A DORSET landmark that was moved brick-by-brick 25 metres back from a cliff edge has won a prestigious award.

The Clavell Tower at Kimmeridge was given the building conservation trophy at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) South West Awards.

Port Regis School near Shaftesbury was highly commended in the sustainability category.

The Clavell Tower, a Grade II listed historic landmark, was recognised for the work undertaken to restore it.

Built in the 1830s as an observatory and folly, the crumbling tower was in danger of falling off the cliffs at Kimmeridge.

Thanks to a project by the Landmark Trust and Heritage Lottery Fund, the tower was dismantled and rebuilt 25m back from the cliff edge, being fully restored in the process.

It took two years to carry out the work, which saw each brick placed into the exact position it had been originally in, and the tower reopened last year.

James Gregory, RICS South West regional chairman, said: “These awards are hotly contested each year and 2009 saw a particularly strong entry from across the region, so the achievements of these two Dorset developments are all the more impressive.

“The awards are a tremendous endorsement of the work of all those involved in bringing the projects to life.”

Port Regis School was recognised for its JM Upward Academic Centre, which is made up of 14 classrooms, plus staff and ICT facilities and meeting and function rooms.

The project, which is named after a previous headmaster, started in 2007 and opened in September 2008.

As a category winner, the Clavell Tower will now go forward to the national RICS awards, the winners of which will be announced in October.