Monument record MWX646 - Original site of Clavell Tower, Hen Cliff, Kimmeridge

The original site of a folly built in 1820 by Revd John Richards. The tower was threatened by coastal erosion and therefore relocated 25m inland in 2006. For Clavell Tower itself see MDO7719.

[NGD note 14-03-23: The following information from the NRHE-to-HER database covers the tower in its original location. Some of the information is therefore more relevant to the tower itself; which is record MDO7719.]

(SY 90897862) Clavell Tower (NAT) <1>

Clavell Tower, a folly of three storeys above a semi-basement, is circular in plan, of brick and rubble covered with stucco and with ashlar dressings. It was built by the Rev. John Richards, who assumed the name of Clavell on inheriting Smedmore in 1817, and died in 1833. <2>

Clavell Tower, a folly constructed c.1820. A circular tower of three storeys plus a semi-basement. In rather poor repair. RCHM Monument 2. <3>

As described by authorities <1-3>. Clavell Tower is now fenced round and in rather poor condition. The entablature of the colonnade is cracked and broken, half of the parapet has decayed and fallen and the lower windows have recently been given an internal blocking with brick to prevent ingress. Correctly shown on the OS 25" plan. <4>

The Clavell Tower was threatened by coastal erosion and therefore relocated 25m inland in 2006. The original site of the tower was digitally plotted from aerial photographs <5> during the South West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (Dorset).

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 1, 133-4 (Monograph). SDO148.

‘(2) 'CLAVEL TOWER' (909786), 'folly' (Plate 58), of three storeys above a semi-basement, is of brick and rubble covered with stucco and with ashlar dressings. It was built by the Rev. John Richards, who assumed the name of Clavell on inheriting Smedmore in 1817 and died in 1833 (Hutchins I, 571).
The tower is circular; the first stage is surrounded by a colonnade for which the basement forms a projecting podium; the upper stages are divided by a moulded string-course, and at the top is a cornice with mock machicolation and a parapet pierced with quatrefoils. The door and window openings are round-headed.’

<3> DOE (HRR), 1984, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: District of Purbeck amendment 1984, 2nd Oct 1984 61 (Scheduling record). SWX2829.

<4> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 23-APR-86 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<5> National Monuments Record, 19-AUG-1998, NMR 18134/08 (Aerial Photograph). SDO12882.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 456582 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 13 2024 10:14AM