Cheese Lane Shot Tower

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Coordinates: 51°27′13″N 2°35′09″W / 51.453720°N 2.585744°W / 51.453720; -2.585744
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Cheese Lane Shot Tower
The tower and office development
Map
General information
TypeShot tower
LocationBristol, England
Coordinates51°27′13″N 2°35′09″W / 51.453720°N 2.585744°W / 51.453720; -2.585744
Completed1969
Height142 feet (43 m)

The Cheese Lane Shot Tower is a grade II listed shot tower in the English city of Bristol. 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 upstream of Castle Park. There is no public access to the interior of the tower.[1][2]

History

The

lead shot. 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.[1][2][3]

The current tower was designed as a replacement by

cotton bud. 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.[1][2]

The tower is 142 feet (43 m) tall, giving a drop distance for the lead shot from the crucible room of 120 feet (37 m). The crucible room has a diameter of 24 feet (7.3 m) and originally housed a gas fired cast iron cauldron, for melting the lead ingots. A lift 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.[2]

Use of lead shot subsequently declined due to environmental concerns, and the

board room by the owners.[2][4] 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.[5]

  • The shot tower from above
    The shot tower from above
  • The shot tower from the harbour
    The shot tower from the harbour

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cheese Lane Shot Tower.
  1. ^ a b c Historic England. "Sheldon Bush and Patent Shot Company Limited, Cheese Lane, Bristol (1059030)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e Efstathios, Tsolis (10 March 2007). "An Awkward thing" (PDF). University of Bristol. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  3. ^ "Lead Working in Bristol". brisray.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  4. ^ Historic England. "Sheldon Bush and Patent Shot Company Limited (1059030)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  5. ^ "Home: The Workforce Development Trust group, Our Passion, Your People". The Workforce Development Trust. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
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