Introduction to Shot Towers
Shot towers.
Shot towers are buildings designed to manufacture lead balls or lead pellets for muskets, grapeshots, and cartridges for hunting rifles and shotguns.
The Invention of Shot Towers
The process was invented by William Watts of Bristol, England, and patented in 1782. Molten lead would be brought to the top of the tower and poured through a sieve. The lead drops would acquire a perfectly round shape while falling (due to surface tension). The balls start to solidify while falling. The fall is stopped by a water basin at the bottom of the tower. The water finishes the cooling down process.
Popularity and Industrial Use
The process was popular from the Napoleonic Era through to the Civil War and Victorian Era as this was the easiest way to produce shots on an industrial scale, back then!
Many of those towers in the UK and US were demolished as they fell into disuse but several have survived and are classed as listed/protected buildings.
Surviving Shot Towers
The one in Bristol (UK) was built as late as in 1969!
– RBM
