Clavell Tower
Encyclopedia
Clavell Tower, also known as Clavell Folly or the Kimmeridge Tower, is a Grade II listed Tuscan
style tower built in 1830. It lies on the Jurassic Coast
, on the top of Hen Cliff
just east of Kimmeridge Bay in the Isle of Purbeck
in Dorset
, England
.
and folly
. The Reverend John Richards had changed his name to John Richards Clavell after inheriting the estate in 1817.
The tower is about 35 feet (10.7 m) high and rises over what is known as Hen Cliff which rises about 330 feet (100.6 m) above the sea. The main tower is constructed of mortared selected stone and the windows are formed from brick. The ground floor is surrounded by Tuscan colonnade
and the roof has a parapet
built in stone. In total the tower has four floors; a stone ground floor, a wooden first, a wooden second and a wooden third floor. The tower is surmounted upon a shallow stone basement. Evidence suggests there were fireplaces within the ground floor which indicated the tower was intended to be occupied throughout the year. However, access to the first and second floors would have been accessible solely via a ladder.
Thomas Hardy
, the novelist, often took his first love Eliza Nicholl to Clavell Tower. He used an illustration of it in his Wessex Poems. The local Coastguards used it as a lookout until the 1930s, when it was gutted by fire. The desolate condition of Clavell Tower was the inspiration behind Baroness P. D. James
's prize winning 1975 novel The Black Tower
. The tower was used by Anglia Television
as a principal location in their six part adaptation of the story starring Roy Marsden
in 1985, and featured in the music video for The Style Council
's 1985 single Boy Who Cried Wolf.
Clavell Tower is owned by The Landmark Trust
. The turret above Kimmeridge Bay was threatened by shoreline erosion and was in imminent danger of toppling into the ocean below. The Landmark Trust have moved the tower 25 metres land inwards, away from the crumbling cliff top.
It was rebuilt to be suitable for letting. Work started on 5 September 2006. The relocation project cost nearly £900,000. Each of the tower's 16,272 stones was removed, numbered and photographed by engineers and specialist builders, before being reassembled slightly inland. The interior was renovated so that it can be used as a holiday home. The final stone was replaced onto the tower on 25 February 2008 in a traditional topping-out ceremony. The tower used 298 new carved stones, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of pipes and cables, 10 tons of render on the walls, 1,344 bags of lime and about 100 tons of sand.
The building preservation charity hopes that the tower's maintenance will be paid for by rental income from holidaymakers. The monument accommodates two people. The living room on the top floor has a 360-degree view of the surrounding coast and countryside.
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
style tower built in 1830. It lies on the Jurassic Coast
Jurassic Coast
The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. The site stretches from Orcombe Point near Exmouth in East Devon to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage in East Dorset, a distance of ....
, on the top of Hen Cliff
Hen Cliff
Hen Cliff is part of the Jurassic Coast near Kimmeridge in the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, England. It runs from the eastern end of Kimmeridge Bay east to an area called Cuddle. The cliffs consist of ledges of dolomite interspersed with thicker units of shale. Rockfalls are common and dangerous...
just east of Kimmeridge Bay in the Isle of Purbeck
Isle of Purbeck
The Isle of Purbeck, not a true island but a peninsula, is in the county of Dorset, England. It is bordered by the English Channel to the south and east, where steep cliffs fall to the sea; and by the marshy lands of the River Frome and Poole Harbour to the north. Its western boundary is less well...
in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
History
Clavell Tower was built in about 1830 by Reverend John Richards Clavell of Smedmore House as an observatoryObservatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
and folly
Folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...
. The Reverend John Richards had changed his name to John Richards Clavell after inheriting the estate in 1817.
The tower is about 35 feet (10.7 m) high and rises over what is known as Hen Cliff which rises about 330 feet (100.6 m) above the sea. The main tower is constructed of mortared selected stone and the windows are formed from brick. The ground floor is surrounded by Tuscan colonnade
Colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building....
and the roof has a parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
built in stone. In total the tower has four floors; a stone ground floor, a wooden first, a wooden second and a wooden third floor. The tower is surmounted upon a shallow stone basement. Evidence suggests there were fireplaces within the ground floor which indicated the tower was intended to be occupied throughout the year. However, access to the first and second floors would have been accessible solely via a ladder.
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
, the novelist, often took his first love Eliza Nicholl to Clavell Tower. He used an illustration of it in his Wessex Poems. The local Coastguards used it as a lookout until the 1930s, when it was gutted by fire. The desolate condition of Clavell Tower was the inspiration behind Baroness P. D. James
P. D. James
Phyllis Dorothy James, Baroness James of Holland Park, OBE, FRSA, FRSL , commonly known as P. D. James, is an English crime writer and Conservative life peer in the House of Lords, most famous for a series of detective novels starring policeman and poet Adam Dalgliesh.-Life and career:James...
's prize winning 1975 novel The Black Tower
The Black Tower
The Black Tower is an Adam Dalgliesh novel by P.D. James, published in 1975.-Plot outline:"Adam Dalgliesh, convalescing after a severe illness, arrives at Toynton Grange , the rest home for the young disabled, just too late to find out why his old friend Father Baddeley had sent for him...
. The tower was used by Anglia Television
Anglia Television
Anglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional...
as a principal location in their six part adaptation of the story starring Roy Marsden
Roy Marsden
Roy Marsden is an English actor, who is probably best known for his portrayal of Adam Dalgliesh in the Anglia Television dramatisations of P. D. James's detective novels.- Education :...
in 1985, and featured in the music video for The Style Council
The Style Council
The Style Council were an English band, formed in 1983 by the ex-The Jam singer and guitarist Paul Weller, with keyboardist Mick Talbot. The permanent line-up grew to include drummer Steve White and Weller's then-wife, vocalist Dee C. Lee. Other artists such as Tracie Young and Tracey Thorn also...
's 1985 single Boy Who Cried Wolf.
Relocation
Landmark Trust
The Landmark Trust is a British building conservation charity, founded in 1965 by Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or architectural merit and then gives them a new life by making them available for holiday rental...
. The turret above Kimmeridge Bay was threatened by shoreline erosion and was in imminent danger of toppling into the ocean below. The Landmark Trust have moved the tower 25 metres land inwards, away from the crumbling cliff top.
It was rebuilt to be suitable for letting. Work started on 5 September 2006. The relocation project cost nearly £900,000. Each of the tower's 16,272 stones was removed, numbered and photographed by engineers and specialist builders, before being reassembled slightly inland. The interior was renovated so that it can be used as a holiday home. The final stone was replaced onto the tower on 25 February 2008 in a traditional topping-out ceremony. The tower used 298 new carved stones, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of pipes and cables, 10 tons of render on the walls, 1,344 bags of lime and about 100 tons of sand.
The building preservation charity hopes that the tower's maintenance will be paid for by rental income from holidaymakers. The monument accommodates two people. The living room on the top floor has a 360-degree view of the surrounding coast and countryside.