Radstock is a community in Somerset, England, 9 miles (14 km) southern 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 had a population of 5,620 according to the 2011 Census. Given that 2011 Radstock has been a town council in its very own right. Radstock has actually been cleared up because the Iron Age, and its importance expanded after the building and construction of the Fosse Way, a Roman roadway. The growth of the town took place after 1763, when coal was discovered in the location. Lots of mines opened throughout the 19th century consisting of numerous owned by the Waldegrave family members, who had been Lords of the Estate given that the English Civil War. Admiral Lord Radstock, bro of George, 4th Earl Waldegrave, took the community's name as his title when developed a Baron. The spoil stack of Writhlington colliery is now the Writhlington Site of Special Scientific Interest, that includes 3,000 tons of Upper Carboniferous spoil from which more than 1,400 insect fossil samplings have been recovered. The facility geology and narrow joints made coal removal challenging. Tonnage increased throughout the 19th century, reaching a peak around 1901, when there were 79 different collieries as well as annual production was 1,250,000 tons per annum. Nonetheless, due to regional geological troubles and workforce lacks outcome decreased as well as the number of pits reduced from 30 at the beginning of the 20th century to 14 by the mid-thirties; the last two pits, Kilmersdon and Writhlington, closed in September 1973. The Great Western Railway and also the Somerset and Dorset Railway both developed terminals and also mustering lawns in the town. The last passenger train services to Radstock closed in 1966. Manufacturing industries such as printing, binding and packaging offer some neighborhood employment. Recently, Radstock has progressively come to be a traveler community for the neighboring cities of Bath as well as Bristol. Radstock is residence to the Radstock Museum which is housed in a previous market hall, and has a variety of exhibits which provide an insight into north-east Somerset life given that the 19th century. A lot of the displays relate to regional geology and also the currently disused Somerset coalfield and also geology. The town is additionally house to Writhlington School, renowned for its Orchid collection, and a series of academic, spiritual and also social buildings and also sporting clubs.