The Cheese Lane Shot Tower is a
grade II listed shot tower
A shot tower is a tower designed for the production of small-diameter shot balls by free fall of molten lead, which is then caught in a water basin. The shot is primarily used for projectiles in shotguns, and for ballast, radiation shielding, ...
in the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
city of
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. It was built in 1969, and was a replacement for an earlier shot tower, the very first such tower ever built. It now forms part of an office development called Vertigo, and is located on the north bank of the
Floating Harbour
Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of . It is the former natural tidal river Avon through the city but was made into its current form in 1809 when the tide was prevented from going out perm ...
upstream of
Castle Park. There is no public access to the interior of the tower.
History
The
original tower was built in 1782, in the Bristol suburb of
Redcliffe, by
William Watts, who is credited with the invention of the tower process for the manufacture of
lead shot
Shot is a collective term for small spheres or pellets, often made of lead. These were the original projectiles for shotguns and are still fired primarily from shotguns and less commonly from riot guns and grenade launchers, although shot shell ...
. It was the progenitor of many similar towers built around the world, and survived various changes of ownership until it was taken over by the Sheldon Bush and Patent Shot Company Limited in 1868. It continued in use under their ownership until 1968, when it was demolished as part of a road widening scheme.
cotton bud
Cotton is a soft, fluffy Staple (textiles), staple fiber that grows in a wikt:boll, boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose ...
. It is the last such tower to be built, one of the few to be built in the 20th century, and one of only three to survive in England. It received the Civic Design Award from the Bristol Civic Society for the year 1969.[
The tower is tall, giving a drop distance for the lead shot from the crucible room of . The crucible room has a diameter of and originally housed a gas fired ]cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...
cauldron
A cauldron (or caldron) is a large pot ( kettle) for cooking or boiling over an open fire, with a lid and frequently with an arc-shaped hanger and/or integral handles or feet. There is a rich history of cauldron lore in religion, mythology, and ...
, for melting the lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
ingot
An ingot is a piece of relatively pure material, usually metal, that is cast into a shape suitable for further processing. In steelmaking, it is the first step among semi-finished casting products. Ingots usually require a second procedure of sha ...
s. A lift
Lift or LIFT may refer to:
Physical devices
* Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods
** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop
** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobil ...
provided access to the crucible room for both personnel and ingots, along with an emergency staircase. The lead shot fell into a tank of cooling water at the foot of the tower, and were transferred by a conveyor belt to hoppers in the roof of the processing building.[
Use of lead shot subsequently declined due to environmental concerns, and the Bliemeister method of shot production largely replaced the use of shot towers for the remaining production. Use of the current tower for its original purpose ceased in the late 1980s, whilst use of the site for manufacturing ceased in 1994. Demolition of the tower was originally proposed, but in 1995 it was scheduled for preservation by ]English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
, with a grade II listing. Plans were made to incorporate the tower as the centrepiece of a new office development, and this came to fruition in 2005 when the tower was incorporated in the new Vertigo office development. It has been fully refurbished, and the upper level is currently used as a board room by the owners.[ The current owners of the building are the not-for-profit organisation The Workforce Development Trust, incorporating Skills for Health, Skills for Justice, SFJ Awards and People 1st International.]
References
{{reflist
Grade II listed buildings in Bristol
Shot towers
Towers completed in 1969
Towers in Bristol
Listed towers in the United Kingdom