Tower 60 had coastguard occupants from the 1840's and later housed the chief boatman. Declared safe from the sea in 1873, Tower 60 has never been in danger from coastal erosion. At some point during the 19th century, the War Office took action against encroachment onto the land around the tower, but to save the expense of a court hearing, they decided to move one of the boundary stones that marked out the land around the tower.
The tower was recorded in 1886 as being owned by the War Office and occupied by the Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers. The value of the acre of land around the tower was valued by Eastbourne Rural District Council at 3 pounds, 7 shillings and sixpence.
By 1900, the land surrounding Tower 60 and its neighbour, 61, had been bought by Val Prinsep RA. Leyland Road, in which the tower stands, was named after Prinsep's wife, Florence Leyland.
In a key position in Pevensey, the tower was not occupied during World War Two, and so did not receive an extra concrete roof. As the floor had rotted and collapsed by the time neighbouring towers were taken over by the Canadian Army in 1940, it was difficult to be able to span the gap from the door to the staircase.
It was not until work was being carried out in the tower in 1955 that the first person within living memory actually reached the roof. The Cannon had been dismounted from its carriage, which was said to have been in good condition, but was subsequently sawn up and disposed of, according to the April 1955 Sussex County Magazine.
The tower seems to have stood derelict until 1959, when it became an observation post for the Royal Observer Corps, who were detailed to report sightings of hostile jet aircraft. The Chief Observer of the post was the appropriately-named Mr. L.H. Cannon! A set of bricksteps was built up to the door, and a bridge constructed inside from the door to the stairs, due to the missing floor. The Eastbourne Herald Chronicle of January 10, 1959, stated that the Observer Corps would be willing to talk business should anyone want a used 32-pounder cannon!
The Observer Corps probably vacated the tower at some point during the 1970's-80's, when it was purchased in 1984 for £22,000 and renovated for the next two years to become a residence. The 32-pounder cannon cast at Carron in 1829, mounted in 1830, was dismounted when the tower was converted for residential use. It may be one of a pair that are mounted in the nearby Cannon Camping Park. To create more floorspace on the roof, the firing step and central pivot were removed from the roof, and a new roof with windows added. New windows were knocked into the walls. Tower 60 was put up for sale in 1998 for £270,000.
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