It is open to the public in the summer months on Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday afternoons between Easter and October.

This cave is unique in Britain for its numerous medieval carvings on the walls; comparable examples exist only in the former Czechoslovakia and Israel.

In August 1742 a workman dug a hole in the Butter Market to build footings for a new bench for the patrons and traders.

The Reverend G North's description of a brown earthenware cup with yellow spots discovered in the soil filling the cave sounds like a well-known early post-medieval type, no earlier than the late 16th century.Today the entrance is not by the original opening, but by a passage dug in 1790.

The cave is at the junction of an ancient east-west track, the Icknield Way, and the north-south Roman road, Ermine Street.

It is thought that the sculptures were originally coloured, but little trace of this is visible now; in the mid 19th century, Joseph Beldam could still see the yellow dress of St Catherine and the red of the Holy Family.

There are a number of holes, sometimes directly beneath the sculptures, which are thought to have held candles or lamps which would have illuminated the carvings.

In 2010, it was discovered that due to damp conditions in the cave insect larvae and worms were infesting and damaging the walls and carvings, and restoration works were initiated.

This involved removing the large volumes of soil and other debris at the base of the cave, particularly on the step below the carvings.