The Landmark Trust was very specific in its instructions for getting to the Clavell Tower.

Access is by foot only via a "very steep, exposed coastal path," warned the booking confirmation. We were strongly advised to use rucksacks, not suitcases, and "stout" footwear should be worn.

Check, check and check again. But we inexplicably forgot the "essential" two torches, and so arrived in Dorset in the pitch dark in a howling gale and climbed the very steep path by the light of a silvery mobile phone.

The Trust isn't joking. Clavell Tower sits magnificently alone 150ft on top of the cliffs near Kimmeridge Bay and right on the South West Coast Path.

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It used to be even nearer the cliffs. Built in 1831 as an observatory by the landowner, the cliff erosion had been so severe that the tower was liable to topple into the sea.

But it has such a presence that PD James was inspired to write The Black Tower. Hardy also wrote about Clavell. It became a coastguard lookout and sailors use it as a navigation landmark.

A campaign to save the tower was started in 2001 and eventually the Landmark Trust stepped in as lead partner, dismantled the tower and completely rebuilt it - all 16,000 pieces - over two years several metres inland.

The Trust found part of one column locally being used as a bird bath. The balustrade had almost completely disappeared.

Building regulations stipulated wider stairs and an insulated roof. But it is as close to the orginal plans as possible, including no rail on the open walkway around the tower. How satisfying.

As you'd expect, the renovation is exemplary, the missing stones replaced by matching Portland stone. It was an extraordinary task. And what is even spectacular is that since September, 2008, the Trust has begun letting out the Tower to visitors.

I jumped in early, paid £362 for three nights, and arrived with my wife on a late November evening. Only two can stay at a time, and four (plus dog) can just about squeeze around the kitchen table. Circular, of course.

The bathroom is downstairs, then the kitchen, bedroom and living room on the three floors above, linked by a circular staircase.

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