Know Before You Go
You can find the shot tower at coordinates 42degrees,57'28.53"S 147degrees 20'14.39"E. Parking is available at the cafe'/gift shop or a short ways up the hill.
Taroona Shot Tower is both the oldest and tallest shot tower in the Southern Hemisphere. It claims to be the tallest in the world, though that is disputed by Melbourne’s Clifton Hill Shot Tower.
Shot towers were the most common method of producing shot balls from the late 18th century to the 1960s. From the very top of the tower, workers would pour molten lead through a sieve. While falling through the empty tower, the lead would cool and form into perfectly round balls. These would land in a basin of water to be cooled further and solidify.
Taroona Shot Tower was built in 1870 by iron magnate Joseph Moir. The tower was constructed on his own property, Queenborough Glens. Moir had allowed visitors inside the tower early on, and that practice continues today. Sightseers are welcome to scale the 150+ foot tower (its exact height is unclear) and to visit the cafe and museum at its base.
Contributed by
Molly McBride Jacobson
Edited by
