The red-brick tower casting lead shots in Chester

The Chester Shot Tower, nicknamed the Boughton Shot Tower, is a grade II* listed edifice situated in the Boughton district of Chester, England. Established in 1799 by Walkers, Parker & Co, it is one of the oldest surviving shot towers in the UK, and quite possibly the oldest in the world. The brick tower, with its distinctive red hue, stands 168 feet (51 meters) tall and boasts a diameter of 30 feet (9.1 meters) at the base, narrowing to 20 feet (6.1 meters) at the top, featuring small arched windows.

In 2020, a lift shaft dating back to 1971 was dismantled; the interior still retains a spiral staircase and melting pots. Originally constructed to manufacture lead shot using the method pioneered by the Bristol inventor William Watts in the 1780s, molten lead would be poured through a perforated copper plate or sieve at the tower's peak, allowing the droplets to exhibit surface tension before they plummeted, forming perfect spheres during their descent. These spherical droplets would then be cooled in a vat of water at the base.

Its early uses include the production of lead shots for muskets during the Napoleonic Wars. Although other methods of making lead shots were invented during the 20th century, the Chester tower continued to serve its purpose as recently as 2001.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons