about the tower are on display in the area.

Clavell Tower was built in 1830 by Reverend John Richards Clavell of Smedmore as an observatory and folly. It was designed by Robert Vining with four storeys, twelve columns and two decorative parapets. The stone used in the tower’s construction was quarried locally, some even from the estate and around Kimmeridge Bay.

It was used by the coastguards in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but then fell into disuse, became derelict by the 1930s and has remained so ever since. Also known as the Tower of the Winds, it has a special place in literary history. Thomas Hardy often took his first love, Eliza Nicholl, there and used it as a frontispiece for his Wessex Poems. The Tower was also the inspiration for PD James’ novel, The Black Tower.