Image:Shot.tower.bristol.arp.jpg

The Shot Tower, Bristol, England, from a tethered passenger balloon at 500 feet.
The original shot tower (it has now been demolished) was the first in the world, built in 1782 at Cheese Lane in central Bristol. The Bristol inventor of the technique of making shot said the tower was for "making small shot perfectly globular in form and without dimples, notches and imperfections which other shot hereto manufactured usually have on their surface”

It was demolished in 1968 for road widening and immediately replaced with the 140 foot concrete tower in the picture. Production of lead shot continued until 1995 but has now stopped, and the tower is gradually being surrounded by new offices, with an office at the very top of the tower.

The "river" in the picture is an artificial channel called the Floating Harbour. The River Avon flows through Bristol but is tidal and muddy, so a new channel, controlled by locks, was dug through the central part of the city and part of the river water diverted through it. At the shot tower location the River Avon is about 0.3 miles distant.

Photographed by Adrian Pingstone in July 2005 and released to the public domain.

This image has been released into the public domain by its author, Arpingstone. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: Arpingstone grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law. العربية | Български | Deutsch | Ελληνικά | English | Español | Français | Italiano | 日本語 | 한국어 | Polski | Русский | Српски / Srpski | Svenska | தமிழ் | Українська | ‪中文(繁體)‬ | ‪中文(简体)‬  +/-

• Shot tower