A MEDIEVAL tower built by one of King Henry VIII’s knights is being renovated.

Laughton Place, near Lewes, is currently owned by The Landmark Trust which restores historic buildings and then rents them out as holiday homes to fund their preservation.

The work is being carried out by the daring team from Skyjack who are using a cherry picker to access the hard-to-reach parapets of the countryside property so they can renovate the stonework.

Malcolm Early, vice-president of marketing at Skyjack, said the company is getting involved with the renovation as part of theirits 30 good causes scheme, where they carry it carries out jobs for free, to celebrate their its 30th anniversary.

He said: “Laughton Place is a historic place and traditionally the normal way to do it would be to use scaffolding. But that would require fixings to the building and as it is historic our aim is to minimise the impact by using this vehicle.”

Ed Percival, from The Landmark the trust, said: “It is a constant battle with the elements when dealing with an ancient tower like Laughton.

“The Skyjack cherrypicker allows us to take on urgent renovation, such as the external rendering work being carried out today, with minimal disruption to our guests. Laughton is one of our most popular landmarks and is cherished by the local community.”

The tower was built by landowner Sir William Pelham in 1534 and it is now all that survives of a fortified manor house which dates back to the 1200s.

From 1401 until 1927 the manor at Laughton was owned by the Pelham family, who controlled many great estates in Sussex. Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries it was their prime residence.

Sir William decided to carry out improvements on the estate and commissioned the construction of the tower which has inscriptions on its brickwork detailing the 1534 construction date.

The knight is believed to have been in the inner court circle of Henry VIII and was present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold where the Tudor monarch met the King of France.

Illustrations which were in the house show it to have been a large manor with a forecourt and gatehouse. The purpose of the now lone-standing tower is uncertain but representatives of The Landmark Trust suggest it may have been an outlook tower for overseeing the surrounding marshes.