Historic tower rebuilt brick-by-brick to save it from the sea » Environment » 24dash.com

An historic tower immortalised by novelists PD James and Thomas Hardy reopened today after it was rebuilt brick by brick to stop it falling in to the sea.

Clavell Tower was perched perilously close to the cliff edge at Kimmeridge Bay in Dorset and was at risk of a watery grave because of coastal erosion.

An 18-month project, costing £898,000, has seen the 1830 monument along the World Heritage Site dismantled by specialist builders with each of the 16,272 stones numbered and recorded.

The four-storey ruin was then rebuilt 82ft inland using as much original material as possible.

The final stone was placed on the tower in February and the Landmark Trust officially reopened the tower today ready for people to visit on Sunday and Monday between 10am and 4pm.

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."

The monument was built by the Rev John Richards Clavell in 1830 as an observatory and folly, with four storeys, including a basement, and a distinctive Tuscan colonnade.

It was used by the coastguards in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but then fell into disuse, becoming derelict after it was gutted by fire in the 1930s.

It was the inspiration behind crime writer PD James's novel The Black Tower and the author has backed the campaign to save the building, which is also known as the Tower of the Winds.

Writer Thomas Hardy often took his first love Eliza Nicholl to the Grade II-listed tower to court her and used an illustration of the landmark building opposite the title page in his Wessex Poems.

The Landmark Trust, leaseholder of the tower, launched an emergency appeal in 2004 to raise money to save the monument.

It secured a £436,700 Heritage Lottery Fund grant, raised other funds and obtained planning permission and listed building consent to carry out the work.

The restored building will finance its own upkeep as The Landmark Trust, a building preservation charity, plans to let it out for holidays from September this year.

It accommodates two people over four floors with a bathroom in the basement leading to a kitchen, double bedroom and sitting room on the top floor boasting 360 degree views of the surrounding coast and countryside.

The tower will also be available to visit by appointment and on public open days.

Adrian Tinniswood, chairman 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."