The Shot Tower survived the demolition of all the other buildings on the South Bank as part of the clearance for the Festival of Britain, and was included as part of the festival. The film can be found here on the British Pathe site, and shows the process which would have taken place within the South Bank Shot Tower. There was also one in Edmonton and a film was made using the Edmonton tower to show how lead shot was made within the tower. There were a number of shot towers across London, including one on the other side of Waterloo Bridge which I will show later in the post. It was a considerable brick construction, with 3 foot thick walls at the base of the tower, tapering to 18 inches at the top. A spiral staircase within the tower provided access to two galleries, one half way up from where molten lead was dropped to produce small lead shot, and a gallery at the top of the tower which was used for large lead shot.
The Shot Tower was designed by David Riddal Roper and stands 163 feet from ground level to the top gallery. The Shot Tower was built in 1826 for Thomas Maltby & Company, and in 1839 was taken over by Walker, Parker & Company, who would continue to operate at the site until closure in 1949. The purpose of the Shot Tower, and the process which gave its name to the tower, was the manufacture of lead shot for shotguns. The South Bank today, and the Shot Tower would have been just to the right and further back from the yellow concrete stairs, and the edge of the Queen Elizabeth Hall: The Shot Tower was just behind and to the left of the yellow stairs seen in the centre of the above photo. The same view in 2022 (although a bit too much of the Royal Festival Hall): The approach to Waterloo Bridge can just be seen on the left of the photo, and on the right would today be part of the Royal Festival Hall. The above photo was taken on Saturday 23rd August 1947, and shows the Shot Tower, and the buildings along the river. The majority of my father’s photos of the area were taken in the streets of the South Bank, however there is one that was taken from across the river featuring the Shot Tower, and part of the Thames foreshore between Waterloo Bridge and the site of the Festival Hall. I have written a number of posts about the South Bank, and the transformation of the area from industrial and terrace housing, via the Festival of Britain, to the place we see today with the Jubilee Gardens and Royal Festival Hall.
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