One of the first objectives that the Axbridge Caving Group wished to fulfill was to locate the base of the demolished Lead Shot Tower that penetrated the caves from Redcliffe Hill. We thought that there may be some interesting Industrial artifacts in the infill.  I must stress that we only removed clay and slag infill and did not touch any of the natural rock

The dig started out quite large, enough to stand up in and wheel a wheelbarrow through. We gained about fifty feet of progress towards the tower; 120 feet are needed. Then the passage was dug to caver dimensions – just enough to squeeze through.

The dig progressed another 30 feet forward but then we reached an area of very shattered roof. It looked very dangerous. I only went there once. To continue with this dig we would need to drop the floor by about another four feet and shore up as we slowly progressed forward. The effort would be too much so reluctantly it was decided to abandon this dig, at least for now.

However we did find some interesting artifacts - a scoop used for filling the canvas sacks at the Shot Tower with the shot, a small crucible for pouring molten lead, much broken pottery, an ink pouring bottle and several bowls of old clay pipes.

ANOTHER DIG SITE

In 1996 members of the Axbridge Caving Group were excavating the clay infill from a small passage. We were then able to access three small chambers one of them having large amounts of writing on the walls. The earliest date that has been found is 1761 with the signature Joseph Coles next to it. Staff from Bristol Museum endured the crawl and confirmed the writing was genuine. 

One of the questions they asked us is have were touched the Pottery Dump (in another area of the caves). We replied no, we had told the Council we would not dig in that area. The Museum staff told us that the pottery dump was from a firm called Lowdins. Naturally my curiosity was aroused and a little research revealed all. Lowdins had a Glass Kiln near Redcliffe Wharf and as was the custom with most glassmakers that they sometimes fired glass and others pottery. In 1748 Lowdins experimented and discovered the secret of making soft past porcelain. The made two types of wares sauceboats and two styles of blue and white Chinese figures. Referring to my antique book told me why we were requested not to dig in the potter dump. Only 50 of Lowdins items have ever been in auction, the sauceboats are valued at £6,000 and the Chinese figures between £10,00 and £12,000. 

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