WDA Aim(ing) Hi(gh)

October 26, 2018

“High” from Vertigo - The Shot tower …………… Wotton Donoghue Architects have been appointed to assist with the sensitive refurbishment of the Grade 2 Listed Shot Tower, an historic landmark building at Cheese Lane in Bristol’s “Old Quarter”.

Did you know lead shot was invented in Bristol?

In 1782 Bristol plumber William Watts realised that dropping molten lead from a great height created a perfectly spherical shot. Watts built the world’s first shot tower in his house on Redcliffe Hill. The original tower was demolished in 1969 to make way for the Redcliffe Hill road widening works.

The iconic Shot Tower is 43 m (142 feet) tall and was designed by E.N.Underwood and Partners, for the Sheldon Bush and Patent Shot Company Limited. The structure is of reinforced concrete, with a twelve sided crucible room at the top. It is the last Shot Tower of its type to be built & one of the few to be built in the 20th century, and one of only three to survive in England.

The tower ceased production in the late 1980's, in 1995 it was scheduled for preservation by English Heritage, with a grade II listing.

The Tower & its lower level footprint have been sensitively re-modeled &converted to Grade A office space, the tower forms the heart of the office accommodation facilitating stunning panoramic views of the Bristol skyline.

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