Redcliffe Shot Tower

The Redcliffe Shot Tower was a cylindrical industrial structure with an above-ground tower and underground shaft designed for lead shot manufacturing. The building combined vertical space with gravity-fed production methods to create ammunition on a significant scale.

William Watts created the world's first shot tower in 1782 by converting his house near St Mary Redcliffe Church into a manufacturing facility. This breakthrough technique later spread globally, establishing Bristol as a center of innovation in ammunition production.

The tower showed how Bristol grew as an industrial city and brought manufacturing closer to the center of town. People who lived nearby watched a new kind of work transform their neighborhood.

The structure occupied a prominent position at the corner of Redcliffe Hill and Redcliffe Parade for nearly 2 centuries before its removal. Visitors interested in its location today can refer to historical maps and photographs to understand where it once stood in relation to nearby landmarks.

The production method was elegantly simple yet remarkably effective: molten lead was dropped through zinc plates from great height and solidified into perfectly spherical shot during its descent. This gravity-powered approach proved so successful that foundries worldwide eventually adopted the same basic principle.

Location: Redcliffe

Inception: 1782

GPS coordinates: 51.44830,-2.59060

Latest update: December 12, 2025 12:01