Chester Shot Tower, also known as Boughton Shot Tower, is a grade-II-listed shot tower located in the Boughton district of Chester, England. In a shot tower, lead is heated until molten, then dropped through a copper sieve high in the tower. The liquid lead forms tiny spherical balls by surface tension, and solidifies as it falls. The partially cooled balls are caught at the floor of the tower in a water-filled basin.
The tower stands beside the Shropshire Union Canal and forms part of the disused Chester Leadworks. Built by Walkers, Parker & Co. in 1799, the tower is the oldest of three remaining shot towers in the UK and probably the oldest such structure still standing in the world.
Lead is believed to have been exported at the port of Chester from lead mines in north-east Wales since the Roman period; later sites included Minera Lead Mines. The construction of the Chester Canal in the 1770s led to industrial development to the east of Chester, with the Walkers, Parker & Co. leadworks being established there in the late 18th century.
Music Credit The Barclay Brass - Jupiter composed by Gustav Holst.
