There is a fence and gate to deter the walkers from clambering all over the place but that hasn't stopped some. One visitor wrote in the guest book: "I was having a pee when a nose was pressed up against the window. It was the fright of my life - for him too."

The windows face north, south, east and west. But there are no curtains in the bedroom, and 70mph winds from the south west lashed Clavell at night, the heightened senses augmented by the flashes of light from Portland Bill lighthouse 30 miles away.

There is a colossal sense of place and being. How the Reverend John Richards Clavell of Smedmore, who built the Tower, must have loved using it to write or paint. We walked - not far - in the direction of the famed Square and Compass pub and New Inn. It's also an easy walk to the ghost village of Tyneham.

The early visitors had recorded sightings of stoats and peregrines, and I got up early to watch a furious sunrise spraying the sky orange towards the Isle of Wight. I had the place to myself and thanked the Landmark Trust for being bothered to save Clavell.

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10 OUTRAGEOUS PLACES TO STAY IN BRITAIN

1. Clavell Tower, Dorset - book through The Landmark Trust. Available to rent for a week or three nights - it is already booked up until February, 2009.

2. Jura Lodge, Isle of Jura, Scotland - extraordinary redesign of six-bedroomed distillery lodge, a fusion of American-French fasion in a riot of antlers and leather - book direct through Jura Lodge

3. Martello Tower, Aldeburgh, Suffolk - built to resist Napeolonic invasion, I stayed in this Landmark Trust property right on the coastline for a wedding. It was a weekend in February but we still had to book months in advance to secure the property. And it was a great success, becoming party central on the open roof for two nights.

4. Burnham High Lighthouse, Burnham on Sea, Somerset - It stretches over eight floors, with a lantern room at the top that is reached by a very steep wooden staircase. Sleeps six, outstanding breakfast table views at the top. Weekends from £699, a week from £1,349 - book through lighthouseholiday.com. More lighthouses for rent from Rural Retreats.

5. The Summer House, Eyton-on-Severn, Shropshire - an octagonal Jacobean banqueting house, completely detached, all that remains of Eyton Hall in the Shropshire countryside. Sleeps two - from £590 a week, £335 for a short break through The Vivat Trust.

6. Pavilion Cottage, Osborne House, Isle of Wight - the old cricket pavilion - have the grounds to yourself, plus access to Victoria's beach, after the visitors are locked out. Book through English Heritage - it sleeps four with prices from £395 for three nights and £760 for a week.

7. The Pineapple, Dunmore, Scotland - a two storey summerhouse of enormous eccentricity, the dome literally built of stone in the shape of a pineapple - three, four or seven nights from £367. Book through The Landmark Trust.

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