Radstock is a community in Somerset, England, 9 miles (14 kilometres) south west of Bath, and also 8 miles (13 kilometres) north west of Frome. It is within the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset and also had a population of 5,620 according to the 2011 Census. Given that 2011 Radstock has actually been a town council in its very own right. Radstock has been worked out considering that the Iron Age, as well as its relevance expanded after the building of the Fosse Way, a Roman roadway. The growth of the community happened after 1763, when coal was discovered in the location. Multitudes of mines opened throughout the 19th century consisting of numerous owned by the Waldegrave family, that had actually been Lords of the Estate given that the English Civil War. Admiral Lord Radstock, sibling of George, fourth Earl Waldegrave, took the town's name as his title when created a Baron. The spoil load of Writhlington colliery is now the Writhlington Site of Special Scientific Interest, that includes 3,000 tons of Upper Carboniferous ruin where greater than 1,400 insect fossil specimens have been recuperated. The facility geology and slim joints made coal extraction difficult. Tonnage enhanced throughout the 19th century, reaching a peak around 1901, when there were 79 different collieries as well as annual production was 1,250,000 loads per year. Nonetheless, due to regional geological troubles and also manpower lacks outcome declined and also the variety of pits reduced from 30 at the start of the 20th century to 14 by the mid-thirties; the last 2 pits, Kilmersdon and also Writhlington, closed in September 1973. The Great Western Railway as well as the Somerset and Dorset Railway both developed stations as well as aligning yards in the town. The last passenger train solutions to Radstock closed in 1966. Production industries such as printing, binding as well as packaging offer some regional employment. In recent times, Radstock has increasingly come to be a traveler town for the nearby cities of Bath and also Bristol. Radstock is house to the Radstock Museum which is housed in a previous market hall, as well as has a variety of displays which supply an insight into north-east Somerset life given that the 19th century. A lot of the displays connect to regional geology and the now obsolete Somerset coalfield as well as geology. The community is additionally home to Writhlington School, famous for its Orchid collection, as well as a variety of instructional, spiritual as well as cultural structures as well as showing off clubs.