Former Shot Tower, Passage Street, Bristol
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Former Shot Tower, Passage Street, Bristol by Stephen Richards as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Former Shot Tower, Passage Street, Bristol
Image: © Stephen Richards Taken: 21 May 2012
"A functional concrete structure treated as an aesthetic object, to great effect". By E.N. Underwood & Partners, 1968-69. Grade II listed. It was built for Sheldon Bush and Patent Shot Company. It used the method pioneered by William Watts in 1782, in which the descent of molten lead from the top caused it to form into spheres (with the help of a little arsenic or antimony) and harden by the time it fell into cold water at the bottom. This tower replaced Watts's original and remained in operation until the 1980s. The listing states that "it is a unique 20th century shot tower and one of only 3 shot towers of any period now surviving in England." Developers Hyland Properties have added the nifty colourful building at its foot and turned the whole thing into offices called Vertigo.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
51.453705
Longitude
-2.585979