Radstock is a community in Somerset, England, 9 miles (14 km) southern west of Bath, and 8 miles (13 kilometres) north west of Frome. It is within the unitary authority of Bath and also North East Somerset as well as had a population of 5,620 according to the 2011 Census. Because 2011 Radstock has actually been a community council in its own right. Radstock has been resolved considering that the Iron Age, and also its value grew after the building and construction of the Fosse Way, a Roman road. The growth of the town occurred after 1763, when coal was found in the area. Multitudes of mines opened throughout the 19th century including several possessed by the Waldegrave household, that had actually been Lords of the Manor given that the English Civil War. Admiral Lord Radstock, bro of George, fourth Earl Waldegrave, took the town's name as his title when produced a Baron. The spoil heap of Writhlington colliery is currently the Writhlington Site of Special Scientific Interest, which includes 3,000 tons of Upper Carboniferous ruin where more than 1,400 insect fossil samplings have been recouped. The facility geology and also narrow joints made coal removal hard. Tonnage increased throughout the 19th century, reaching a peak around 1901, when there were 79 separate collieries as well as annual production was 1,250,000 lots per annum. Nevertheless, as a result of local geological troubles as well as manpower scarcities result decreased as well as the number 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 terminals and mustering backyards in the town. The last passenger train services to Radstock enclosed 1966. Manufacturing industries such as printing, binding and also product packaging provide some neighborhood employment. Over the last few years, Radstock has progressively come to be a traveler town for the neighboring cities of Bath and Bristol. Radstock is home to the Radstock Museum which is housed in a former market hall, as well as has a range of displays which supply an understanding right into north-east Somerset life given that the 19th century. Much of the displays associate with regional geology and the currently obsolete Somerset coalfield as well as geology. The community is also home to Writhlington School, popular for its Orchid collection, as well as a variety of educational, spiritual as well as social buildings and also sporting clubs.