The caves were dug to provide sand for
glass making and pottery production. They were dug into the Triassic red
sandstone cliffs, which give the area its name, There is no evidence to support the rumours that the caves were used to hold slaves during the
Bristol slave trade of the 17th and 18th centuries, however they were used to store the goods brought in by ships from
Africa and the
West Indies. There is some evidence that prisoners captured during the
French Revolutionary Wars or
Napoleonic Wars were imprisoned in the caves, but there is no evidence to show they were involved in the creation of the
New Cut. Once the final glass factory in Bristol had closed the caves were used for storage and the disposal of rubbish. Some of the waste came from the
Redcliffe Shot Tower at the corner of Redcliffe Hill and Redcliffe Parade, where the cellar was dug out into one of the tunnels. Waste from the lead shot production process was deposited between its opening in 1782 and closure in 1968. During
World War II small parts of the caves were surveyed for use as an
air raid shelter. A bomb created a crater into the caves which was subsequently filled in blocking access to some parts of the cave system. and for theatre productions. ==Location and extent==