Bristol 21 years ago – Sheldon Bush Shot Tower
Sheldon Bush Lead and Shot Works / Vertigo
| Date | 30 May 2011 | ||
| Location | Cheese Lane, Bristol | ST 59425 72929; 51.45387°N, 2.58533°W | |
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This 43 m reinforced concrete tower was used to manufacture lead shot for sport ammunition using a process patented by William Watts in 1782. Molten lead was poured through a colander at the top of the tower and was collected in a tank of cold water at the bottom, the drops having formed into spheres and hardened during the intervening descent. Arsenic or antimony (1-2%) was added to the lead in the crucible, as the resulting alloy formed globules more readily than pure lead. Watts, a plumber by trade, lived directly opposite St Mary Redcliffe church. After some initial experimentation Watts converted an existing late 17th century house on Redcliff Hill by building a tower on the roof. Production from this shot-house was a great success and Watts later sold the business and the patent. Ultimately, however, he was declared bankrupt, losing his fortune through disastrous property speculation ventures. The business changed owners serveral times and in 1868 was aquired by Sheldon, Bush and Patent Shot Company. The original shot tower was demolished in 1968 when Redcliff Hill road was widened. The replacement tower in Cheese Lane was built at the same time and was in operation until the late 1980s. The business was sold to British Lead Mills in 1990 and later to a subsidiary of Shell UK. In 2002 the site was acquired by developers Hyland Properties. From 1990 onwards various proposals for redevelopment were submitted, including an initial one, for which outline permission was granted, of demolishing the tower and building a five-storey office block. However, the tower was listed (Grade II) in 1995. It is one of only three surviving shot towers in England. At the end of 2005 Hyland completed its scheme, creating a three-storey, glass-fronted office complex overlooking the Floating Harbour and converting the tower to a ‘boardroom in the sky’. The new office accommodation, known as Vertigo, currently has 2,228 sq ft of office space on the top floor left to let. Sheldon Bush & Patent Shot Co. Ltd. (English Heritage, Listed Buildings);
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Sheldon Bush and Patent Shot Co. Lead and Shot Works in 1990
Vertigo, over the Floating Harbour from Temple Back
Vertigo, Cheese Lane
Vertigo, Cheese Lane
Great post. It’s nice to see how some things change over time and others stay the same.
Rufus' Food and Spirits Guide
June 4, 2011 at 8:26 pm
That’s an interesting re-use of an industrial facility, most places are just wiped away from the landscape once they’re finished with.
andy
June 5, 2011 at 7:49 am
Interesting that the nondescript architecture surrounding the tower today looks similar to the “revitalised” area of the canal in Chester near the shot tower there. Good to see a modern version of the old principle, and that it hasn’t just been knocked down.
Iain
June 5, 2011 at 8:58 am
[...] lift shaft, added in 1971. Lead shot was manufactured using the process developed by Bristolian William Watts, in which lead is poured through a sieve at the top of the tower, forms into spherical droplets [...]
Chester Shot Tower « GeoTopoi
October 4, 2011 at 8:02 pm
Yes i worked there in the eighties! There are so many processes that go unmentioned, or not documented, especially in the industrial museum Bristol.
They state that the size of the shot that was dropped was determined by the height of the drop…….absolute rubbish may i add!
It was determined by carefully pinned out frying pan style ‘pans’ of different sizes, No’s 1, 2. 3, 4, 5. 6, 7, 8 and 9. All other shot were machined stamped from produced lengths of lead, these were sizes AA, BB, SSG AND SG sizes, then sent to a Co named Dinsmores who added a groove in them to make split shot for fishing.
If there’s anything you would like to know about this once fascinating building then please do not hesitate to contact me on billiards147@hotmail.co.uk……or facebook…Dennis Tiley.
Dennis Tiley
December 16, 2011 at 12:28 am
Thanks very much, Dennis, for your insights into production processes!
Graham Stephen
December 16, 2011 at 8:15 am
Thanks Dennis you are quite right,having worked (contracting) at sheldon bush for several months in the early eighties, i was fortunate to see the cast iron frying pans being prepared and used in the production of the lead shot.
We were there to install a new rolling mill and beds and then refurbish the old, marine engine driven rolling mill to “modern” standards.
I spent many a happy hour up the tower watching the lads pour molten lead into the pans held over a small opening to the drop to the water tank below
Mick Marshall
January 15, 2012 at 2:57 pm
I was there between 87-92, untill they made people redundant, one of the best jobs i ever had, really miss the people there, happy days…
SIMON WHITEWAY
October 3, 2012 at 11:30 am